How To Handle Imposter Syndrome To Be More Effective At Work

The issue that comes up most often in my career coaching practice, whispered somewhere in the Intro Call or first session, is Imposter Syndrome. Hands down.

Regardless of age, gender, salary, or level of seniority, client after client mentions that they’d be more effective at work if only they could overcome Imposter Syndrome.

From a decade of working with individuals, and a background teaching psychology, here are the tips I’ve found work best - not only for others, but for myself, too!

Recognize How Common Imposter Syndrome Is

We all seem to think that experiencing Imposter Syndrome is our dirty little secret. We feel like a fraud, like we’re about to be “found out,” and/or that we climbed to our level of success in work and education by some combination of luck and slipping by. It’s just a matter of time before the truth comes out, we believe, and it all comes tumbling down.

That’s a weighty set of thoughts to carry around. No wonder Imposter Syndrome - which is more accurately termed Imposter Phenomenon or Imposter Experience since it’s not a clinical diagnosis - can cause stress, burnout, and/or paralysis at work.

In other words, we can’t work effectively when we think we’re just one wrong move away from being “caught.”

The thing is, Imposter Syndrome isn’t a dirty little secret that only we carry. In fact, up to 82% of people experience imposter feelings, according to published research. Members of ethnic minority groups are particularly likely to experience Imposter Syndrome.

Normalizing Imposter Syndrome is often the most important step in working with my clients. I tell them that my C-Suite and wildly “successful” clients say the exact same things that my fresh-out-of-college clients do. Honestly, there’s not a word of difference in how they talk about feeling like an imposter, despite much evidence to the contrary.

I feel fortunate that I get to see Imposter Syndrome from the inside day in and day out because of how it normalizes the thinking. You can take your own steps toward accepting how common Imposter Syndrome is by doing the following:

• Make a list of the five public figures you admire most for their actions and accomplishments. For each of them, find interviews they gave - ideally casual ones, such as on podcasts - in which they explore their challenges, failures, and ways of thinking. If imposter thinking isn’t at least hinted at, I’d be very surprised.
• Within your IRL circles, who do you admire and have access to chat informally with? This might be a friend’s parent, a long-time neighbor, a mentor with whom you haven’t connected in years. Have you ever asked them about whether they have ever felt like an imposter? Most people will readily open up about their own thoughts of being “found out” - past and/or present - and you can see that they “succeeded” despite them having these thoughts.

Accept That You’ll Probably Never “Overcome” Imposter Syndrome

Once we recognize how widespread imposter thinking is, we can change our goal in working toward having healthier, more productive thoughts.

In particular, we need to shift from wanting to “overcome” Imposter Syndrome to aiming to “manage” or “handle” Imposter Syndrome.

The thoughts most likely are never going to go away fully. They’ll especially creep up every time we stretch ourselves at work, such as taking on a new project, accepting a promotion, or taking an entrepreneurial leap. As leadership expert Tara Mohr makes clear in her book Playing Big, our unhelpful voices get the loudest whenever we’re moving out of our comfort zones.

So if you’re hearing imposter thoughts, this might actually be a good sign: you’re likely growing and developing yourself.

The key to managing Imposter Syndrome is to act despite having the thoughts.

If the “imposter thoughts” are never going to go fully away, we need to learn to act effectively at work even when they’re present. In fact, we need to work even more effectively because they’re present, since they’re a sign that we’re at a dynamic juncture when we need to be most active, agile and alert.

How To Take Action Despite Experiencing Imposter Syndrome

In order to handle Imposter Syndrome instead of having it handle us, we must see the thoughts that we’re a phony and can never pull this off and act anyway.

Key steps to doing this without getting paralyzed are:

• Ask yourself, “what is the very next step I need to take toward X goal?” Once you’ve written it down, look at that step and ask, “Is there any way to break that step down further? What’s the very first part of taking that step?” Keep asking yourself that question until you have a minute, step-by-step list of actions, so tiny that you could do them with very little stress or concern about your competence. It can be helpful to create this broken-down action list with a friend, colleague, or coach’s assistance. Every time you get stuck or feel Imposter Syndrome taking over, come back to identifying the smallest steps that need to be taken next.
• Jot down your imposter thoughts as they arise. Get those thoughts out of your head - literally! I advise my clients who are taking action despite feeling fears and Imposter Syndrome to keep a scratch paper next to them while they work. Every single time a thought pops up - such as, “I’m not smart enough to do this” - quickly jot it down. Look at it, acknowledge it - and then get back to work! What’s interesting about doing this exercise is that we typically find A) the same exact thoughts show up again and again, which is valuable to notice, B) the thoughts get really boring after a while, and lose their punch, and C) we can think all that we want and still get the job done. I personally often do this exercise while drafting new articles and it works wonders.
• Practice mindfulness meditation briefly daily. Of the many benefits of meditation, arguably the most important one related to Imposter Syndrome is the understanding that thoughts don’t control our actions. As my favorite app-based meditation guide often says, it’s all about practicing letting thoughts float by like clouds. When we practice this ability outside of work - even for just ten minutes a day - it becomes more natural to let disruptive imposter thoughts float past and not affect our actions during the work day.

Seek Out Support In Handling Imposter Syndrome

Managing Imposter Syndrome is an ongoing set of actions. There isn’t a “one and done” way to handling it because, as discussed, the fraud-like set of thinking will re-emerge as we grow, change, and get challenged.

Of course if we are stretching, we likely will need support to build competence in the area of growth. Seeking out training, apprenticeship, and/or enhanced supervision opportunities to build skills and obtain timely feedback helps us believe that we’re capable.

In addition, obtaining social support on an ongoing basis is key to managing Imposter Syndrome. There are many options for doing so:

• Assemble peers or colleagues with whom you can have regular, casual chats to normalize the thinking - and provide tips on how to act despite the thoughts.
• Ask a mentor-like figure in your life if you can put quarterly coffees or lunches on the books to simply touch base and talk through challenges.
• Hire a coach to support you in setting up meaningful goals, breaking down action steps, and providing accountability along the way.

That said, if feelings of being an imposter impair your functioning and/or cause significant distress, the most important support is a trained mental health professional who can look beyond the non-clinical “Imposter Syndrome” to determine what, if anything, may be going on. Asking your PCP for referrals can be a strong starting point.

In any event, when seeking support, the key is to schedule gatherings and professional development opportunities even when you don’t think you need them - chances are, you actually might and may be grateful that you slotted them into your schedule. If not, you may instead play a key role in helping someone else in their moment of “imposterdom,” which can be deeply empowering in its own right.