Your description of an imposter fits me to a tee. I believe a great deal of this feeling is due to my lack of formal education. I see myself as less because I do not have a business degree, but in reality, my experience and 'smarts' more than make up for book learning. Being a female in a male dominated industry is also certainly a challenge, but again, experience and 'smarts' make up for a lot.

I also agree with your thought that alot of the feelings of being an imposter is related to my perfectionism. My boss appreciates this trait in me, as he is also a perfectionist. He notes that I always hold myself to higher standards than anyone else in our company. When I take a step back and realize this, I always feel better about myself, and am slowly starting to feel as if I am worthy of my position in the company.

Just feel that this article makes Imposter a better one.

There are points in this artical in which I see my self clearly. Due to the fact I dont have a fully education I often feel "useless"and "incapable" Missing the convident of "yes i do have those papers so I know what i am talking about". As I am really really eagerd to learn, study, examine etc. I still have the feeling..mainly : No certification.

The other side is I learned a great deal threw experiance and I know what I can do if only given the chance.
Alas my boss threats me as an "expense"and basicly comming down to "god why did we hire this guy"
In a way this stimulates me to show him what ive really got, alass agian i am not given the chance. Funny enough i get the comments "you dont know anything yet and need to learn in the field yet, but seeing you dont know anything people wont hire you in the field"..

Any more suggestions then the ones above who are great help to start with?

This article points out several characteristics that I see in myself. The idea that "I feel like a fake" is often the case.

Overcoming traits that are so deeply ingrained is difficult. These are also problems that will reoccur; you don't just shake-off these bad feelings. It will probably be something that I will have to watch forever.

I would like to understand the root cause of these types of destructive behavior. Then, it could be easier to notice, and correct, the bad thought processes when they first appear.

I can only speak for myself, but I am sure that most people struggle with these problems from time to time.

I enjoyed this topic because I am looking at influences in my life and thinking of chains in a link that connect together.

In regard to that self discovery, I am very interested in chaos and logic and the balance between structure and decay. The notion of being an imposter is perhaps just a series of steps, like links in a chain, which are the arguments that nudge a decision in a direction. People encounter forks in the road and are often forced to go left or right versus being ambivalent and taking the path in the middle which doesn't really exist. I think many of us take door number three and go on journeys where choices are unresolved.

Thus it seems that a person could live a life filled with unresolved relationships or events that become a complex network of bridges that require more and more synthetic engineering, which ultimately results in an extremely weak structure that will collapse as a result of a poor foundation.

THANK YOU. Reading this article at such a critical point in my career makes me feel sane. I have been questioning my ability to do my job, and have been in a state of depression wondering WHEN are they going to figure out "I'm a fake." I do have formal education, and have been extremely successful in my career, but have recently been promoted to a position where I feel utterly unprepared for. I try to convince myself "I can do this" but haven't been very successful. I've even begun to search for a new (lower level) job. After reading your tips, I feel like 'I can do this' - it just will take a bit more time. I am visualizing myself as being successful. Thanks.

This is a great topic and I recognise this as a very strong component in my own make up and beliefs. For me, I think that some of the issue lies in a habit of talking myself down to gain praise from others - perhaps to the extent that I have come to believe it. Perhaps there's also some abdication of responsibility here as well - if I don't admit my part in that past success I can't fail in the future if I'm called on to stretch to another goal.
It's a fine line between humilty and deliberate self-deprication, the former has value and the latter is self-serving. I can see how I have affected others around me with this approach and I believe that we can make a decision / choice when we face the circumstances that lead to this kind of behaviour.

Well, this article could not have come at a better time. Although I have formal education, it did not come traditionally. I have a position in a male dominated industry and my boss is a male, younger than me, I might add. While I have learned a great deal from him I have always felt as if he made me feel less confident in my own abilities because of what he has taught me. Because of this article I have now recognized that the problem is me and the "imposter syndrome".

Well, I recently got promoted to a higher position and while I am excited, the feeling of not being worthy sets in. Now that I understand that I am not alone, I will be conscientious in conditioning my thoughts to be more positive and not being so hard on myself.

Thanks for this article and everyone's comments.

Hi Gill!

Very nice article and analysis! I haven't had got the chance yet to browse through the further reading suggested by you nor the comments posted over here, but I'd like to pitch in and add an imposter syndrome mitigation point of my own, which I'd fancifully call "Bask in the glory of the past". As the title suggests, it's all about contemplating good things about your past. When you are feeling like an imposter, here's what you got to do:
1. Stop thinking about it
2. Detach yourself from the present and stop comparing yourself with others. It only makes things worse.
3. Take some time out for yourself and indulge in those things which would fill you with peace and calmness - nostalgic music, movies etc.
4. Do some soul searching and turn back time and think about each and every positive thing, success, achievement, person and moment which has brought you to the present situation. A word of caution here: You MUST not think of your current situation as unworthy and undeserving but rather highly deserving.
5. Go through the certificates, medals, old photographs and recollect all the glories. Gradually work out the stats and odds and figure out as to why you were really deservingly good in the past and how all of those crowning achievements helped you achieve your current worthy position directly or indirectly. Feel good about them and 'like' attracts 'like' and within no time you'd discover 'n' number of overseen good qualities about you.
6. Finally, as a jewel in the crown, call up your good old high school buddy who has a very high regard for you and have a happy chat and laugh out loud over the zany good old times. It's the best antidote.

It never just occurred to me that imposter syndrome could be a 'global' phenomenon and that a mitigation plan is required at all. Nevertheless I've been using the aforementioned strategy involuntarily to nip the imposter syndrome in its bud.

Good luck y'all filthy imposters ;)

Thank-you for all the comments from fellow ‘imposters’ – it seems that I am not alone and that it is a timely moment to raise this subject. I am interested as to why that might be - are we suffering from more business pressures than in the past or have our work colleagues just got meaner and more competitive in recent years?

I am glad that readers have shared their own strategies for dealing with imposter syndrome. Particular thanks go to Nikhil, who has mapped out a marvellous approach to giving ourselves a boost when we feel low. What could be better than giving ourselves some time to relax and revisit our past achievements? As he says, a chat with a high school friend or former work colleague can be a great way to restore our egos and remind ourselves of what we have achieved over the years.

Olufemi, in a comment on my previous post concurs: “A good reminder for those who sometimes feel the imposter syndrome is to look back at your success track record and even if you don't believe in yourself, believe in the people who think you're worth it.” Great words of advice.

I have noticed some interesting themes emerging, including –

• Lack of formal education/certificates can increase the imposter 'quotient' – regardless of whether people have great business experience or a track record, as Stacey and John attest. The idea that an advanced degree or MBA is a prerequisite for business seems to be the norm in the US, unlike in Europe, where people can still advance without higher qualifications.

• Being a woman in a male-dominated environment is an added pressure. Thanks to Jackie for mentioning this, as did others. Women are often susceptible to perfectionism and thinking that they are not ‘up to a job’, as Clara says. However, J. Armstrong, in an interesting comment on my previous post, also suffers from perfectionism and self-doubt. He says: “I find I am relegating myself from applications to positions based on my perceived belief that I will be "in over my head".

• Self-awareness in sensitive people can quickly spiral down into destructive thinking and self-doubts – as Mike says, “It’s a fine line between humilty and self-deprecation; the former has value and the latter is self-serving.” I know that feeling very well – it’s important to recognise when it is upon you and have a strategy for nipping it in the bud.

• The deeper roots of imposter syndrome are also fascinating, as George and Doc Holiday point out. Doc’s idea of weak links in a chain – unresolved relationships or events that can collapse - is most interesting and links in with two very good comments to my previous blog. Pete has sought counsellors and professional advice to rethink his ‘scripts’ and rehearse difficult conversations. Steve wishes he had done so before he crashed and burned. Perhaps counselling is a way to manage the internal pressures of imposter syndrome.

Finally, a great suggestion from Paul who recommends that anyone suffering from Imposter Syndrome or doubting their ability might wish to read "Influencer", where the authors have a chapter dedicated to research done on "Go" or "Know" responses to stress.

Gill, I'd like to take a shot at the question raised by you: "are we suffering from more business pressures than in the past or have our work colleagues just got meaner and more competitive in recent years?" - Well, I'd attribute 10% of the cause to business pressures and 90% to competition. It's true that pressure has increased dramatically in every walk of business over the last couple of decades and I see how that might be transiently correlated to an increase in imposter syndrome - Increase in business pressure must increase ones accountability which in turn ought to increase ones efficiency. But yes, the chances are bright that one might get buckled unable to cope up with the pressure and that is an explicit function of ones persistence and stress-bearing ability. Under such circumstances, far from thinking that way, an individual succumbs to the prejudice that he or she might not be efficient and productive and that's the juncture where imposter syndrome stems.

Now moving on to the major cause for imposter syndrome - Competition. To be more precise, it is competition among the peers. Although this has been proved to be fetching far more productive results in a team (Gore Associates has incorporated flat-latticed organizational structure just to improve firm's efficiency and productivity), it is crippling some individuals from within, who unduly compare themselves with their peers and fret and frown over the good qualities of others. Also, if you have read Gladwell's Blink, he points to the tendency of humans to overrate others and undermine and demean ourselves when comparing with our peers. Here's where we got to be a bit more narcissistic. If a team is performing well, it only means that qualities of all individuals within a team perfectly complement each other perfectly. It is true, a person X may be better than a person Y in one aspect within a team. If that's the case, person Y should realize that there are aspects in which he/she is much better than person X and, Y should either try to learn and grasp those concepts from X, or Y should let go of it and think that all's well as long as team is benefiting from the current situation. To avoid imposter syndrome, we must compete with ourselves not with others. What skills have I acquired over the last year? Has there been an improvement? (If you look closely, there's always going to be an improvement - somethings get better with age just like Wrangler Jeans) Where did I excel? Where must I improve? What are the targets I must set for the next quarter? With these questions asked, there's absolutely no way why one should feel like a fake.

Talking about your feelings is the best way to overcome many different anxieties. Try to find a friend or colleague that you can discuss a variety of situations or problems.

Gill,

Thank you for your article and thanks to everyone for their posts. In my personal and professional experience, I've found this to be quite a common syndrome among bright, talented and passionate individuals. Often the external expectations for performance are so high because the internal sense of self-esteem is so low. Anything less than greatness simply does not seem to be enough. Achievement is linked to self worth and so many of the other non-performance elements which enrich life and provide emotional sustenance and balance are disregarded. The "black dog" of depression as I've heard Winston Churchill called it, becomes a frequent companion and the struggle to deliver begins to feel increasingly overwhelming. Anxiety prevails and escape from the position seems like the most comforting option.
So, the question then arises,"So what can be done?" I think your advice was on target. Beginning with prep school, through an Ivy League education, and intertwined with what most except me consider an impressive track record of success, I have consistently wrestled with these issues. I continue to do so now in a rather high profile role as Asia Regional Director wherein I discovered that as the my visibility increased, the intensity of my own negative self-talk increased as well. It appears that this afflictive character trait works in spirals, thought I've found that not all spirals are created equal. It is so easy to get drawn into a downward spiral; nevertheless, positive spirals are also within the realm of possibility. In my experience, they require a daily commitment to pursuing a level of personal growth which goes beyonds the demands of the professional tasks in hand. Each day one must start afresh to build of a wide range of positive mental, emotional, physical and spiritual habits. This work is oddly impermanent and seem much like sandcastles built near the water's edge. Returning the next day one often finds only the roughest outline of yesterday's sandcastle of positive habits. For those yearning for quick solutions, this can be an uncomfortable discovery. Still, regardless of one's hopes or expectations an individual with even the slightest bend towards empiricism can't help but grudgingly admit such evidence into the discussion.
Definitely a bummer, but yet a bummer that one can accept and build on. We are all comfortable with the fact that we must find physical nutrition on a daily basis, so accepting the need for daily emotional, mental, and spiritual nutrition should not be such a big stretch. I think it is from this point forward that the specific positive daily habits we pursue diverge and each of us must search for, determine, and experiment with how we engage and create our own individual positive spirals and spin the flywheel faster and faster. So in effect, each of these habits become the ingredients for our individual recipes of success which in order to be truly useful must nourish not only our resumes, portfolios, and corporate bottom lines but also nourish the need for deeper meaning, purpose and direction we all share as human beings.
Anyway, I apologize if I've go on a bit but I should confess that I have wild, wild, week of work ahead of me in Beijing which I've got to get into high gear and so I've also used my post this evening as way to start building the sandcastles I'll need tomorrow.
I offer all of you my deepest well wishes and hopes for your continued success. I share your struggle and belief that our bizarre condition might also be tempered into our greatest gift and become a gift that we not only give ourselves, but also to those around us, and hopefully to the those less fortunate than us and who are desperate to be benefited by individuals with a neurotic need to make a difference in the world. As Helen Keller once wrote, "Life is either a daring adventure or it is nothing at all."
So good night to all of you, wherever you might be in the world or cyberspace.
Best regards.
Chris

This is a common feeling amongst most of the professional today and myself also sails in the same boat most of the time

The reason that i have tried to understand is the communication pattern that one has among the collegues and the family member (including freinds)

It is the person around us and communication with them that makes us feel SO (down). We need to have more of physical activities to overcome this syndrom

Nowdays we have more of email communication rather that perosn discussion and this physical barrier is major contributor to such syndrom because sitting among people makes difference in self recognistion and understand problems.

At the same time when we communicate with others, we should share some personal discussion and recognise others accomplishments and capabilities

And let us not forget that goods deeds turns back

One of the fears of the imposter syndrome is that someone will tap you on the shoulder and tell you the game is up. It actually happened to me. Unjustified as it was -- a new CEO wanted his own man in my place -- however, it's been so catastrophic on my sense of worth I disn't think I'd recover. Thanks for articulating a road to recovery.

Dear Gill,
It seems, you have very accurately figured out an IMPOSTER persona. I also consider myself to be suffering from the negativities of this syndrome.
Apart from its negativities, I think that there can be few positive aspects which can be fetched from it in 2 ways. One way is by considering LUCK and the other way is by considering SELF EFFORTS (SE). IMPOSTERS give more weightage to luck than SE, instead of having a balance to be maintained between these two variables. If we try too much for overcoming IMPOSTER persona, then in that effort we may cross the boundary and ultimately end up creating such an imbalance which may lead to having excessive for SE. This situation will be having its own negativities, which can be excessive self confidence and "false" satisfaction and great achievers don't have false satisfaction. Also, one may lose the positivities of having Belief on let it be GOD, LUCK, MIRACLE etc. etc.

Again, Good work!!
REgards,
Adeel

The Spiritual Heritage of India encourages reflective thinking as a way to promote objective appraisal of the self. It is not easy to negate ego, but it remains a worthwhile ideal. The secular appeals of meditation and Yoga are universal celebrations of the Indian route to salvation. Global Assessment of Functioning by a qualified psychiatrist is an alternative to Indian spirituality that agnostic impostors can use for liberation of their minds.

This article and comments from everybody has broadened my view about the impostor feeling.Am very much releaved of my fear of sounding or seeming boastfull when accolades are being passed by coleagues and friends.You would have to accept praises and even when they dont come you need to believe in and praise yourself.Those things we fear most, often befall us.To get over an emotion we need to get in motion-get moving my succesfull buddies in that way we overcome our fears.

I think this is a real problem. Often I have thought like this. It is a real driver that forces us to put forth maximum effort on everything we do. Then for the team that works with us, we are over bearing and hard to work with. It is hard to take it slw.

As we are bounced on our parent's knee the template of how we will deal with what life has to offer is created. The reactions we receive as we venture outside of our comfort zone create the inner voices that will replay and replay for a lifetime. If you are honored for who you are and how your navigate life, that core is fed. If you are punished for mistakes, and mistakes will always happen, you will be slow to appreciate your own navigation though the crazy world of business, especially in management. In management, people are looked up to for answers, and you have to have the guts to say with pride,
"Hey, I did the best I could at the time, with the information I had" when things don't unfold as you thought they might have.

Working with tough and sometimes scary loggers, I watched each of them slowly expose their core of who they were as they learned to navigate through life. As I walked on the jobsite, I could very well have been walking on a playground. As the guys learned to trust me, I saw how their templates may have been created as they were growing up. In trying to inspire them, I reached in and touched the parts of them that needed to be nurtured and they responded.

Our baggage follows us through life and in this day and age the extrinsic rewards are far outweighing the intrinsic ones. The value of being able to sit back and say, I did the best I could and that was good enough, no matter what the outcome, only comes from a lifetime of being rewarded for stepping up, instead of being handed a video game for an A on a report card.

Thanks, this is a great article and discussion. I too suffer for this negative thought pattern. It was helpful to read what others do to deal with this. I have a few thoughts/ideas/tips that help me that might help others as well.

Don’t give “it” power. I don’t like thinking of it as “I have Imposter Syndrome” because to me it makes it sound like it is an illness I’ve caught, but with the correct medication, rest, and plenty of fluids it will go away. I try to own my thought because I have the power to change them. After all, “it” is nothing more then my own thoughts!

“Luck is when preparation and opportunity meet.” This is a short simple saying that I repeat to myself frequently. Again, luck is external but preparation is internal.

Know the roots of the thoughts. I believe I have a clear understanding how my past experiences have lead to my current thought patterns. This knowledge makes it is easier for me to separate what is really in the present from what I’ve carried forward from past.

Be reflective. Just spending time reading and think about all this helps me deal with this in a positive way.

Stop thinking about it! Sometimes it just becomes too much and I just have to stop thinking about it for a while.

Know you are not alone. When my daughter was 16 she was full of wisdom and she gave me a wonder quote, “Duh dad!”

Do something that is just for you. Find something you like to do just for you that won’t be exposed to others judgments. I enjoy photography – the heck with what others – it’s all mine!!

Laugh. Laugh often, loud, with friends, at yourself, at others, whenever and wherever you can. It won’t change anything but it feels good.

The biggest culprit for Imposter Syndrome has got to be the "scripts" that are written for sufferers by parents, teachers and figures in authority. I was a confident, scrappy tomboy as a child but many admonitions to behave like a "lady", constant comments on my poor numerical abilities and not very kind observations about everything from my wardrobe to my handwriting have made me this inwardly painfully shy but nonetheless outwardly blustering individual who doesn't have faith in her own obvious talents to the point of three months ago asking for a re-marking of a paper in Accounting that I passed with flying colours! I thought they had mistaken my grade and given me more marks. I have to talk to myself positively now that I am aware that I have every right to enjoy whatever successes in my past and the confidence to face new tasks without quadrupleguessing myself. Thank you Gill!

As we are bounced on our parent's knee the template of how we will deal with what life has to offer is created. The reactions we receive as we venture outside of our comfort zone create the inner voices that will replay and replay for a lifetime. If you are honored for who you are and how your navigate life, that core is fed. If you are punished for mistakes, and mistakes will always happen, you will be slow to appreciate your own navigation though the crazy world of business, especially in management. In management, people are looked up to for answers, and you have to have the guts to say with pride,
"Hey, I did the best I could at the time, with the information I had" when things don't unfold as you thought they might have.

Our baggage follows us through life and in this day and age the extrinsic rewards are far outweighing the intrinsic ones. The value of being able to sit back and say, I did the best I could and that was good enough, no matter what the outcome, only comes from a lifetime of being rewarded for stepping up, instead of being handed a video game for an A on a report card.

Gil,
I to suffer from the imposter syndrome and have for years felt like they are going to figure it out any time now. However, that has yet to happen and for me that is what helps drives me to keep learning, improving and bring value to my Business unit and ultimately the over all company. See for me the impostor syndrome comes from knowing what I don’t know and being afraid others see me as the one that should know.

I am >1mth back at work after an absence with medically diagnosed “Depression”. My counsellor says Stress + Exhaustion. Either way…

In reviewing the associated feelings I had elements of each but most strongly “I must not fail”, which with the benefit of hindsight fuelled the exhaustion – driving myself to hard and too long.

A large aspect of my recovery has been aided by post-graduate study in Master of Management. The units in this first semester have allowed me to study and comprehend the stressors that had contributed, Anticipatory and Situational mainly, and begin earnestly reprogramming myself – starting with efficacy and re-establishing my esteem for myself. Until only a week or so ago reviewing my own resume was like reading about someone else…

In all my study, and with a kind and patient counsellor and lecturer, I had not encountered this definition before the HBR newsletter this morning. Some quick research checks has identified that research starts in the late 70’s and earnest validations in the early 90’s. I find the lack of knowledge/visibility therefore surprising…

Like some of the other respondents, here, it was qualification (lack) that I saw as my biggest deficit. By extension, and now with clear hindsight, this was a major impediment to “talking about” or “seeking support” and without my collapse was compounding to self-fulfilling prophecy. Perversely, and with reflection, this madness probably helped me achieve what I have though – as I ran harder to escape the impending doom.

At 47, and trusted with a very senior management role, my worry (as I continue the journey to recovery) is for others. NLP and RET are helping me and my self-awareness is to a point where the previous high-water mark is a distance a vague memory. What help can I offer staff, and peers, in identifying and reversing this cancer before it has too strongly programmed itself in them?

i also have experienced that kind of feeling "Imposter Syndrome" most often times. It sometimes felt when no matter how tried to make your work best and appealing to your boss, and yet your best wasn't good enough. Yes thats true! you feel bad about yourself. But, everytime i encountered such feeling, i always thought of those phrase " nobody is perfect in this world". I wonder why people are keep on struggling for satisfaction even they had so much accomplishment in life. I believe that no matter where you came from, what status you belong in this world we have our own distinct achievement and success through our own endeavors and determination.

All I can think of is that, we all have that "imposter syndrome" even if we are surrounded by positive belief.

Dear Miss Corkindale:

Thank you, thank you so much.

For the first time in a long time ago I have understand how I feel and why.

We are now experiencing problems at work and pressure comes from a lot of different places. Seems to be that everyone is solving so many things that is difficult to see the outcome, and the next day more problems come and this become very tought.

Because of this I started to feel useless at work due to the fact that the problems to solve always where more than the time available.

After reading this I felt new air. My mind started to unblock and see in a different way possibilities and solutions to our problems.

Thank you and I send my best regards

Mr. Juan Miguel Robles
COO
DEISA
Guadalajara, Mexico