Overcoming Imposter Syndrome

Impostor syndrome (also known as impostor phenomenon, fraud syndrome, perceived fraudulence, or impostor experience) describes high-achieving individuals who, despite their objective successes, fail to internalize their accomplishments and have persistent self-doubt and fear of being exposed as a fraud or impostor. It is the condition of feeling anxious and not experiencing success internally, despite being high-performing in external, objective ways; resulting in people feeling like “a fraud” or “a phony” and doubting their abilities. People with impostor syndrome struggle with accurately attributing their performance to their actual competence (i.e., they attribute successes to external factors such as luck or receiving help from others and attribute setbacks as evidence of their professional inadequacy).

Imposter Syndrome doesn’t discriminate; it affects everyone from college students to CEOs. It’s a common phenomenon. People from every demographic who are clever, driven, articulate, creative and successful can have difficulty in acknowledging their achievements. It is common in all work settings, especially highly competitive business cultures where performance is constantly under scrutiny and competition is encouraged.