Managing Imposter Syndrome: Some positive strategies

  • Be aware that Imposter Syndrome exists and that a huge proportion of the population (some writers suggest as many as 70%) experience it at some point
  • When you realise you are judging yourself, interrogate your internal standards – your ‘shoulds and oughts’ . Are they reasonable or too harsh? Ask yourself whether you would make these same judgements of your best friend or favourite colleague. If no – it’s unlikely that you should be judging yourself that way either
  • Set yourself an occasional challenge – something that pushes you out of your comfort zone. Take opportunities when they arise, especially if they will help you to learn something new and/or meet new people
  • Accept that a lot of time we are good enough – and that’s fine. Don’t fixate on being 100% right or perfect. Being perfect is time consuming, exhausting and often unnecessary
  • Consider the concept of ‘shipping’ –accepting that something is good enough and getting it out there. For example; sending a paper off for review, submitting a proposal, sending a difficult email, piloting some new teaching materials. Try not to sit on work, keeping on and on trying perfect it. Build up a muscle of shipping. It feels like a risk, but restricting yourself too much lowers your productivity and is a greater risk
  • Be aware that Imposter Syndrome is not just about your thoughts – but also feelings. Get used to feeling good about yourself. When something does go well and you are happy with your performance - notice and relish that feeling (‘treasure the pleasure’)
  • Try to think differently about failure. It is rare that something is simply right or wrong, good or bad. Try to separate the things that were OK from the things that you think went wrong and ask yourself what you could do differently next time
  • Accept that failure is a necessary party of learning. If you are someone who learns and who innovates, you will inevitably fail from time to time. Human endeavour is based on mistakes
  • Be willing to admit your own failures. Publically admitting mistakes has a number of benefits: it dissipates feelings of shame, shows character, helps others to trust you and helps you to achieve closure and move on. Admitting you failed is part of picking yourself up and carrying on
  • Talk to people rather than bottle things up. Ask for feedback from people you trust and who value you. Ask them for examples of good and bad performance and their ideas of how you could improve.
  • Give positive feedback to colleagues when they do well. Make them aware of Imposter Syndrome and its dangers. Let’s share responsibility of protecting each other’s self-esteem
  • Manage expectations – your own and others’. Don’t allow yourself to be set up to fail by accepting unmanageable targets or objectives
  • Set yourself small achievable goals as well as big challenging ones
  • Join a mentoring programme or find an informal mentor. A skilled mentor can be a source of positive feedback, a safe place to discuss failure and to plan how to approach challenges
  • If feeling nervous about a public appearance or difficult meeting, think about your body language. Stand or sit straight and allow yourself to take up space. Pretend to feel confident
  • Remember that where Imposter syndrome is concerned, it isn’t just about them – it’s about you. Examine your own ‘self-talk’ – your thoughts, feelings and internal voices and try to put things into perspective
  • When judging yourself try to be logical rather than emotional. Stay calm and look at the evidence
  • Keep an audit of your achievements and successes. This will help with future job applications and when you are feeling down examine it and reflect the fabulous things you have done. Ask yourself how you did those things and which skills and personal qualities do these achievements demonstrate
  • Develop a habit of self-reflection and self-evaluation. Ask yourself at the end of a day: what went well today? What did I learn today? Remember to focus on the good things
  • Grab opportunities to develop your skills and confidence e.g. Springboard courses, conferences, the events offered by the women’s network, courses about self-presentation, etc. Remember that it is OK to sometimes prioritise your own development
  • If you make mistakes or experience failures or problems during the day, write each one down on a scrap of paper and don’t think about them. The, at the end of the day, return to each one and think – is this really a problem? If yes, think how to solve it. If no, tear up the paper and throw it in the bin. Waste no more time worrying about this matter.
  • Accept compliments with a ‘thank you’. Notice if you are batting compliments away or attributing your successes to external factors rather than your own talent, and check this behaviour.
  • Stop comparing yourself to others and be happy with who you are
  • Fake it, ‘til you make it! See Amy Cuddy’s TED talk

Reading and useful links

P.R. Clance, S.Imes (1978) The Imposter Phenomenon in High Achieving Women: Dynamics and Therapeutic Intervention, Psychotherapy Theory, Research and Practice Volume 15, #3,

Pauline Clances’ website provides links to many other sites and journals

Zorn, D. (2005) Academic Culture Feeds the Imposter Phenomenon, Academic LeaderVol 21, No 8

Jarrett, C. (2010) Feeling Like A Fraud: Christian Jarrett examines the psychology of the impostor phenomenon, The Psychologist, Vol.23 (pp.380-383)

Bahn, K. (2014) Faking It: Academia and Imposter Syndrome, Vitae

Unmasking the impostor, Nature459, 468-469 (20 May 2009)

Vergauwe, J., Wille, B., Feys, M., De Fruyt, F., Anseel, F., Fear of Being Exposed: The Trait-Relatedness of the Imposter Phenomenon and its Relevance in the Work Context (2015) Journal of Business PsychologySeptember 2015,Volume 30,Issue3,pp 565-581

Handout prepared by Rachel Tobbell, Parigen