How to Recognize and Support Employees With Impostor Syndrome

What is impostor syndrome?

The concept of impostor syndrome, introduced by psychologists Pauline Clance and Suzanne Imes, is a person’s lack of confidence in their job performance. They may feel they don’t deserve their job or were given the job by mistake.

People with imposter syndrome tend to doubt their own skills in the workplace, said Bisma Anwar, a Talkspace therapist, licensed mental health counselor and head of Talkspace’s content clinical marketing team.

“They feel like, ‘I’m a fraud,’ even though they might have achieved certain things and had successes,” Anwar said. “There’s an underlying worry that other people will recognize that they’re not good enough and they’ll kind of find them out.”

You can have impostor syndrome feelings even if you exceed expectations and are a respected team member. These are some signs of impostor syndrome:

1. You feel like you can’t make mistakes and remain a valued team member.
2. You put in long hours or take on additional projects just to feel like you’re a part of the team.
3. You experience employee burnout that diminishes your mental health.
4. You isolate yourself from your co-workers so they don’t find out you are an “impostor.”

Impostor syndrome affects 71 percent of CEOs and 65 percent of senior executives, according to a recent survey by consulting firm Korn Ferry, but it’s prevalent among workers across all stages of their career. An estimated 49 percent of midlevel leaders, 52 percent of first-level supervisors and managers, and 33 percent of non-leader individual contributors struggle with it. Given the prevalence of imposter syndrome, it’s imperative to support employees. 

How to recognize impostor syndrome

Imposter syndrome is somewhat more prevalent in women than in men, according to research published in the journal Current Research in Behavioral Sciences. However, anyone can be affected, according to Valerie Young, an internationally recognized expert on impostor syndrome and co-founder of the Impostor Syndrome Institute.

“I’ve met many men who painfully experience impostor syndrome, and there are plenty of academic studies that bear that out as well,” Young said.

Rather than focusing on gender, employers should be on the lookout for the following ways impostor syndrome can manifest among their employees.

Reluctance to seize opportunities

Reluctance to take initiative can be a strong indicator of low confidence or low self-esteem. For example, employees may show a lack of self-confidence by turning down promotions, new assignments or other tasks because they’re “not ready yet.” They also might be slow to highlight their accomplishments and contributions.

Perfectionism

Perfectionism is a giant red flag. When you hear people lightheartedly call themselves perfectionists, pay attention to see if they really embrace the behavior. True perfectionists set unhealthy and unrealistically high performance goals and then criticize themselves harshly when they don’t meet those objectives. The fear of failure can cause severe anxiety or compulsive behavior. They are constantly afraid they won’t measure up to an unachievable ideal and will be exposed as frauds.

These are some signs of perfectionism in employees:

• They have trouble delegating because they need to do tasks themselves to ensure they’re done perfectly.
• They set unrealistic standards for themselves and others.
• They procrastinate. This may seem counterintuitive, but perfectionists fear failure so much that they can become immobilized and struggle to start anything at all.

Young cautioned that although there are circumstances when perfectionism and other red flags can indicate impostor syndrome, that’s not always the case.

“Perfectionism can be the clue, but sometimes it’s hard to separate [it] from a healthy drive to excel,” Young said.

Employers should be on the lookout for extreme examples of perfectionism and other red flags that show up as part of a pattern of behavior, Young said.

Workaholism

At first glance, an employee who often arrives early or stays late can seem like a great asset to the company, but be wary of the potential motivations behind excessive work. Employees who work all the time may be motivated by the belief that they are not skilled enough and need to work harder to measure up to their colleagues.

An employee whose impostor syndrome manifests as workaholism may show these signs:

• They are consistently the first to arrive and the last to leave the office and work excessive hours.
• They have trouble relaxing when they are not working.
• They skip workplace social events to keep working.

“Overworking comes from a fear of making mistakes, so it can be linked to perfectionism,” Anwar said. “They never feel like the work is good enough, so they need more time or resources to ‘make it perfect,’” Anwar said.

Individualism

Employees who don’t accept help from others may feel they need to go it alone to prove their worth. They may believe asking for help will reveal them as impostors who are not up to the task. These are some signs of individualism motivated by impostor syndrome:

• They consistently complete tasks without the help of others, even if assistance was offered or the project warranted extra hands.
• They have trouble delegating or working on teams.
• They frame requests for help as requirements of the projects rather than as support that would benefit them as a person.

Modesty

People with imposter syndrome might brush off their own accomplishments, Anwar said.

“They might put their success onto other factors or other people rather than acknowledging that this was because of their own skill set, because there’s such underlying doubt when it comes to their own capacities and capabilities,” Anwar said.

Recognizing these signs is the first step toward creating a workplace that helps employees overcome their self-doubt. 

The 5 types of impostor syndrome

According to Young’s work, there are five types of impostor syndrome. Understanding these five types and how they manifest in the workplace can help employers recognize impostor syndrome. 

• The Perfectionist thinks they have failed if their work doesn’t meet or exceed 100% of expectations.
• The Expert believes they should know everything about their work and experiences shame or a belief of failure if they show even a minor lack of knowledge.
• The Soloist thinks they must complete every aspect of a project to take ownership and experiences failure or shame if they receive help.
• The Natural Genius believes that they’ve failed if their work does not come naturally and easily to them.
• The Superhuman believes they should be able to handle multiple roles perfectly and simultaneously, or else they struggle with shame.

If you’ve identified employees who might be experiencing imposter syndrome or you’re concerned that this phenomenon could develop among your workforce, it’s time to take company-wide action.

How to support and manage employees with impostor syndrome 

Defeating impostor syndrome in the workplace is not a one-person or one-department job. Here’s how you can involve everyone at your company to ensure more effective results.

1. Provide managers with relevant training.

Managers should play a prominent role in supporting and encouraging employees, yet few are well equipped to tackle impostor syndrome among their team members.

People with impostor syndrome have an inner critic telling them they are not good enough, they’re frauds and they will be revealed as fakes. It doesn’t work to argue with this inner critic. It can even backfire. Employees who experience impostor syndrome might feel more stressed if they think their managers overlook those feelings.

Instead, managers should engage with employees who experience self-doubt. Educate managers on the various signs of impostor syndrome, and coach them to let their employees know that fears and self-doubt are natural parts of work life. An employee’s goal should not be to strive for supreme self-confidence but rather to handle self-doubt better. Managing these feelings can help them distinguish between realistic and unrealistic concerns.

Naming and explaining impostor syndrome in manager training and during the onboarding process can help managers become aware of its causes and signs, Young said.

“I think if you lead, manage, mentor or train other people, you need to understand imposter syndrome because there are costs and consequences, not just for individuals but also for the organization,” Young said.

2. Build open relationships from the beginning.

Your employees need to have trusted relationships so they can discuss topics such as self-doubt. Social activities and mentoring can help employees feel more comfortable opening up to other team members about how they’re coping with their work.

HR departments should go beyond interviews. Mentoring is an important part of a successful onboarding process and helps to develop relationships with employees from day one. Let them know that the door is always open if they need to talk about anything, including impostor syndrome. 

3. Play to your employees’ strengths.

Impostor syndrome can make an employee feel like they are fooling their co-workers. In most cases, this thinking is false. 

However, impostor syndrome should also be a red flag for the employer. If an employee’s job description doesn’t align with their skills, you could be partially to blame for the impostor syndrome.

Playing to your employees’ strengths can boost their creativity, encourage innovation and improve employee engagement. Plus, your employees will gain confidence and reduce their feelings of inadequacy.

4. Have honest conversations.

If employees exhibit signs of impostor syndrome or name the condition directly, you should treat them sincerely. If you have struggled with impostor syndrome yourself, consider sharing your story, including what triggered it and how you overcame such feelings.

Have honest conversations about setting better business goals and what you expect from each employee. If an employee feels inadequate, ask them to explain why they think that way. For example, they may have misinterpreted their job requirements, the position may not be a good fit for their skills, or the work environment may not be welcoming.

Maintain an open-door policy to keep communication lines open, Anwar said.

“Check in regularly with employees, especially focusing on the newer employees who are still settling into their jobs,” Anwar said. “This is a good time to develop some rapport and make them feel like they have a safe space to be able to discuss whatever is going on, whatever

5. Create a supportive workplace culture.

A workplace culture with severe repercussions for failure is likely to encourage perfectionism, workaholism and impostor syndrome among its employees. Ask yourself if your company sees failure as a dead end or a learning opportunity. It’s vital to send a clear message to your employees that mistakes happen and they don’t have to be a source of shame.

Encourage your executives, when appropriate, to share their experiences with failure and self-doubt. Set the tone that it’s OK to make mistakes and that leadership is about managing self-doubt rather than constantly feeling confident.

“One thing [managers] can do is share some of their own personal stories of challenges and the mistakes they may have made earlier in their career,” Anwar said. “That gives employees a sense of, “OK, this is part of the process; everybody makes mistakes; it’s not just me.’”

By coaching your managers, building relationships that make employees feel safe to open up, and creating a workplace culture that learns from failure, you’ll involve everyone in your organization in stopping impostor syndrome. In addition, deepening the relationship will help your employees do their best and ensure a positive and productive workplace.  

6. Be sensitive to how impostor syndrome affects diverse communities.

The term “impostor syndrome” has been criticized for blaming women and people of color for feeling like impostors, without taking into account societal biases, like racism and sexism, that contribute to those feelings, according to Harvard Business Review. Recognizing impostor syndrome without acknowledging workplace bias can be a form of gaslighting. 

Gaslighting is a form of psychological manipulation that causes us to question reality. It is prevalent in the workplace and our personal lives. Recent research attempts to bridge both the individual experience of feeling like an impostor with the impacts of collective biases, such as systemic racism and sexism, that show up in the workplace, Harvard Business Review reported.

Listening to and being transparent about hurdles and biases can build trust. Help employees succeed by consistently leveraging your influence for promotions and equal benefits. 

7. Take inclusion to the next level.

Employers and managers should be mindful of the diversity of their workforce, both overall and specifically in leadership positions. White men are disproportionately represented in leadership roles compared with women and people of color, so promoting diversity and inclusion is crucial.

Companies can take these steps to encourage an inclusive workplace:

• Evaluate all employees’ work performance.
• Be transparent about pay and benefit equity regardless of race, sex and other characteristics.
• Participate in cultural competence and team-building activities.
• Conduct employee reviews to provide an understanding of key performance metrics and encourage performance improvement.

Beyond race and gender, risk factors for impostor syndrome stem from a sense of not belonging in the workplace. “The more people who look like you or sound like you, the more confident you feel,” Young said. 

People who are the sole representatives of their particular group in a workplace — whether it’s related to race, ethnicity, disability, language, gender, age, education level or something else — can sometimes feel underestimated because of that social group membership, Young said.

For example, someone might be more susceptible to impostor syndrome if they work at a law firm where they are the only employee who didn’t attend Harvard Law School, Young said.

“I would make the case that any time you’re on the receiving end of stereotypes, very specifically about competence or intelligence, you’re susceptible,” Young said.

8. Give credit where credit is due.

Affirmation is just as vital in the workplace as it is in our personal relationships. Workers with impostor syndrome constantly feel like they are insufficient. By relating to your employees as human beings, you can show them they are valued team members and accept them (and their skills and abilities) for who they are.

Once this relationship is established, you can recognize employees’ professional accomplishments, such as by praising them for meeting performance goals, celebrating their achievements publicly and encouraging them to utilize their strengths.

Erin Donaghue contributed to this article.