If you're fully qualified and experienced in your work, or any leadership role - and yet you still feel that you have to "over-perform", as if you could be found lacking at any moment... you could be experiencing "imposter syndrome".

Imposter syndrome is not a recognised psychological disorder, but a "cognitive distortion" that was first identified in the late 1970s among high-achieving women. More recent scientific research has found that it can affect people more equally across the genders these days, but that it's more common among ethnic minority groups. This could be due to cultural messaging about status or stereotypes.

In this podcast, I look at how imposter syndrome happens, the kinds of problems it can cause, why some people have it and others don't, and I'll also suggest some ways to overcome it if it's happening to you.

Cover art by BiancaVanDijk on Pixabay.