This is a topic that affects many people, and it is called imposter syndrome. It’s really not a syndrome so much as it is a condition--like a phenomenon--that someone experiences.

It can get intense. It can take over your brain. It isn’t a mental illness so far as we can understand. So, in about 1985, there were some researchers who did a fabulous job of exploring this phenomenon. And they created this idea of imposter syndrome as a collection of feelings of inadequacy that are pretty persistent, even though an individual might be successful.

We can observe their success. They can observe their own success. And yet, there’s a sense of being a fraud and this worry that someone’s going to “find me out.”

Many People Experience Impostor Phenomenon

If you’ve ever had that experience, I want to reassure you, you’re not alone. From what we know, up to 70% of people who are successful, or people in general, experience what we call imposter syndrome or imposter phenomenon.

I’d like to talk about it a today, especially because I’m very active in the fields of education and academics. And in these fields in particular, as well as entrepreneurship, we have a lot of folks who are out there doing new things, really succeeding in great ways, and not able to compare their success or compare what they are doing to other people.

This would kind of be like this “one-man island” out there and thinking because they don’t see anyone else doing what they are doing, that maybe they’re fake. Or, maybe they’re wrong. And it’s very normal [to think].

I assure you, you’re not alone if you have that experience.

I like to share my background on this topic with you just a little bit, and also my experience with it. And then, I’ll talk about some ideas on types of imposter feelings, and then [I’ll offer] some suggestions for working through this and kind of “getting beyond it,” if you’re experiencing that.

And, of course, if you know anyone who is experiencing this and maybe it’s not you, I would encourage you to have some compassion, sympathy, and above all, maybe not try to prove to them that they are successful--but be a good listener. Because, the more someone outside of the person experiencing this tries to give them feedback, the more the feedback is external and actually might perpetuate the problem instead of helping to reduce it.

I actually have a lot of personal experience in this area. I’ve been to a couple of professional conferences—three, actually--in which this was a major topic. And in the sessions where this was being presented and discussed, there were a lot of people there. And among those people were a lot of academics, Deans, high achievers, really a variety of people at all different stages of their professional careers.

So, if there are so many people that are experiencing this, the question is, “why is it so unknown?” Or, “why don’t we hear more about how to deal with it?”

It’s relatively new. Even though 1985 was quite some time ago, it’s an idea that is not in the clinical scale of illnesses or that kind of problem. So, perhaps we don’t think it’s very serious, so we don’t give it very much attention. But when you’re the person who’s feeling like a fake or a fraud, you’re going to be discovered or “found out” as a fraud, when you’re down this path of success, it can be very threatening and very frightening to feel this way.

What is the Experience of Impostor Phenomenon Like?

If you’ve ever suffered from chronic self-doubt, or thinking that you’re intellectually a fraud, or somehow incompetent, you know exactly what I’m talking about. There’s this stress. Anxiety. Pressure. And some degree of despair, that someone outside of you knows what you’re doing, and knows more than you,