Managing Beyond the ‘Impostor’ Buzzword

It’s time for leaders to name, normalize, and manage employees’ experience of feeling like pretenders.

Basima Tewfik, Sean Martin, and Jeremy Yip 4 days ago Reading Time: 9-minute

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Think back to when you first faced a new career hurdle: Maybe you were promoted to a team-leader role and everyone looked to you for direction, or your responsibilities grew to include presenting to your company’s board of directors; or when you found yourself being introduced to your new colleagues at a new company in a way that set expectations high. Perhaps you felt fully confident from the start — or, maybe, more likely, you found yourself thinking, “I’m not as good at this as these people think I am,” or, “Everyone expects me to know this stuff, but do I?” Research suggests that up to 82% of people have reported having these kinds of thoughts at some point in their careers, so you’re not alone if you’ve had them too.1

Management and psychology research traces such thoughts to what is popularly known as impostor syndrome or the impostor phenomenon: an employee’s belief that other people overestimate their abilities at work.2 As the terms have come to be used to describe an increasingly wide range of situations, they have shifted from the initial conceptualization: Though intended to describe a cognition people have, the “impostor” label has taken on a more emotional tone. You may have heard it used to describe experiences such as feeling like a fraud, feeling like one doesn’t belong in the workplace, feeling undeserving of recognition or success, or fearing being “found out.” But this is a misconception because, at its core, the impostor phenomenon isn’t actually an emotion or sense of belonging — it’s a cognitive belief.

Reframing as ‘Impostor Thoughts’

For managers, recentering the defining feature of the impostor phenomenon — an employee’s belief about how others overestimate their abilities — is an important first step in managing it. To keep this cognitive focus clear, we invite managers to use the term impostor thoughts to help themselves avoid three common missteps in managing people experiencing them.

Managerial Misconception 1: Once an impostor, always an impostor.

It can be easy to assume that an employee who experiences impostor thoughts will always experience them. Indeed, one dominant assumption is that the experience is a stable personality trait: You either struggle with impostor thoughts or you do not. Some scholars and practitioners refer to those who experience this phenomenon as “impostors.”3 Others describe the phenomenon as a “psychological tendency” or a “pervasive” set of thoughts and feelings.4 Moreover, scholars often consider the phenomenon alongside other personality traits, like neuroticism, or static relationship styles, like anxious attachment.5

But it’s unlikely that the impostor thoughts your employee is having will persist indefinitely. After all, they are experiencing transient thoughts, not demonstrating a permanent trait. Indeed, think back to your own experience with such thoughts: Even if impostor thoughts came to mind when you first faced a new challenge, those thoughts likely abated as the task became familiar and the context changed.

Accordingly, for managers looking to directly influence an employee’s impostor thoughts, it is prudent to consider the organizational context. Tweaking situational factors related to the workplace’s culture, dynamics, and environment will be more effective than trying to change an individual’s personality traits. For example, promoting a culture of psychological safety may help employees feel like they can make mistakes, which in turn can dial down the performance pressure that comes with having workplace impostor thoughts.

Managerial Misconception 2: Impostor thoughts are always bad.

Much of the conversation around impostor thoughts assumes that they are harmful — and for some outcomes, they may very well be. Scholars have found the phenomenon to be related to maladaptive outcomes such as decreased career striving and higher levels of depression. One study showed that employees who reported higher levels of impostor thoughts also reported lower levels of job satisfaction and organizational citizenship (helping) behaviors.6

If impostor thoughts were all bad, it would make sense for managers to engage in efforts aimed at getting rid of them. But such efforts may not always be wise. We found that while impostor thoughts are often associated with negative consequences, they were not originally conceptualized as inherently harmful.7 There are, in fact, potential upsides: Studies show that the phenomenon’s potential outcomes include decreased unethical behavior, increased work productivity, increased interpersonal effectiveness, and increased (or at least not decreased) performance.8

Thus, impostor thoughts need not be treated as a detrimental “syndrome” that one must manage or keep at bay, but rather as a set of beliefs that can be an asset in certain contexts. If an employee is in a role with limited interpersonal interaction, for example, eliminating impostor thoughts may be the correct course of action. However, for people managing teams or frequently interacting with others, the “impostor” designation may be fitting; some level of humility in considering whether one is actually as capable as others think one is may be particularly useful. Providing these employees with resources to help manage their self-perceptions rather than to eliminate their impostor thoughts completely may be the appropriate strategy.

Finally, using the term impostor thoughts rather than impostor phenomenon or impostor syndrome can make this takeaway stick, freeing managers and employees from making automatic negative associations with those labels. Even initially malicious-sounding thoughts can be an asset at times.

Managerial Misconception 3: Only certain demographic groups experience impostor thoughts.

A pervasive assumption is that women or those with marginalized identities are more likely than others to have impostor thoughts, but empirical evidence of a reliable gender or racial difference is inconsistent. The lack of consensus regarding whether impostor thoughts are more prevalent in certain demographic groups implicates a need for identifying what, how, and when various factors might lead to different experiences of the phenomenon for those with different social identities.

Even initially malicious-sounding thoughts can be an asset at times.

Managers should keep in mind that anyone, even people who seem confident, can have impostor thoughts sometimes. Given that, managerial efforts might be best directed at reducing the emotions that can accompany any employee’s impostor thoughts. For example, employees who think they should not have impostor thoughts because they’re not from a marginalized group may beat themselves up for having such thoughts. This shame can be highly counterproductive, promoting avoidance and withdrawal from social situations. Managers can take the initiative by pulling an employee aside to validate their emotional experience and acknowledge that impostor thoughts are common in new situations for any individual.

It’s high time that managers recognized the prevalence and impacts of experiencing impostor thoughts at work. We suggest that managers name it (“impostor thoughts”), normalize it (employees of all kinds may fall prey), and manage it with finesse rather than with a blunt instrument.

To name it, managers can discuss that what is commonly called the impostor syndrome is often just thoughts and that those thoughts can abate with time and experience. By centering the conversation on the cognitive aspects of impostor thoughts rather than the emotional features, managers can help reduce any heightened emotional reactions. This framing also helps destigmatize the experience: They’re just thoughts, not flaws.

To normalize it, managers can begin to openly discuss how prevalent these thoughts are, especially when contexts change or people move into new roles with new responsibilities. In doing so, managers can refocus on how widespread impostor thoughts are, that many successful people have entertained these thoughts, and how they may be leveraged for positive effects.

This brings us to managing it. By recognizing that experiencing impostor thoughts can be related to both positive and negative outcomes, managers can work to limit the downside while accentuating the upside. In doing so, managers can shift from trying to “fix” impostor thoughts, at the risk of overcorrection, to instead guiding employees to manage them skillfully. Managerial efforts could include offering reassurance, validating employee concerns without amplifying them, and helping people identify skills or knowledge gaps they can realistically address. Exploring how to channel impostor thoughts into productive action can pave a path toward growth and improved performance.

References

1. D.M. Bravata, S.A. Watts, A.L. Keefer, et al., “Prevalence, Predictors, and Treatment of Impostor Syndrome: A Systematic Review,” Journal of General Internal Medicine 35, no. 4 (April 2020): 1252-1275, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-019-05364-1.

2. B.A. Tewfik, “The Impostor Phenomenon Revisited: Examining the Relationship Between Workplace Impostor Thoughts and Interpersonal Effectiveness at Work,” Academy of Management Journal 65, no. 3 (June 2022): 988-1018, https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2020.1627.

3. M. Neureiter and E. Traut-Mattausch, “Two Sides of the Career Resources Coin: Career Adaptability Resources and the Impostor Phenomenon,” Journal of Vocational Behavior 98 (February 2017): 56-69, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2016.10.002.

4. H.M. Hutchins, L.M. Penney, and L.W. Sublett, “What Imposters Risk at Work: Exploring Imposter Phenomenon, Stress Coping, and Job Outcomes,” Human Resource Development Quarterly 29, no. 1 (spring 2018): 31-48, https://doi.org/10.1002/hrdq.21304; and J. Vergauwe, B. Wille, M. Feys, et al., “Fear of Being Exposed: The Trait-Relatedness of the Impostor Phenomenon and Its Relevance in the Work Context,” Journal of Business and Psychology 30, no. 3 (September 2015): 565-581, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10869-014-9382-5.

5. S.R. Ross, J. Stewart, M. Mugge, et al., “The Imposter Phenomenon, Achievement Dispositions, and the Five Factor Model,” Personality and Individual Differences 31, no. 8 (December 2001): 1347-1355, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0191-8869(00)00228-2; and G. Gibson‐Beverly and J.P. Schwartz, “Attachment, Entitlement, and the Impostor Phenomenon in Female Graduate Students,” Journal of College Counseling 11, no. 2 (fall 2008): 119-132, https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2161-1882.2008.tb00029.x.

6. Vergauwe et al., “Fear of Being Exposed,” 565-581.

7. P.R. Clance and S.A. Imes, “The Imposter Phenomenon in High Achieving Women: Dynamics and Therapeutic Intervention,” Psychotherapy: Theory, Research & Practice 15, no. 3 (fall 1978): 241-247, https://doi.org/10.1037/h0086006.

8. J.R. Ferrari, “Impostor Tendencies and Academic Dishonesty: Do They Cheat Their Way to Success?” Social Behavior and Personality: An International Journal 33, no. 1 (2005): 11-18, https://doi.org/10.2224/sbp.2005.33.1.11; A. Bourgoin and J.-F. Harvey, “Professional Image Under Threat: Dealing With Learning-Credibility Tension,” Human Relations 71, no. 12 (December 2018): 1611-1639, https://doi.org/10.1177/0018726718756168; J.E. King and E.L. Cooley, “Achievement Orientation and the Impostor Phenomenon Among College Students,” Contemporary Educational Psychology 20, no. 3 (July 1995): 304-312, https://doi.org/10.1006/ceps.1995.1019; and N.S. Bernard, S.J. Dollinger, and N.V. Ramaniah, “Applying the Big Five Personality Factors to the Impostor Phenomenon,” Journal of Personality Assessment 78, no. 2 (2002): 321-333, https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327752JPA7802_07.

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About the Author

Basima Tewfik is an assistant professor of work and organization studies at the MIT Sloan School of Management. Sean Martin is the Donald and Lauren Morel Associate Professor of Business Administration at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business. Jeremy Yip is an assistant professor of management at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business.
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