What Is Imposter Syndrome?

Where does the term imposter syndrome come from?

The idea began with psychologists Pauline Clance and Suzanne Imes, who described the impostor phenomenon in a 1978 paper on high-achieving women. They noticed that many accomplished women believed they were not truly intelligent and had fooled everyone around them.

Later work found the same pattern in men and women across many professions and levels. Today 'imposter syndrome' is the everyday name, though it is not a clinical condition and does not appear in psychiatric manuals. It describes an experience, not an illness.

What are the signs of imposter syndrome in high achievers?

In high achievers, imposter syndrome usually hides behind behaviour that looks like diligence. The signs are easy to miss because they often produce good work in the short term.

• ✦Over-preparing for meetings that you could handle comfortably
• ✦Brushing off praise or quickly changing the subject when complimented
• ✦Crediting success to luck, timing or the team, but owning every failure personally
• ✦Avoiding questions in senior settings in case they reveal a gap
• ✦Hesitating to apply for stretch roles until you feel completely ready
• ✦Working longer hours than peers to prove you deserve your place
• ✦Comparing your private doubts with other people's public confidence

Why does imposter syndrome often appear after a promotion?

Imposter syndrome often appears after a promotion because you lose the mastery you had in your previous role. You are suddenly a beginner again, but in a more visible seat, and the gap between your new title and your felt competence is at its widest.

In the Gulf, some situations make that gap especially sharp. A young national leader promoted quickly through a talent programme may feel watched by more experienced colleagues. A successor in a family-owned business may wonder whether the role came through merit or name. A woman who is the first in her organisation to hold a senior post may feel she represents more than herself. Each is a normal response to a real change, not proof of inadequacy.

Is a little self-doubt actually healthy?

Some self-doubt is healthy, because it keeps you curious, careful and open to learning. The problem starts when doubt becomes the driver of your behaviour rather than a passing signal.

How does imposter syndrome affect the way you lead?

Imposter syndrome affects your team, not only you. A leader who fears exposure tends to hold on to work instead of delegating, steps in too quickly when someone else struggles and avoids decisions that might be visibly wrong.

It can also make you harder to work for. Leaders driven by self-doubt sometimes set impossibly high standards for others, or avoid giving honest feedback because they doubt their own authority. In coaching terms, the imposter voice often travels with the inner Judge described in the 10 saboteurs.

When is it more than imposter feelings?

Coaching is not therapy or medical treatment. It works with performance, thinking habits and behaviour, and it can help a great deal with imposter patterns at work.

If your self-doubt comes with persistent anxiety, low mood, trouble sleeping or a sense that you cannot cope, please speak to a doctor or a licensed mental health professional. Coaching can sit alongside that care, but it should not replace it.

How might imposter syndrome ease in practice?

Imagine a newly promoted head of compliance who prepares 40-slide decks for 20-minute meetings. In coaching, she starts tracking evidence: decisions she made that held, feedback she dismissed, questions she asked that helped. She also experiments with arriving with five slides and one clear recommendation.

The doubt does not vanish, but it stops making her decisions. That is the realistic aim. This is a hypothetical example; practical techniques are covered in how to overcome imposter syndrome at work, and my imposter syndrome coaching offers one-to-one support, in Arabic or English.