Imposter Syndrome is something I often hear clients mention in my coaching practice. It’s very common and particularly affects women. It has its roots in not feeling good enough and traps people in a cycle of anxiety and overwork. No surprise then that it’s a major barrier to wellbeing.

So I was delighted to receive an invitation to interview Dr Jessamy Hibberd, author of The Imposter Cure, at the Bath Festival. We share a publisher and it turns out we’d met six years previously at a conference. It was the perfect opportunity to add to the knowledge and tools I use to help coaching clients to overcome imposter syndrome. Here are four thoughts that particularly stood out for me based on our conversation.

Forethought 1: The Imposter Syndrome is essentially about having faulty beliefs. We believe we’re not good enough when there is all the evidence that points to the contrary. We don’t internalise our successes – it’s like Teflon, it bounces off us rather than sticking. There is a tension between two views – yours and what you believe others expect of you. Or the tension might be between the standards you set for yourself and how you assess yourself as doing. People with Imposter Syndrome often make the mistake of comparing how they feel on the inside to other people’s outer appearance, presuming that if people look ok they must feel ok too. The good news is that feelings aren’t facts and we can change our beliefs.

Forethought 2: Imposter Syndrome particularly affects people who lack a sense of belonging or feel they don’t quite fit in. I can relate to this from my time at the BBC working with many privately educated Oxbridge graduates. I was state-educated and having mixed heritage added to my sense of being an outsider. I believed that I would have to work harder than anyone else to progress in my career. This strategy paid off and I won awards for my TV and radio programmes, but it was unsustainable and eventually led me to burnout. So being in an underrepresented group can exacerbate Imposter Syndrome – something for DE&I specialists to pay attention to.

Forethought 3: There are four main types of Imposter Syndrome. Do you recognise yourself in one of these?

The Perfectionist: This is the most common version. Perfectionists set excessively high standards for themselves and believe that they should deliver a perfect performance 100% of the time.

The Natural Genius also sets impossibly high standards but rather than judging themselves by an unrealistically high standard, they judge themselves on whether they get things right at the first attempt, in other words they have a fixed mindset.

The Expert believes they need to know the answer to every single question and blames themselves for being incompetent when they don’t have the answer, rather than acknowledging and addressing their gaps.

Superwomen and men push themselves to work harder than anyone else. This extends not only to their working life but to all areas of their life. They are like turbo-charged Perfectionists.

Forethought 4: The way we interpret our imposter feelings and respond to them is the key to overcoming the phenomenon. The Imposter Cure does a great job of demonstrating the CBT techniques that challenge the thoughts. I think positive psychology can play a significant role too in helping people build their confidence based on something solid – their strengths. Recognising your strengths gives you evidence of your abilities and flexing these strengths supports both your performance and wellbeing. Someone in the grip of Imposter Syndrome may perform well (even though they don’t believe it) but the imposter thoughts will be compromising their wellbeing so they don’t savour their success.

Miriam Akhtar is a trainer and coach with an online coaching practice.

📸 @zaczyk_photography for The Bath Festival.