Overcoming Imposter Syndrome at Work

What’s really holding you back? Spoiler alert: It’s not your skills. How many times have you felt like you’re not up for the job? That you’re not qualified? Or that someone else could do it better? Here’s the reality: ➡️ 13% of employees and 20% of senior managers admit they frequently feel like a fraud. ➡️ 54% of women report experiencing imposter syndrome, compared to 38% of men. I get it, because I’ve been there. I used to struggle with being visible - giving speeches, creating content online, even doing TV interviews. Despite decades of experience, there was always a little voice in my head whispering: “Do people really want to hear from you? What if they laugh at you?” Here’s the truth: It’s not based on facts - it’s just the noise in our heads. Here’s how you can overcome imposter syndrome and show up like you deserve to: 1/ The Imposter Loop ↳ You doubt every win and question every achievement. ↳ Own your story: You earned your seat at the table. ↳ Write down three wins you’re proud of. Seeing them silences the noise. 2/ The Permission Trap ↳ You wait to feel ready or for someone to say “go.” ↳ Stop waiting: Start before you’re ready. ↳ Set a deadline and commit publicly - action builds momentum faster than waiting for confidence to strike. 3/ The Comparison Game ↳ You stalk others’ success and compare your chapter 1 to their chapter 20. ↳ Run your own race: Their doubts, fears, and failures aren’t in the highlight reel. ↳ Unfollow or mute accounts that trigger self-doubt. Focus on progress, not perfection. 4/ The Perfectionism Loop ↳ You polish endless drafts, overthink every detail, and never feel “good enough.” ↳ Launch at 80%: Fix it in flight. Done is better than perfect. ↳ Set a timer for your next task and stop when it’s ‘good enough.’ Progress beats perfection every time. 5/ The Silence Spiral ↳ You keep your struggles hidden and pretend you’ve got it all figured out. ↳ Share your story: You’ll be surprised how many people say “me too.” ↳ Find a peer or mentor and share one struggle you’re facing. Vulnerability builds connection. 6/ The Safety Net ↳ You stay in your comfort zone and call it “being realistic.” ↳ Take the leap: Growth lives outside your comfort zone. ↳ Identify one “safe” habit you’re clinging to. Replace it with one bold action, no matter how small. 7/ The Knowledge Shield ↳ You hide behind preparation, waiting to know “just one more thing.” ↳ Start doing: Expertise comes from action. ↳ Turn learning into doing: Commit to acting on one idea from the last book, course, or workshop you completed. What would be possible if you silenced those doubts once and for all? For me, it meant saying yes to opportunities I used to avoid - like speaking on stage and sharing my story. ⤵️ Have you ever felt like a fraud despite your accomplishments? How did you work through it? ♻️ Share this post to remind someone they’re not alone. 🔔 Follow me, Jen Blandos, for advice on business, entrepreneurship, and well-being.

When I was promoted from Senior Manager to Director, I struggled with severe impostor syndrome. Then, when I was promoted to Vice President, it was even worse. Here are 4 ways I fought it and how you can too: 1) Normalize it. If you worry that people might find out you don’t fully know what you’re doing, know this: it’s normal. Most people experience some level of impostor syndrome, especially in new roles. 2) Expect complexity. It’s completely normal to be in the biggest, most complex job of your life for much of your career. If you're not, it often means you’ve either stepped back intentionally—or faced a setback like a layoff. Growth means doing harder things than ever before. 3) Ask for help. Be open with mentors about what you need. Discuss your challenges and ask for input. If you're in an environment where admitting “development areas” feels risky, reframe your language and ask for *help optimizing performance and delivery*. No one argues with optimization, and the result is the same—insight and support. 4) Work on your mental game. Hire a coach, therapist, or counselor if you need one. Top performers rely on a strong mental foundation. Pro athletes and performers work with coaches—leaders should too. Who do you know that’s struggling with impostor syndrome? Share this post with them. If you feel comfortable, share your own experiences below.

Imposter syndrome has a $287 billion price tag. How I watched 97 female executives sabotage their success last year. The pattern is predictable: Accomplished woman gets promotion. Doubt creeps in. Fear takes over. Performance suffers. Opportunities vanish. But here's what nobody tells you about imposter syndrome: It's not a personal failing. It's a systemic issue. The real problem? Traditional confidence advice doesn't work: ∙"Fake it till you make it" ∙ "Just be more confident" ∙ "Stop being so modest" ∙ "Lean in harder" These create more anxiety. Not less. Instead, try this approach: 1/ Document your wins. Every single one. 2/ Build evidence. Track your impact. 3/ Accept praise. "Thank you, it's true." 4/ Share victories. Without apology. 5/ Support others. Lift as you climb. Your doubt isn't the truth. Your track record is. Remember: You're not lucky. You're qualified. The world needs your voice. Especially when it shakes.

Many have asked me to comment on Claudine Gay's resignation, given that I interviewed over 500 WOC and many Black women in writing my book, "The First, The Few the Only" (about WOC about power and rising) and because of my academic affiliation. I needed a minute to take it all in. To be clear, I haven't spoken to anyone on campus nor been privy to any insider information. I am going to leave what has happened and why to other posts. Right now, I want to speak to WOC and Black women and say I am saddened, like many of you. It is hard to watch a visible First be pushed out, quit, or step down from any position because we all know how much she had to do to get there and because there are so few of us. Her exit is a grave loss that hurts deeply. Many of us experience "Inclusion Delusion." The conundrum of being highly visible as the first or only in an organization, occupying the seat, and yet managing through daily incidents that make us question if we belong, are respected or have real power. As visible Firsts face public scrutiny, we all pause, question our paths, and relive our weariness.  I want to share some thoughts and advice based on my research: 👩🏽 Firsts often follow the rules because we feel we must. A friend shared, "I wish they had been less obedient," that they had not followed the directions prescribed. I wish that Claudine Gay had spoken from the heart. I wish more had been done and said to make ALL students feel safe on campus.  📣 Advice: It's important to speak our truths and use power wisely while we have it. No one I interview ever tells me they wished they said less, just that they said more. 👩🏽 Firsts are taught as little girls to be 2-4x as good to get to the table. To be "perfect, exceptional, beyond reproach," dare I say heroic.  📣 Advice: You will be forced to overprove, over credentialize, and overperform. Check your levels of sacrifice & exhaustion.  📣 Advice: The questioning doesn't go away even when you get the top seat. Don't be surprised. 👩🏽 Firsts feel pressure to "represent their race." I imagine Claudine Gay felt this most acutely as she was weighing whether to step down. What would her actions signal to those coming after her? 📣 Advice: Take stock of how many tasks and how much you take on beyond the role you were hired to play. You CAN say no when it is too much. 📣 Advice: Sometimes the price of the seat is too high. Toxic culture makes us tox-sick, and sometimes you have to choose yourself. So many of the women reaching out to me are seeing themselves in how this is playing out. They say that if it can happen in the top seats, when does it get better? Easier? Is there any respite? And is it even worth it?   We will not continue to be first, the few, or the only, but in the meantime, we must remember three things: 1️⃣ Our worth is decided by us and only us. 2️⃣ We must find support & community for the long road ahead. 3️⃣ We draw our lines and know when we must choose ourselves.

Confession: I worry. A lot. Not just the big stuff (my kid’s health, my team’s happiness, my students’ success)… I also worry about the thing I shouldn’t worry about: what people think of me. I wish I could always trust my instincts. Just do me, be me. But it’s something I really struggle with. Then my friend Jodie Cook handed me a reframe I can’t stop thinking about: “If someone throws a ball to you… you don’t have to catch it.” Same with words, opinions, and judgments. Does that hit you like it hit me? (catch it if you like it!) I realized: I’m a ball catcher. I try too hard. I over-smile. I say yes when I want to say no. I even fake laugh (working on it!). What I need is to become a ball dropper: to remember it’s OK not to click with everyone, to know my preferred “flavors” of people, and to keep boundaries with toxic people (and toxic balls). Jodie and I sat down to map out how to do this. Here are the steps we landed on: 1. Click with the right people You don’t have to be everyone’s idea of heaven. It’s healthy to be closer to a few and neutral with the rest. Action: List the people (or fictional characters!) you naturally click with and don’t. What traits and values repeat? That’s your compass. 2. Focus on what you can control You can’t control reactions. You can control effort, intent, and craft. Action: Grab a pen and paper. Create two columns for things you can control and those you can’t. Cut the paper in half and get rid of the list of the things you can’t control. 3. Be judgment-free Judgment creeps into everything (others and ourselves). • Seeing someone unfit in the gym? Judgment • Seeing someone too fit in the gym? Judgment • Other drivers cut us off? Judgment When you treat judgments like weather (they pass), they matter less… and so do other people’s judgments of you. Action: Pick a simple affirmation (e.g., “I’m grounded in my values”) and repeat it when judgment shows up. 4. Zoom out your perspective When one person doesn’t like us, we globalize it (this means we think a large number of people dislike us). Try this: Visualize on the top of your building → Then visualize your city → the planet → the galaxy. You’ll realize how minor your problems can be. 5. Protect your energy Visualize a clear jar over your head. Let negative words bonk off the glass. Or picture the opinion-ball sailing toward you… and don’t catch it. Let it drop. (Visualization isn’t woo; used regularly, it works.) If this resonates, you’re not alone. I’m a recovering ball catcher turning into a proud ball dropper.

A highly qualified woman sat across from me yesterday.   Her resume showed 15 years of C-suite experience. Multiple awards. Industry recognition.   Yet she spoke about her success like it was pure luck.   SEVENTY-FIVE PERCENT of female executives experience this same phenomenon.   I see it daily through my work with thousands of women leaders. They achieve remarkable success but internally believe they fooled everyone.   Some call it imposter syndrome. I call it a STRUCTURAL PROBLEM.   Let me explain...   When less than 5% of major companies have gender-balanced leadership, women question whether they belong.   My first board appointment taught me this hard truth.   I walked into that boardroom convinced I would say something ridiculous. Everyone seemed so confident.   But confidence plays tricks on us.   Perfect knowledge never exists. Leadership requires:   • Recognising what you know • Admitting what you miss • Finding the right answers • Moving forward anyway   Three strategies that transformed my journey:   1. Build your evidence file Document every win, every positive feedback, every successful project. Review it before big meetings. Your brain lies. Evidence speaks truth.   2. Find your circle Connect with other women leaders who understand your experience. The moment you share your doubts, someone else will say "me too."   3. Practice strategic vulnerability Acknowledging areas for growth enhances credibility. Power exists in saying "I'll find out" instead of pretending omniscience.   REALITY CHECK: This impacts business results.   Qualified women: - Decline opportunities - Downplay achievements - Hesitate to negotiate - Withdraw from consideration   Organisations lose valuable talent and perspective.   The solution requires both individual action and systemic change.   We need visible pathways to leadership for women. We need to challenge biased feedback. We need women in leadership positions in meaningful numbers.   Leadership demands courage, not perfect confidence.   The world needs leaders who push past doubt - not because they never experience it, but because they refuse to let it win. https://lnkd.in/gY9G-ibh

I didn't think I had imposter syndrome. Because I didn't know what it was. But being in an industry where I was the only. The only woman of color. The only Latina.... Definitely played into how I felt about showing up as myself. How I viewed my experience and expertise and how I used my voice. And I don't want other women of color to experience this. So, I hosted an impostor syndrome in your career and job search workshop for all of my current clients. And here are the 5 tips that I want to share with you today: 1. Recognize that imposter syndrome is real and common. Knowing you are not alone can be so validating. What you are experiencing is real...but it can also be overcome. 2. Identify your triggers. What are the things that make you feel like an impostor? Once you know your triggers, you can start to develop strategies for dealing with them. 3. Challenge your negative thoughts. When you have a negative thought, ask yourself if there's any evidence to support it. If not, challenge the thought and replace it with a more positive one. 4. Talk to someone you trust. Talking to a friend, family member, therapist, or mentor about your imposter syndrome can help you to feel less alone and to get support. 5. Celebrate your successes. It's important to celebrate your successes, no matter how small they may seem. This will help you to build your confidence and remind yourself that you are capable and deserving of success. And always remember...You are not alone. You are worthy of success. And you deserve to express your dopeness at work. Have you felt impostor syndrome at work? Drop your comments and thoughts about what it felt like and how you overcame it below. #impostorsyndrome #womenofcolor #ownyourdopeness

Black women do not get the same space to make mistakes, speak up or take risks in corporate spaces. It's been a weeeeeeeek on the internet. I've gotten alot of messages about why I haven't said more, done more, been louder. We don't always have the space to yell our thoughts from the rooftops. We are expected to be exceptional at all times, flawless in execution, and tireless in our efforts. One slip-up that would be overlooked, or even forgiven, in others can become a permanent scarlet letter for us. So if you're asking yourself why certain creators aren't as loud as you'd like them to be, remember, we are simply trying to protect ourselves. Every word, every post, every room we walk into has the potential to not only impact us but also ripple out to our peace, our families, and our livelihoods. As a Black woman, you are often held to impossible standards while consistently running up against the last best thing you did, constantly having to outdo and prove yourself, over and over. We're forced to keep receipts just to prove that we aren't imagining it, while leaders try to gaslight us into believing that we are the problem. It doesn’t matter how brilliant, how impactful, or how necessary you were yesterday; today, you’re expected to do it all over again, only bigger, only better. The bar never moves for us; it just gets higher. And yet, we still show up. We still create. We still lead. We still carve out space in systems not designed for us, knowing that every move we make will be dissected under a microscope. You're too much. You're too smart. You're too inquisitive. You're too whatever it is they need to say to help them unpack their own discomfort. So when you don’t hear us screaming from the rooftops, it’s not because we don’t have something to say. It’s because survival sometimes requires silence. Strategy sometimes looks like restraint. Strategy sometimes looks like moving in silence. And protecting our joy, our sanity, and our longevity will always matter more than performing for anyone else’s comfort.

Early in my career, when I shared the story of a workshop that completely bombed (an email announcing layoffs arrived in everyone's inbox during day 1 lunch of a two-day program -- and I had no idea how to handle this), three women immediately reached out to share their own "disaster" stories. We realized we'd all been carrying shame about normal learning experiences while watching men turn similar setbacks into compelling leadership narratives about risk-taking and resilience. The conversation that we had was more valuable than any success story I could have shared. As women, we are stuck in a double-bind: we are less likely to share our successes AND we are less likely to share our failures. Today, I'm talking about the latter. Sharing failure stories normalizes setbacks as part of growth rather than evidence of inadequacy. When we women are vulnerable about their struggles and what they learned, it creates permission for others to reframe their own experiences. This collective storytelling helps distinguish between individual challenges and systemic issues that affect many women similarly. Men more readily share and learn from failures, often turning them into evidence of their willingness to take risks and push boundaries. Women, knowing our failures are judged more harshly, tend to hide them or frame them as personal shortcomings. This creates isolation around experiences that are actually quite common and entirely normal parts of professional development. Open discussion about setbacks establishes the expectation that failing is not only normal but necessary for success. It builds connection and community among women who might otherwise feel alone in their struggles. When we reframe failures as data and learning experiences rather than shameful secrets, we reduce their power to limit our future risk-taking and ambition. Here are a few tips for sharing and learning from failure stories: • Practice talking about setbacks as learning experiences rather than personal inadequacies • Share what you learned and how you've applied those lessons, not just what went wrong • Seek out other women's failure stories to normalize your own experiences • Look for patterns in women's challenges that suggest systemic rather than individual issues (and then stop seeing systemic challenges as personal failures!) • Create safe spaces for honest conversation about struggles and setbacks • Celebrate recovery and growth as much as initial success • Use failure stories to build connection and mentorship relationships with other women We are not the sum of our failures, but some of our failures make us more relatable, realistic, and ready for our successes. So let's not keep them to ourselves. #WomensERG #DEIB #failure

When you’ve worked so hard to reach the top, why does self-doubt creep in even stronger? For many successful women leaders, loneliness and isolation at the top can amplify feelings of inadequacy and self-doubt, commonly known as imposter syndrome. Even the most accomplished leaders get affected by this. As I climbed the ladder in my leadership journey, I expected to find greater confidence and validation. However, reaching the top brought about an unsettling mix of self-doubt and isolation. The paradox of feeling successful yet profoundly disconnected. Looking back, I can see some of the things that fuelled this sense of disconnect. This included lack of relatable peers locally (being CEO at 32),, the increased pressure to build on the work of my predecessor, fewer opportunities for honest reflection with trusted peers, and the absence of a sounding board to bounce off the high stakes decisions. Thankfully, loneliness doesn’t have to be a permanent part of leadership. As woman in leadership, you can combat both isolation and imposter syndrome by building intentional support networks and seeking mentors who can relate to their unique struggles. So, in addition to the list from yesterday, here are a few more on some of the ways to reclaim your confidence and connection. 1. Engaging in women's leadership groups. Professional groups focused on women in leadership provide spaces to connect with others who understand the specific challenges of being a woman at the top. These communities offer valuable reassurance and validation that help women combat feelings of inadequacy and gain strength from shared experiences. Some of the communities I have seen here on LinkedIn include The Ladies Book Breakfast Forum, WOMEN IN HR KENYA, and Women On Boards Network Kenya among others. Search for your industry group and be part of its activities and engagements. 2. Seek out mentorship   A trusted mentor can be a powerful ally against imposter syndrome. By connecting with someone who has walked a similar path, you can gain perspective from someone else's own journey and learn strategies to manage self-doubt. Mentorship also helps reinforce their accomplishments and provides guidance, helping them see themselves as competent and capable. 3. Finally, practice self-validation techniques.   Journaling, self-affirmations, or setting aside time to celebrate achievements can help counter the negative self-talk that loneliness and imposter syndrome trigger. Remember who you are. Recognize and acknowledge personal wins, no matter how small. These help to foster your confidence and reduces reliance on external validation. In this journey, success and self-belief can thrive together. Imposter syndrome can make the journey to success feel lonely and filled with self-doubt, but it doesn’t have to be this way. What are other networks available here on LinkedIn? Tag and help a sister 😀 #africa #leadershipdevelopment #professionalwomen #personaldevelopment #