How Does Imposter Syndrome Sabotage Careers?

Imposter Syndrome: Most of us have experienced it at some point, but when it takes over its a red flag. It’s that quiet, niggling voice in the back of your mind, telling you how lucky you are and that you don’t really deserve to be there.

Despite all empirical evidence and the results, the praise from colleagues or peers, something still shouts, loudly, that you were just lucky and that sooner or later someone will “find you out”.

These niggling doubts have a name: Imposter Syndrome.

The term was first defined in the late 1970s by psychologists studying high-achieving women returning to academic and professional careers. At the time, many were entering environments that were still heavily male-dominated. The early assumption was that the feeling stemmed from women questioning their place in those spaces, being pushed and dominated and made to feel inferior by their male colleagues.

But the reality is far broader.

Today we know imposter syndrome affects all people, regardless of gender or industry.

It often manifests most strongly in capable, ambitious individuals who are pushing themselves to grow. Rather than accepting their ability, they dismiss their success as luck, timing or the efforts of others.

Achievements become minimised or even trivialised. Praise is quickly brushed aside, moving on and bristling at the thought. Promotion and recognition creates anxiety rather than pride. The result is often self-sabotage, substance usage, or both.

People hold themselves back from applying for the next role, speaking up in meetings or pursuing opportunities they are more than capable of handling. They wait until the right moment, which for many never fully arrives.

Lived experience

I know this pattern well because I lived it.

Before retraining as a hypnotherapist and psychologist and establishing my private practice, Thought Reader, I worked in the financial sector, where I carried many of these same doubts. I was driven and ambitious, hoping to create change, but I was also a perfectionist.

I accepted that others would make mistakes, yet I expected myself to be flawless. Any error felt like proof that I was out of my depth. In truth, something very different was happening. I was moving up the curve faster than most, I had a sharp mind and was quick on my feet, part of my growing up but thats a different article.

I was making honest mistakes, learning from them quickly and improving. That is exactly how growth works. But instead of recognising that progress, I feared I would not be able to sustain it. Every error was spurring me on to be perfect, but killing me inside that I wasn’t already there.

The breakthrough came through two important shifts.

First, I was fortunate to work with managers who recognised the signs. Rather than amplifying the pressure, they created an environment where I could learn, make mistakes and develop. Their support and guidance helped me realise that capability is built through experience, not perfection. The second shift was internal. I began to practise something many professionals neglect: self-acceptance. Once I started acknowledging what I had achieved, rather than dismissing it, everything changed.

My confidence grew, my management techniques could change, because I wasn’t always proving myself – to myself. My decisions became clearer and most importantly, I stopped holding myself back.