The Truth About Impostor Syndrome: Evidence-Based Insights for Coaches

DESCRIPTION: Up to 82% of people — CEOs and entry-level professionals, first-year college students and PhDs, artists and engineers — secretly worry they’re not as smart or talented or qualified as other people “think” they are. It’s called impostor syndrome. Left unchecked, the behaviors associated with impostor syndrome have consequences not only for individuals but for their organizations as well. Impostor syndrome is known to negatively impact advancement, retention, productivity, innovation, and health and wellness.

Unfortunately, impostor syndrome has been either misrepresented, oversimplified, or both. 

To be effective, coaches need an informed and nuanced approach to working with clients experiencing impostor syndrome.

In this 90-minute interactive session, members will discover:

● What impostor syndrome is – and what it is not

● How it differs from low self-esteem, self-doubt, or other factors that hold clients back

● How to identify possible impostor syndrome in your clients

● The costs and consequences of impostor syndrome

● Common mistakes coaches make that can undermine progress – and what coaches can do instead

Learning Objectives

Understand what impostor syndrome is and how it can be confused with low self-esteem, self-doubt, or other factors that hold clients back. 

Recognize impostor syndrome in clients without veering into diagnosis.

Understand common behaviors associated with impostor syndrome, how they serve clients, and at what cost. 

Identify common mistakes coaches make that hinder client progress – and what do instead.

The following learning outcomes reflect the presentation's evidence-based framework and insights:

1. Understand the Nuances of Impostor Syndrome - develop a clear understanding of what impostor syndrome is, differentiating it from factors like low self-esteem and self-doubt. Introduce the role of competence distortions in driving impostor feelings.

2. Recognize Impostor Behavior in Clients - Learn to identify specific behaviors and thought patterns that indicate impostor syndrome in clients, including perfectionism, procrastination, over-preparation, and externalizing success.

3. Explore the Cost and Consequences - Examine the individual, team, and organizational impacts of impostor syndrome, enabling coaches to articulate its importance to their clients and stakeholders.

4. Avoid Common Coaching Pitfalls - Understand why common strategies, such as achievement lists or over-psychologizing, often fail and how they can inadvertently harm client progress. Learn about alternative evidence-based approaches.

5. Shift Client Toward a "Humble Realist" Mindset - Discover how to help clients reframe their impostor thoughts, fostering healthier attitudes toward competence, failure, and self-doubt through proven techniques like contextualizing and reframing.

SPEAKER BIO: Impostor Syndrome Institute co-founder Dr. Valerie Young is regarded as the leading expert on impostor syndrome. She’s spoken to over half a million people at hundreds of organizations, including Google, Pfizer, JP Morgan, NASA, the National Cancer Institute, and over 100 universities, including Harvard, Stanford, and Oxford. Her award-winning book, The Secret Thoughts of Successful Women and Men: Why Capable People Suffer from Impostor Syndrome and How to Thrive in Spite of It has been translated into nine languages, including Turkish and Korean, and her work has been featured on BBC radio, CNN Money, Time, Newsweek, The New York Times, Science, O magazine, and elsewhere. In 1983, Young used the findings from her doctoral research with professional women, half of whom were women of color, to design the first educational intervention for impostor syndrome. In 1999, she identified the “5 Types