14. The Truth About Imposter Syndrome
What’s new: We’re kicking off a bold 3-part series on imposter syndrome — and why the issue isn’t you, it’s the system.
Why it matters: This episode flips the narrative on what we’ve been told about self-doubt. You’ll walk away understanding why calling it a “syndrome” misses the point — and how internalized doubt is often a symptom of navigating spaces not built for you.
In this episode:
The real roots of imposter syndrome (hint: it’s not just in your head)
How systemic conditioning fuels self-doubt, especially for women and marginalized folks
Why “confidence gaps” aren’t personal flaws — they’re cultural design
What “bicycle face” has to do with modern workplace dynamics
A nuanced take on self-trust, skill-building, and knowing when you are ready
Mentioned:
Dr. Lisa Orbe-Austin and Dr. Richard Orbé-Austin’s book, Own Your Greatness: Overcome Impostor Syndrome, Beat Self-Doubt, and Succeed in Life
Dunning-Kruger effect - a cognitive bias where individuals with low competence in a particular area overestimate their abilities, while highly competent individuals tend to underestimate their expertise.
Upcoming FREE webinar: “Is It Me or the System? Reclaiming Confidence in a Culture of Self-Doubt”
Listen in if…
You’ve ever questioned whether you belong in the room
You’re tired of hearing “just be more confident”
You want to untangle internalized doubt from actual growth edges
💬 Love it? Share with a friend or tag @MichelleKayAnderson on LinkedIn.
Next week: The mental roles we internalize (like the “Good Girl” and “Invisible Worker”) — and the real risks women face when they challenge the status quo.
Have a favorite podcast player? Here are direct episode links to:
Transcript
Opening
Welcome to Upleveling Work, the podcast where we explore personal growth and leadership through a feminist, systems-aware lens. I'm Michelle Kay Anderson — feminist coach, systems thinker, and guide for navigating complexity without burning out or selling out.
Today's episode kicks off a powerful 3-part series on what's commonly called "imposter syndrome" — and here's the hot take: while the symptoms are absolutely real, the problem isn't you. It's the system.
We are going to break down what's really happening when you feel like you don't belong, and why calling it a 'syndrome' misses the bigger picture.
Now, before I explain why this isn't your personal failing, let's get clear on what these imposter experiences actually look and feel like in real life.
The Truth About Imposter Syndrome
If you've ever felt like a fraud in your own life, if you've questioned whether you belong at the table, if you've worried that one mistake will expose you as somehow "not enough" — you're experiencing something very real. These clusters of symptoms have a name, and they follow predictable patterns.
In fact, I learned from Dr. Lisa Orbe-Austin who wrote the book Own Your Greatness: Overcome Imposter syndrome, beat self-doubt, and succeed in Life that **imposter syndrome typically shows up in two distinct cycles:
Cycle I: You worry about your performance or intelligence, which leads you to work extremely hard to "cover up" your feared fraudulence. You get a performance review, receive approval, but instead of feeling validated, the cycle repeats. Getting praise might temporarily feel good, but once the good feelings fade you return to worrying about intelligence or your ability to perform. You can’t internalize the successful experience and your accomplishments aren’t accepted as part of your identity. So the next time you perform it is like you are starting from scratch - those prevous acomplishments never existed.
Cycle II goes in the opposite direction: You worry about your performance, but rather than overworking, you procrastinate or self-sabotage. Procrastionation can show up as a method to expose your status as an imposter, in the hopes of relieving the stress and strain of the feelings. You likely still perform well, but any mistake is interpreted as proof of your inadequacy due to your perfectionism, rather than the fact that you are human, or not giving yourself enough time to review the work. Self-sabatoge is connected to performance anxiety - it is where you make impulsive and spontanous decisions to go against a plan, trouble organizing for high-stress events, or other subtle behaviors that affect perparedness, confidence, and performance.
These experiences are genuine. The symptoms are real: denying your abilities, attributing success to luck, discounting praise, fearing failure, perfectionism, overestimating others while underestimating yourself, difficulty internalizing success, and overworking to cover feelings of inadequacy.
But here's where the paradigm shift comes in: these patterns aren't your personal defect.
They're your natural response to navigating spaces that weren't built with you in mind, in a culture that's been systematically conditioning women and marginalized folks to doubt ourselves.
The messaging is relentless: You're too much. You're not enough. You don't belong here. Your confidence reads as arrogance. Your power is threatening.
So today, I'm inviting you to reframe what we've been calling "imposter syndrome." Let's understand it for what it actually is:
Conditioned self-doubt — deliberately shaped by systems of exclusion, erasure, and control.
The term "imposter phenomenon" emerged in 1978 when two white women psychologists studied high-achieving women. Since then, it's been co-opted by self-help culture as yet another personal flaw for you to overcome: "Just be more confident! You're holding yourself back! Fix your mindset!"
But here's the inconvenient truth that nobody's talking about in those spaces:
You cannot mindset your way out of structural oppression.
This becomes even clearer when we look at how confidence is distributed in our society. It's not random—it follows predictable patterns of power and privilege.
The Confidence Gap Is By Design
Let's talk about the Dunning-Kruger effect — that cognitive bias where people with less skill tend to overestimate their abilities, while those with more expertise tend to underestimate themselves.
In other words, the more you know, the more you recognize how much you don't know.
Now layer gender and race onto this psychological phenomenon:
White men are typically socialized to project confidence even when uncertain. They're taught: "Fake it till you make it. Take up space. Assert yourself. You belong here."
Women, BIPOC folks, and other marginalized groups are systematically conditioned to question ourselves, to soften our presence, to justify our right to be in the room. We're taught: "Don't get too big for your britches. Be grateful for the opportunity. Don't rock the boat."
This isn't accidental. It's deliberate cultural conditioning designed to maintain power structures.
So when that voice in your head says "I don't deserve to be here," that's not your authentic self speaking. That's the echo of generations of messaging designed to keep you small.
Your self-doubt isn't weakness — it's evidence of how deeply these systems have shaped us all.
And if you think this kind of systematic gaslighting is new, history offers us a fascinating parallel that shows exactly how long we've been pathologizing people—especially women—who dare to claim their power.
Historical Proof: The Invention of "Bicycle Face"
This pattern of pathologizing marginalized people who claim their power isn't new.
In the 1890s, when bicycles became available to women and represented unprecedented physical freedom, the medical establishment suddenly "discovered" a new condition: "Bicycle Face."
Doctors claimed that women who rode bicycles would develop permanently flushed, strained expressions, would become exhausted, and would damage their reproductive systems. Some even suggested it would make women "too independent" and unfit for their proper societal roles.
Sound familiar?
This fabricated condition served one purpose: to scare women away from claiming their freedom of movement and autonomy.
Fast forward to today — "imposter syndrome" functions in much the same way.
It's not a personal failing. It's a tool of social control packaged as a psychological diagnosis.
It pathologizes the natural response to navigating spaces that weren't built for you, placing the responsibility on you to "fix" your feelings rather than questioning the systems that created them.
Imposter syndrome is the new bicycle face.
A Nuanced Perspective
Now that we've reframed the problem, you might be wondering: 'Okay Michelle, I see the system at work, but I still have to navigate it tomorrow. What do I actually do with this understanding?
It's not as simple as just "believing in yourself more." Or “stick it to them!”
First, there's an important balance to strike. We need to distinguish between conditioned self-doubt and legitimate skill assessment.
Sometimes, we truly aren't qualified yet. In those cases, the answer might be pursuing education, gaining experience, or developing skills. There's no shame in recognizing genuine growth edges.
But there's also a trap here: our conditioned self-doubt can push us to seek endless certifications, degrees, and validations before we feel "ready." We get caught in preparation mode, never quite feeling qualified enough to step forward.
The question becomes: Are you objectively missing critical skills, or are your standards impossibly high because part of you is trying to stay safe or create certainty where maybe you can’t?
I'm not offering quick fixes today. The reality is that for marginalized folks, the risks of playing bigger are real. In next week's episode, we'll dive deeper into these complexities, including how:
Women don't always support other women in workplace settings
Cancel culture creates real risks for speaking out
Organizations often penalize marginalized people for the very confidence they claim to value
For now, I simply invite you to hold this awareness: What you've been experiencing has a name, a context, and a purpose within systems of power. And you're not alone in feeling it.
Next week in Episode 15, we'll examine the specific mental models and roles we internalize — like the "Good Girl," the "Grateful Guest," and the "Invisible Worker." We'll also explore the real risks marginalized leaders face when challenging status quo, including how women don't always have other women's backs in professional settings.
Then in Episode 16, I'll share my own journey of reauthoring my leadership story without performing someone else's script, and how you can navigate these complex waters with both awareness and courage.
Your Invitation
I want to acknowledge that this is complex territory. There's no five-step solution to dismantling centuries of conditioning. But there is a path forward—one that begins with community and conversation.
This conversation is just beginning. The journey from conditioned self-doubt to authentic confidence isn't a straight line—it's a path that requires both personal reflection and collective action. That's why I want to invite you into a space where we can go deeper.
If this episode resonated with you — if you've felt that persistent self-doubt despite your capabilities — I've created a space where we can explore these dynamics more deeply. Join me for my free live webinar the first week of June:
"Is It Me or the System? Reclaiming Confidence in a Culture of Self-Doubt”
This isn't about quick fixes or toxic positivity. It's about developing a nuanced understanding of how these systems operate within us and around us, and finding your authentic path forward.
Register now at michellekayanderson.com/webinar or check the show notes.
Remember: Naming what's happening is the first step. You're not broken for feeling this way. Your doubt has context. And together, we can find ways to navigate these waters with both clarity and compassion.
Remember this: You are not broken. Your doubt isn't your intuition — it's conditioning. And you do not have to shrink to belong.
Until next time — Honor your experience. Question the narrative. I'll meet you back here soon.
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