When Imposter Syndrome Is Silently Sabotaging Your Team’s Leadership Potential

We talk a lot about leadership development. We invest in courses. We run training days. We talk about growth mindsets and effective communication and how to empower others. But there’s something we’re not talking about enough—something that could be quietly derailing everything you’re trying to build in your team.

It’s imposter syndrome.

And here’s the truth: if you’ve got ambitious, high-performing team members (and I know you do), then you’ve almost definitely got imposter syndrome in your team.

It doesn’t always look like insecurity. Sometimes it looks like over-preparing, perfectionism, burnout, or procrastination. Sometimes it shows up in a team member who is visibly competent but constantly downplays their achievements. Or in the leader who can command a room but feels like a fraud in private.

Imposter syndrome is slippery like that.

And as someone who’s worked with hundreds of people on this, and who’s done the deep, gritty work of rewriting my own stories around success, I want to invite you into a new way of looking at it. Not just as a mindset issue, but as a narrative issue. Because that’s what it is, really.

Psychologists Pauline Clance and Suzanne Imes were the first to coin the term “imposter phenomenon” in 1978, after observing how high-achieving women dismissed their success as luck or timing rather than skill (Clance & Imes, 1978). That inner narrative still persists in workplaces today. It’s a story someone is telling themselves about who they are and what they’re capable of—and whether or not they belong at the table.

The Self-Leadership Gap

Here’s something I’ve come to know for sure:

All leadership starts with self-leadership.

If someone doesn’t believe in their worth, they’ll struggle to step into their potential.

If they don’t trust their own voice, they’ll hesitate to contribute fully.

If they can’t own their success, they’ll find it hard to own their impact.

And that’s the real cost of imposter syndrome in your team: it diminishes potential. It makes talented people shrink themselves. It disrupts collaboration, initiative, and innovation. And it creates a glass ceiling that has nothing to do with capability—and everything to do with belief.

The research backs this up. A study published in the Journal of Business and Psychology found that imposter feelings are significantly linked to decreased job satisfaction, increased burnout, and limited career progression—especially in high-achieving environments (Vergauwe et al., 2015). And here’s where it gets really interesting…

Leadership Development is Narrative Work

I won’t use a lot of psychology jargon here, but let me put it this way:

Every person on your team is walking around with a story in their head. That story includes what they believe they’re capable of, how they think others perceive them, and what’s “allowed” or “safe” for them in a professional context.

If someone has grown up hearing that success = arrogance…

Or that leadership is for the loudest person in the room…

Or that making a mistake = losing respect…

Then you can see how those stories shape their behaviour.

They may hesitate to speak up in meetings.

They may downplay their ideas.

They may never put their hand up for a leadership opportunity.

And it’s not because they lack ability—it’s because they’ve internalised a narrative that’s keeping them small. What’s powerful, though, is that stories can change. And that’s where intentional leadership comes in.

The Role of the Leader: Mirror, Space-Holder, Story-Shifter

If you’re leading a team, your role isn’t just to assign tasks and drive performance. It’s to model what empowered self-leadership looks like—and to create space for your team to step into that for themselves.

You do this by the way you speak, the questions you ask, and the way you respond when someone opens up. You do this when you share your own stories—not as “I used to have imposter syndrome, but now I’m perfect,” but as, “Here’s how I moved through my own doubts.”

Because vulnerability in leadership is magnetic. It invites others to believe they can do the same. As Brené Brown reminds us, “Vulnerability is the birthplace of innovation, creativity and change.” (Brown, 2012). When leaders show up with humility and honesty, it unlocks something powerful in their teams. It also rewrites the team’s shared narrative. It moves your culture from “get it right or get out” to “grow, try, and lead from your truth.”

How to Support Your Team Members Through Imposter Syndrome

First, know this: you are not their therapist. You are their mirror, mentor, and model. And there’s a lot you can do to create a space where imposter syndrome doesn’t fester—and where self-leadership can actually flourish.

Here are 9 powerful questions you can start asking your team members to activate deeper self-awareness and shift their internal narratives:

Story-Shifting Questions for Your Team:

1. “What’s a win you’re proud of lately—and what did it take to get there?”

2. “When you think about stepping into a leadership role, what excites you most?”

3. “What part of your success do you still feel weird about owning?”

4. “What story do you think you’ve inherited about what it means to be a leader?”

5. “What would change if you fully believed you were capable?”

6. “Where are you underestimating your value?”

7. “If you could rewrite the narrative about your role here, what would you say instead?”

8. “How do you want to be seen—and how can you start living that version of you now?”

9. “What’s one brave step you could take this week to back yourself?”

Ask them gently. With curiosity, not pressure.

You’re not fixing them—you’re helping them hear their own story differently.

And when that story shifts… everything does.

Finally: Leadership is Not Just Strategy. It’s Identity Work.

You can’t scale your business without scaling your people. And you can’t scale your people unless you help them own who they really are.

So here’s your call to action:

Get curious. Ask the deeper questions. Challenge the old narratives—yours, and theirs. And remember that your job as a leader is not just to manage tasks, but to hold space for transformation.

When we help people rewrite their internal stories, we unlock their external success. And that’s what true leadership is all about.

References

Brown, B. (2012). Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead. Gotham Books.

Clance, P. R., & Imes, S. A. (1978). The imposter phenomenon in high achieving women: Dynamics and therapeutic intervention. Psychotherapy: Theory, Research & Practice, 15(3), 241–247. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0086006

Vergauwe, J., Wille, B., Feys, M., De Fruyt, F., & Anseel, F. (2015). Fear of being exposed: The trait-relatedness of the impostor phenomenon and its relevance in the work context. Journal of Business and Psychology, 30(3), 565–581. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10869-014-9382-5