Do you feel afraid to speak up in a meeting? In a group of people, worrying that what you say will be ignored, not good enough, silly?

According to the Harvard Business Review, imposter syndrome is “doubting your abilities and feeling like a fraud at work,” and it’s something that’s often diagnosed in women. The concept was developed in the 1970s and still has quite a hold on many of us in the world of work.

When we experience feeling like a fraud, it can cause us to stay frozen in fear and not take action on our goals or a work project. How can we be afraid and do it anyway? Does “fake it until you make it” really work?

As a management consultant and former chief customer officer, I have worked with men and women seeking to grow in their careers but holding themselves back because they don’t believe in themselves, are embarrassed by their accomplishments or don’t want to outshine their bosses. One of the key principles I lead my team with is to get comfortable with being uncomfortable. This is how we grow and learn. What works with “faking it” is the skill and confidence that come with practicing something new as we stretch into uncharted territory. However, there’s also something much deeper at play here — what we believe about ourselves.

In his book The Big Leap: Conquer Your Hidden Fear and Take Life to the Next Level, Gay Hendricks brings up an excellent point: We get to keep our limitations if we argue for them, meaning arguing that something isn’t possible for us. What if, instead, we argued for what’s possible?

Imagine you’re asked to give a presentation on a topic you’ve never taught before, and you have two days to prepare. What immediately comes to mind? For some, it’s a piece of cake; they’ve already practiced public speaking many times. No problem. For others, it inspires instant panic — “Who am I to be the expert on this topic?” or “What if they find out that I really don’t know what I’m talking about?”

According to an article published in the International Journal of Behavioral Science, an estimated 70% of people experience imposter syndrome at some point in their lives. I was speaking with a successful executive in high tech and was surprised to hear that he sometimes feels like an imposter as a leader. Feeling like an imposter is a natural human experience for many of us. Where does this phenomenon come from after all? Much of it we learn from others — in our family, in our culture or from direct experience. 

Many of us throughout our careers had had that one manager who made us feel small, inept or unworthy, right when we thought we were showing up as our best selves. This can erode our confidence in who we are as skilled professionals. However, there’s good news — we can overcome this with some practice and support.