Published on: July 21, 2026 at 9:00 am
By Marc Hogan
The imposter phenomenon occurs when employees believe that they don’t know what they’re expected to know. Also known as imposter syndrome, it is frequently connected to withdrawal behaviors, anxiety in the workplace, and burnout. But it’s also transitory, and leaders can take steps to mitigate its negative effects, according to Academy of Management Scholar Sean Martin of the University of Virginia.
“There might be some people who are more prone to it than others, but it’s also a highly contextualized thing,” Martin said. “It’s likely to happen when people get a promotion, when they get a new job, when they have to take on new tasks, or they get a new responsibility, but it’s not a full promotion.”
The imposter phenomenon can occur even at the highest levels, Martin noted. For example, he said that many of the students in his executive Master of Business Administration (MBA) classes—who are “incredibly talented at their jobs” but might not have entered a classroom for 20 years—often feel like imposters as they get up to speed on the norms of returning to school.
“Managers can do a good job of being able to recognize it, call it what it is, recognize that it’s a temporary thing for people, and by doing so, normalize it,” Martin said.
Leaders should be aware that imposter-like thoughts are likely to accompany changes to a worker’s environment, whether it be a recent promotion or a new stretch assignment, he added. They can ease the negative effects of imposter syndrome by acknowledging that everyone has those feelings to a certain extent, according to Martin. Leaders who have recently been promoted may want to tell others that they still feel like they’re new in the role, he said.
Above all, leaders should create a psychologically safe environment where a conversation about imposter feelings can develop without a stigma, according to Martin.
“If the imposter phenomenon is the gap between what I think you expect me to know and what I know, we’re only going to resolve that gap by talking about it and getting clear on what all those expectations actually are,” Martin said.
“Managers can create the context where these things are normalized, discussed, and seen as something temporary.”
