How to embrace your inner imposter: a fresh perspective

Jennifer Clamp: Founder Coach
4 min readApr 21, 2021

Ever feel way out of your depth leading your company, or that your success isn’t your own? Spend time you don’t have agonising over every decision, feel ill-equipped as a leader, even a fraud? It’s possible you’re experiencing Imposter Syndrome, a thorn in the side of many start-up founders.

Don’t suffer in silence.

Keep reading, as I reveal where your imposter comes from, why it’s actually a strength, and how to channel its influence for good.

Imposter syndrome is far more common than you think and typically affects high achievers at some point in their professional lives.

Imposter Syndrome

A persistent, internalised fear of being exposed as a fraud, often characterised by:

1. Having exceptionally high expectations of yourself

2. Feeling like you don’t belong and have got where you are by luck

3. Feeling like a fraud.

It’s hardly surprising that start-up founders have an increased likelihood of experiencing imposter syndrome.

Great leadership skills take a professional lifetime to develop. Traditional routes into a CEO role take 15–20 years of working your way up the ladder, development programmes, learning from role models, mentors and peers — not something a start-up founder has time for.

Investors and stakeholders (and that voice in your head) expect you to embody what it means to be a CEO in 7 years or less, learning ‘on the job’ whilst leading a high-growth business. The fact is, founders often learn to navigate complex leadership transitions ‘on the job’.

Picture the scene.

Have you ever been pitching to an investor or a big client, they ask you a question and your mind goes blank. You can’t find your words and you’re certain they’ve spotted a major flaw in your thinking.

Perhaps you’re about to address an all-staff meeting to talk through the company roadmap and you start thinking ‘they’re going to see through me and realise I don’t know what I’m doing.’

While these doubts can be challenging in the moment, as a founder, your willingness to question your capability is a strength and it keeps you on a path of self-development. Your imposter is your ally. It has its place and, when properly managed, can even improve your leadership.

Imposter syndrome stems from humility; ‘the quality of having a modest view of one’s importance’. Humility is powerful, especially when coupled with a founder’s tenacity to advance their organisation and the purpose behind it.

Humble leaders are emotionally intelligent, embrace their strengths and weaknesses, and build high-performing teams around them to complement their skills. They recognise they don’t have all the answers and don’t need to be the smartest person in every room.

Humility translates into methodical, intentional leadership.

Your imposter is your Ally. Embrace it.

Your imposter’s unmanaged influence is disruptive, but don’t forget, it comes from a place of wanting to keep you safe. It’s not inherently bad. In fact, an effectively managed imposter keeps you accountable.

Face it head-on, as you would with any problem faced by your business. Use our three thoughtful tips to channel your imposter for good:

1. Recognise when your imposter is most likely to rear its head… be ready for it.

Anxiety and self-doubt are normal responses to stressors like change, and success we don’t feel we deserve. For a founder scaling their start-up, change is constant and rapid. It can feel like you’re the sole solution finder under constant pressure to perform. A perfect storm for self-doubt.

Different circumstances spark imposter syndrome for different people. Some are triggered by specific circumstances, like public speaking, or by certain people, like investors, or their peers.

2. Challenge your imposter.

When its voice emerges, don’t automatically accept your imposter’s view as truth. Question its credibility through challenge. Your imposter most likely speaks in blanket generalisations, which you can logically discredit.

When you freeze when questioned by investors, remember you don’t have to have all the answers. You have your board and team to support you. Investors are equally as interested in how you cope with high-pressure situations and uncertainty. No one is more knowledgeable about your business than you, embrace that.

3. Name the emotion.

Your inner imposter shows its face at key points of transition — of which there have likely been many since starting your business. There will be many more in your role of founder and CEO as your company scales.

When you say out loud what you’re experiencing, the feeling quickly dissipates.

I don’t have all the answers’, becomes ‘I don’t need all the answers — that’s why I hired the best team’.

Business coaches commonly help founders, CEOs and other high achievers manage transitions in their career and the experience of imposter syndrome that can come with this success. Working with a business coach through your transition from founder to CEO accelerates performance in a changing role and reduces the risk of costly mistakes.

Aata’s health check and Founder to CEO Day provides a strong starting point if you are new to coaching.

Book your free chemistry call today to find out more.

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Jennifer Clamp: Founder Coach

With Aata founders become CEOs and businesses grow sustainably 💫 ⚡️ Book your complimentary Chemistry Call 👉 withaata.com