Women Leaders: Is it Really Imposter Syndrome? | Transforming Self Doubt to Self Worth

Women leaders often believe that they have imposter syndrome but what if that label is stopping you from asking the question that matters most? Instead of assuming something is wrong with you, what if you asked, What's happened that's made you question yourself? 

This single question that I use in my leadership coaching often helps women change how they see themselves - it can completely transform your confidence, your leadership and your future.

So much self doubt grows in uncertainty rather than truth. In this episode I'm sharing a real coaching story where you'll discover how one senior leader rebuilt her confidence by looking at the evidence instead of the story she'd created. If you've ever felt your voice at work disappear after being promised a pay rise that never happened or received feedback that made you doubt your judgement, this conversation offers a practical way forward. Women leaders don't need to fix themselves, they need to understand the context behind their self-doubt.

You'll hear why imposter syndrome may not be the real problem, how rebuilding self-worth strengthens leadership, and why asking, What happened that made me start doubting myself? opens the door to lasting change. You'll also learn a simple technique to collect evidence that challenges fear and helps you trust yourself again. This conversation is especially relevant for those focused on getting women promoted and creating workplaces where talented people feel able to contribute with confidence.

This also builds on Episode 3, Leadership Communication: If Speaking Up About Your Success Feels Awkward, Listen to This, where the focus shifts to communicating your value once you've rebuilt your confidence. Women leaders deserve to lead without carrying stories that no longer serve them, and the strongest foundation for confidence is always self-worth supported by evidence. If you've been wondering whether you need help with imposter syndrome, this perspective may change how you think about yourself forever.

If this conversation resonated, follow the podcast, share it with someone who needs to hear it, and leave a review to help more women discover practical, evidence-based leadership conversations.

Tags: women leaders, imposter syndrome, leadership, self doubt, getting women promoted

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Leadership Communication in Action is a podcast for women who are capable, thoughtful, and quietly questioning how they’re showing up at work and in life.

I’m Liz Boswell. I work with professional women who don’t need more advice, but do need space to think clearly, especially when the pressure is on.

Each episode is a calm, mentoring-style conversation grounded in real client moments. We look at the stories people carry, the behaviours those stories create, and the small, practical shifts that change how things land day to day.

You’ll hear honest reflections, psychologically precise questions, and simple actions you can try immediately, without overhauling your life or becoming someone else.

If you’re stepping into more responsibility, more visibility, or simply feeling the weight of decisions that matter, this podcast is here to help you slow things down, think more clearly, and move forward in a way that feels grounded and real.

A quiet companion for people who want to make better moves, not louder ones.

Transcript

1:03

Have you ever stopped yourself from speaking up in a meeting because you were asking yourself, "What if I'm wrong?" Or maybe you've talked yourself out of applying for a promotion because you assume that someone's eventually gonna realize that I'm not quite ready, or I'm not good enough. Well, if you have, then maybe you've told yourself as well that it's because you've got imposter syndrome. But what if it isn't? What if that's not it t- at all? What if your self-doubt isn't a personality trait, and it's not something that needs fixing? What if there is a perfectly logical explanation, and it may be it's an understandable response to something that's happened to you, could've been six months ago, a year ago, or even longer? So today, I want to challenge one of the most common labels that we give ourselves at work, even as women leaders, because when we stop asking, "Do I have imposter syndrome?" And start asking, "What happened that's made me doubt myself?" Then we open the door to something much more powerful, and that's when we start rebuilding trust in ourselves, and that's when we start being able to find our voice again and speak up at work. You know, I've been thinking a lot about imposter syndrome recently because it seems to be a phrase that's coming up in coaching conversations, like every week at the moment I'll have a woman who's, says to me, "Do you know what, Liz? I think I've got imposter syndrome." And I feel like saying, "Well, you know, there's a badge for that." Um, but honestly, I completely understand why. I completely understand why women say this, and why it seems to be a bit of a label. Because when you constantly question yourself and overthink every single decision that you're about to make, and when you're hesitating and thinking and overthinking everything before you speak up because you're worrying that somebody's gonna discover you're not as capable as everyone else thinks you are, then it seems like there's no other explanation really. There's no other reason for it. It must be imposter syndrome. And because you've heard so many other people talk about it, it feels like the obvious explanation. And you know what? I get it, but there's something that I've noticed, and it's become a bit of a pattern over time when I've been speaking to women about this in coaching sessions, is that- Even though we spend a lot of time talking about imposter syndrome, what we don't spend time talking about is asking the question, a much more interesting question for me than have I got imposter syndrome, is what's happened that's made you doubt yourself in the first place? Because I think curiosity is what can help us in this situation before we draw our own conclusions. Because, um, when we understand the context behind a behavior or behind ourselves feeling a certain way, it really helps and it really starts to make sense. And this is, um, when I'm looking into self-doubt, I think it's no different to any other behavior that we're trying to understand and trying to correct. Um, let me put this in some context for you and tell you about a client that I worked with recently called, um, Deborah. So Deborah was working in financial services, and she came to me for coaching because she wanted help overcoming what she described as imposter syndrome. She'd been promoted, uh, within the last year, so she was in a management position, but she said that she couldn't shake this feeling that she felt like a fraud, and it was affecting her with her team, and it was also affecting her in management meetings as well because she was holding back from making decisions. She was questioning her judgment, wondering whether it was the right decision, and she was convinced that eventually people would realize that she wasn't as capable as they thought she was. And now we could have spent our entire coaching session working on confidence techniques to help her to feel more confident speaking up in those meetings, and silence that inner critic in her head that was telling her she wasn't good enough or telling her she got imposter syndrome But instead we did something different in this particular coaching session and, um, we brought curiosity into the forefront of our conversation. So I asked her, "Well, can you tell me when did this start? When did you first start feeling like an imposter?" And it wasn't about why. We weren't looking at for a reason, we weren't looking for an explanation of, um, of why she had imposter syndrome, and I certainly wasn't also making her think that there was anything wrong with her, because there really wasn't. It was just about trying to pinpoint an exact moment when it began, because I think when we've got those facts, it helps us then to understand what happened and when. So we stayed curious, and we explored it together, and we talked about past, um, experiences, meetings, projects she'd been working on when everything was fine. And then eventually, something really, really important emerged in our conversation. W- we discovered, uh, that six months earlier during her appraisal she'd been told that she was ready to move into the next salary band, that it was, you know, it was time for her to, to get that pay rise, and it made a massive difference to her. You know, she told me that she was so happy about it and, you know, she told her husband, she told her parents and, you know, she was thinking, "This is gonna be such a difference for us financially." And her manager had reassured her that it was gonna happen. But six month later she was still waiting. Nothing had changed. No salary increase, no promotion, no conversation or explanation about it. And without realizing it she had started to decide in her own mind why this was the case, why she hadn't got the pay rise. She was filling in the gaps in her head. So I, I was asking her the question, "So why do you think this has happened?" And she said, "They must have changed their mind. Maybe they've realized that I'm not good enough. They've been looking at my results and realized and thought I'm not good enough, and maybe they have decided that I'm not leadership material after all." And- As we were talking, it was like she was almost waiting to be found out, waiting for them to, to tell her, "Well, this is the reason we've not given you the pay rise, because actually we don't think you're, you're up to the job." And it was really interesting that absolutely none of these thoughts that she'd been having in her head were based on any evidence. She'd never asked them. They'd never told her that this was what they were thinking. It was all completely based on her uncertainty, this anxiety and doubt that she was going through. And you know what it's like. I mean, uncertainty has a habit, doesn't it, of becoming self-doubt and leading to self-doubt. When we don't have all of the information and all of the facts that we need, we figure it out for ourselves. So when we had this realization, thought, "Right, okay, let's work through this then." And so here's what made the biggest difference for Deborah. Um, instead of focusing on this made-up story and belief that she'd created in her head, what we did instead is we looked at the evidence. What did the evidence of her performance actually tell us? Well, it took her a while, but eventually she spoke up and told me about what was working well in her team. Um, just a side note, by the way, if this is an issue for you, talking about your successes and talking about how well you're doing at work, go and listen to episode number three where I'm talking about, um, how we can hold ourselves back from speaking up about our successes, so go and have a look at that. But, um, yeah, back to Deborah. So basically, when we looked into it, the evidence showed that she was top of the leaderboard. You know, basically she was leading the highest performing team in the business. Her team engagement scores were excellent. Her t- team really trusted her Uh, other senior managers sought her out for advice. They came to her for help. Um, and you know, overall, she was delivering exceptional results. So she laughed really when she was telling me this because none of this lined up with the story that she was telling herself in her head. Um, the evidence just did not support her conclusion. And once she could see that, something shifted in her head and, um, as we continued to meet up in future coaching conversations, she noticed that her self-worth had really started to recover. And as that happened, she found her voice again. She started speaking up in meetings. She started being more certain in her decisions, and she had that faith in herself again. She went back to her leadership team and reminded them about the conversation they'd had six months earlier. It wasn't about, you know, her being aggressive. She wasn't apologizing either. You know, "Oh, sorry for not coming back to you. It must be my fault." She was completely professional, calm, confident. She simply reminded them of the commitment that they'd already made. Guess what? She got the pay rise and not only that, they're back dated it as well because it was their mistake. So good on her. But here's the important point that I want to share with you. This is the learning point for us really today, is, um, the coaching And the conversation that we had, it was nothing to do with confidence. It wasn't about, you know, techniques to overcome impostor syndrome. The confidence, and the self-worth, and the self-belief in Deborah came afterwards. After she'd shifted her thinking, that was when she suddenly found the confidence to, to speak up. And this work was all about build re- rebuilding her sense of self-worth, because she'd had it previously. Um, but confidence grows when we trust ourselves again, and w- what we need to look at really in this episode today is what is it that helps us to build trust and belief in ourselves? So here's the first thing that I want you to take away from this episode today, is firstly, be really careful about accepting the label of impostor syndrome too quickly. So don't be q- too quick to stick that label on yourself, because labels can be useful at times when they help us describe what we're experiencing, but they can also become sticky, and that's the pur- point, isn't it, with labels. They can become sticky, and they can leave a mark as well. So if you decide, "I have impostor syndrome," and you jump on the bandwagon, and you tell people, "Oh, I've got in- impostor syndrome and I can't do that. I can't, I can't give that presentation. I can't speak up in meetings. I can't deliver a webinar. It's because I've got impostor syndrome," it's like we're putting excuses in the way. Um, and instead of sticking on that label, we need to start looking for what actually caused the self-doubt in the first place. So that's the first thing. Don't be too quick to accept the label of impostor syndrome. Instead, ask yourself, when did this start? And look for that moment like Deborah did. What was happening just before you started- Questioning yourself. Was there feedback you were given that knocked your confidence? Was it a difficult conversation with a manager? Were you overlooked for promotion? Um, maybe it's about a previous redundancy in the past, um, business that you were working in. You know, I come across that in coaching sessions as well all the time. Sometimes women will be still holding the self-doubt from an experience that they had years before, a failed presentation, a toxic workplace where they were bullied. You know, all of these things, don't underestimate them, because they can stay with you for a long time. So stay curious before you draw conclusions, because behavior makes sense when you understand the context behind it So that's the first thing, don't be too quick to accept the label. The next thing I want to share with you is that there is a strong link between, uh, losing your voice at work and labeling yourself with imposter syndrome. So losing your voice is often a symptom of a problem, it's not the problem itself. Lots and lots of women tell me that they wanna be more confident speaking up and, you know, it's a big part of what I help women with, speaking up in meetings, speaking up in leadership conversations. But e- each and every time, confidence is not usually the starting point. It's because your self-worth has taken a hit. And so, of course, because you're not feeling that belief in yourself, you start to hesitate, and your voice realizes it, you know? Because your, uh, brain is listening to, um, is listening to that voice, and here's the big thing, you don't feel safe. You don't feel safe sharing your voice. So trying to force yourself to speak up without addressing what's underneath and looking at what's damaged your self-worth is a bit like treating a cough without looking at what's causing it. So you can keep, keep taking that cough medicine, but actually, if it's nothing to do with that, maybe you've got asthma or an allergy, then the cough medicine's not gonna help, is it? So we need to look at what's beneath the surface. So ask yourself, "What happened? What was I experiencing just before I started doubting myself?" And what story have you been telling yourself ever since in your head? So what is it that you're linking to imposter syndrome? Because most of the time when women tell me they've got imposter syndrome, there's usually a story they tell me as well that's g- that they're using to give themself that evidence of why they believe they've got imposter syndrome, 'cause it, it is a strong belief, and, um, I do understand that. So finally then, number three, uh, of the takeaways that I want you to- remember and, and learn from this experience is that evidence defeats doubt. Your brain will always generate stories when it's missing information. So when you're coming at it from a place of uncertainty because you haven't asked the question, like Deborah didn't, she just was assuming, and we all know what assume does for us, um, and that's what our brains do because stories aren't facts. So when we don't have all of the evidence, our brains make up a story, and that's that story that goes on repeat over and over for ourselves. So look for the evidence and keep a record of your evidence, and if you can't find evidence of the fact that your leadership team think that you're a failure or think that you're not performing well, then, you know, ask yourself, is that true? Is that a true story, or is it one that you've made up? So instead, look for the real evidence. Look for feedback that you've received. Look for a problem you've recently helped someone with. Look for the people in your team that are doing well. Look for the results on the last project you're working on because those moments when someone else trusted your judgment, those matter. And, and understanding and finding those moments and recording that evidence, that is when self-doubt will disappear because you can't argue with evidence. So show your self-doubt the evidence. That's what you need to do because evidence is far, far, far more powerful than fear. I'm gonna say it again. Evidence is far more powerful than fear So if today's episode has resonated with you, if you are somebody that's have- has a belief that you've got imposter syndrome, I just want to encourage you to spend a few minutes reflecting on one question. What was happening when you first had the thought in your head, "This is because I've got imposter syndrome"? So what happened before you started doubting yourself? Because that is the moment you need to work on. And when you can figure that out and find that evidence, that's when you'll be able to really fix that lack of self-doubt in your mind. It's not that there's anything wrong with you. Y- you don't need to fix yourself, you just need to fix the thinking. So just ask yourself, what happened? And you might discover that your self-doubt is not who you are, it's simply a, a temporary response to something that happened. And once you can understand that context, you can start rebuilding your trust in yourself, you can start refinding your voice, speaking up, feeling that confidence and self-worth again, and going for those promotions that you know you really, really want. So, um, good luck with that and please, please reach out and let me know how you're getting on. And if you're enjoying the podcast, then I would love it if you could give us a review please. Um, five star reviews are so welcome and they really help the podcast to get more viewed by other people. And also, just a quick reminder, a good follow on from this episode will be to go back, if you haven't already, go and listen to episode number three which is all about if speaking up about your success feels awkward, listen to this, okay? Um, so just like with Deborah, she was much happier to talk about her self-doubt than she was about her successes. So if that's you as well, go back and listen to episode three, and it really builds on today's conversation. 'Cause once you've started rebuilding your self-worth, then the next step is learning how to communicate your value without feeling like you're bragging, 'cause that would be the next story to tell yourself. Thank you so much for listening today. I've loved having this conversation with you. And until next time, remember, stay curious and trust the evidence. Bye for now