Why does an executive who has succeeded for years still go to bed thinking, “One day they will find out I am not that capable”? The experience is called the impostor phenomenon: an inability to internalise success and a persistent fear of being exposed. Research shows it is common among high-achieving professionals, travels with burnout and weaker performance, and does not automatically fade as seniority rises. Freud offers a key to understanding where it comes from.
In a systematic review published in 2020, Bravata and colleagues examined 62 studies with 14,161 participants. Reported prevalence ranged from 9% to 82%, a spread driven largely by the screening tool and cut-off used. The experience appeared in both men and women and across age groups, from adolescents to late-career professionals. A 2026 meta-analysis by Omar and colleagues, covering 34 studies and 9,550 medical students, reported a pooled prevalence of 49% while warning that measurement tools are not consistent. The exact number is debatable; how common the experience is, is not.
An executive caught in impostor feelings often overworks so as not to be found out — Image: Giannino Nalin / Pexels
What does it cost decision-making and the organisation?
In Bravata’s review, impostor syndrome was often comorbid with depression and anxiety and was associated with impaired job performance, lower job satisfaction and burnout. In practice, an executive caught in this feeling usually shows one of two patterns: overwork and micromanagement so as not to be “found out”, or avoidance of high-stakes decisions and visibility. A 2026 paper by Mulcahy-Spence and colleagues on leaders promoted from among their own peers lists exactly this behavioural overcompensation, and the avoidance of difficult conversations, among the common pitfalls of that transition. The organisational cost is clear: less delegation, slower decisions, and early fatigue in a leader who looks highly successful from the outside.
Do leadership programmes make the feeling go away?
The current evidence is cautious. Bravata found no published study that evaluated a treatment for the phenomenon. Cole and colleagues (2026) measured participants in a five-month leadership programme before and after; of 53 starters, 45 completed it, and impostor scores did not change significantly. The message for executives is plain: external skills training alone does not reach the root of this feeling, which suggests it is not simply a skills deficit.
Outer success does not silence a severe inner judge — Image: Andras Stefuca / Pexels
Where does Freud locate the feeling of being a fraud?
In The Ego and the Id (1923; SE 19, chapter V, pp. 48–59), Freud describes the super-ego: an internalised conscience built from the authority figures of childhood, which can give rise to an “unconscious sense of guilt”, a guilt the person is not aware of and experiences only as dissatisfaction and a need for punishment. In Some Character-Types Met with in Psycho-Analytic Work (1916; SE 14), he also describes people who collapse at the very moment a long-held wish is fulfilled, because the super-ego does not permit that success.
This Freudian framework explains why outer success does not cure the inner feeling: the real judge is neither the board nor the market, but a severe super-ego whose standard is never met. Once a leader recognises that the fear of being “found out” is the voice of this inner judge, he or she can redefine the relationship with it instead of fighting it or hiding from visibility.
No. The impostor phenomenon is not a formal psychiatric diagnosis but a pattern of experience that sits on a spectrum. Because it often travels with anxiety, depression and burnout, taking it seriously benefits both the person and the organisation.
Why can a promotion make the feeling worse?
Because every new role brings more visibility and higher expectations, and a severe super-ego raises the bar again. In the move from colleague to boss, a person has to build a new professional identity, and that transition can activate the fear of being “found out”.
Conclusion: success can be owned
Impostor syndrome is not a sign of incompetence; it is common among professionals at every level. The evidence says the feeling is common and linked with burnout, and Freud shows that its root lies in an inner judgement, not in the outer track record. The good news is that by getting to know this inner judge, a leader can truly own his or her success and decide and lead with greater calm.
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Bravata DM, Watts SA, Keefer AL, et al. Prevalence, Predictors, and Treatment of Impostor Syndrome: a Systematic Review. J Gen Intern Med. 2020;35(4):1252-1275. PMID: 31848865. DOI: 10.1007/s11606-019-05364-1
Omar YM, Khattab YA, Abdelmageed A, et al. The impostor phenomenon construct in medical education: a meta-analysis of its prevalence and a critical appraisal of its measurement. Adv Health Sci Educ Theory Pract. 2026. PMID: 41801596. DOI: 10.1007/s10459-026-10513-3
Cole JD, Lindsay CAR, Sasser C, et al. Impact of Leader Academy Training on Growth Mindset and Impostor Phenomenon. Am J Pharm Educ. 2026;90(9):102026. PMID: 42336147. DOI: 10.1016/j.ajpe.2026.102026
Mulcahy-Spence A, Amidon B, Clements PT, Haddad L. When the colleague becomes the boss: Navigating the shift from peer to nurse leader. J Prof Nurs. 2026;66:241-246. PMID: 42744440. DOI: 10.1016/j.profnurs.2026.07.022
Freud S. (1923). The Ego and the Id. In: Strachey J, ed. The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, Vol. 19. London: Hogarth Press: 1-66.
Freud S. (1916). Some Character-Types Met with in Psycho-Analytic Work. In: Strachey J, ed. The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, Vol. 14. London: Hogarth Press: 309-333.
