Project Management

The Dangers of Impostor Syndrome in Project Management

Andy Jordan is President of Roffensian Consulting S.A., a Roatan, Honduras-based management consulting firm with a comprehensive project management practice. Andy always appreciates feedback and discussion on the issues raised in his articles and can be reached at [email protected]. Andy's new book Risk Management for Project Driven Organizations is now available.

You may have heard of the concept of impostor syndrome. It’s the idea that an individual doesn’t feel that they are capable of doing what they are being asked to do—that somehow, they are an impostor as a project manager (or whatever job they have).

Someone I know refers to it as the sense that “the bosses are going to figure out soon that I’m not good enough to do this.” We all have self-doubts on occasion, but if you get consumed with impostor syndrome, it can be dangerous. In fact, it can be fatal to a career.

I have seen people who haven’t applied for promotions that they were more than qualified for because they were suffering from impostor syndrome. I know of others who have sabotaged their applications and interviews because they didn’t feel ready, and being turned down somehow validated that they weren’t good enough for the role.

And recently, I spoke with someone who expressed gratitude that he hadn’t been offered a promotion until after he had overcome his impostor syndrome—something that had taken years.

Why are PMs prone to impostor syndrome?
Impostor syndrome can hit anyone, in any position, but it does seem as though PMs seem to suffer from it more than many other roles. That’s partly because project managers are leaders, focusing on soft skills more than hard skills—and it&…


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A verbal contract isn't worth the paper it's written on.

- Sam Goldwyn

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