How to Navigate Mentoring Someone with Imposter Syndrome

Mentoring someone with imposter syndrome can be a challenging yet extremely rewarding undertaking. You can help your mentee overcome imposter syndrome and reach their full potential by offering personalised guidance, support and empathy.

Read on to understand more about exactly what imposter syndrome is, how to spot it in your mentee and the important role you can play in helping your mentee overcome imposter syndrome in their career.

What Is Imposter Syndrome?

Imposter syndrome is an internal psychological experience that leaves people questioning their abilities and feeling like they don’t deserve their success, even when there’s tangible evidence that they’re doing everything right. If you have imposter syndrome, you could be absolutely smashing it, but you’ll still believe that you’re not good enough. Some people experience these feelings only after receiving a promotion, starting a new job or something similar. It’s a pest, basically, but your role as a mentor could help others overcome imposter syndrome at work and finally recognise that they’re bossing it.

However, mentoring someone with imposter syndrome isn’t always a straightforward path. People often talk about the joys of mentoring and seeing their mentees blossom and succeed, but not every mentoring session goes to plan. If imposter syndrome is plaguing your mentee, simply being encouraging isn’t enough; it’s more complicated than that. It’s a self-perception issue and your encouragement might not make sense to them. We’ve put together this guide to equip you for mentoring someone with imposter syndrome so you and your mentee can still both achieve your desired outcomes, without anything getting in your way.

How To Identify Imposter Syndrome

Imposter syndrome can be hard to spot in people sometimes, but there are a few signs that can help you figure out if someone has imposter syndrome:

• Low self-esteem
• Downplaying achievements
• Comparing themselves with others
• Anxiety and stress
• Self-sabotaging behaviour, like procrastination
• Fear of failure (and sometimes success)
• Overly critical self-perception
• Crediting luck, other people or other reasons for any success

How Mentoring Can Help Mentees Overcome Imposter Syndrome

Mentoring someone with imposter syndrome can be an effective way to help them quieten their critical inner voice. As a mentor, you can support mentees with imposter syndrome with the following:

Improved Self-Awareness

When you first begin mentoring someone with imposter syndrome (or anyone at all!), a good early task is to ask them to identify their strengths and weaknesses. This will help your mentee recognise that there are some things they are good at and boosts their self-esteem by acknowledging their successes and uniqueness.

Changes in a mentee’s self-perception may take time, but you can help them focus on their strengths and see their weaknesses in a different light – not as something that holds them back, but instead as something that makes them human.

Emotional Support

In every mentoring partnership, it’s important to provide a secure and encouraging environment where your mentee can express their concerns and anxieties without judgement.

Imposter syndrome at work can often lead to feelings of isolation, but mentors can help alleviate this by offering empathy, validation and understanding. Make sure your mentee knows your sessions are a safe space where they can share exactly what they’re thinking. Read more about building a productive mentor-mentee relationship.

Fresh Perspective

As a mentor, you can provide a more comprehensive outlook and help your mentee see the bigger picture. By highlighting their strengths, achievements and potential, you can offer comfort and support, encouraging your mentee to acknowledge their own worth and abilities.

After all, if they don’t value themselves, why will a future employer? It’s down to you to make them realise their full potential. It’s a privileged position and that moment when they finally reach their goals…well, that’s up there with the most rewarding benefits of mentoring of all.

Support with Networking

For someone with imposter syndrome, networking and making new connections can be especially daunting. Mentors can help their mentees by making ‘soft’ introductions to people within their network or even attending a networking session with them for support.

Creating positive experiences for your mentee will go some way to helping them to improve their self-esteem and create opportunities for further growth. One day, they’ll fly your mentoring nest and won’t need you anymore, and you will have given them the tools to go it alone. We told you it was rewarding!

Tips for Mentoring Someone With Imposter Syndrome

If your mentee is battling with imposter syndrome at work, they’ll require a slightly different style of mentoring than someone who has more confidence. With this in mind, here are our tips for mentoring someone with imposter syndrome:

1. Let Them Know They’re Not Alone

A huge 85% of employees have experienced imposter syndrome at some point in their careers, according to research carried out by The Hub Events.

Even the likes of Michelle Obama and Tom Hanks have admitted to struggles with imposter syndrome in the past. It’s important to remind your mentee that they’re definitely not on their own when it comes to these feelings…and that they can be beaten!

2. Openly Recognise Their Achievements

One of your main duties as a mentor is to provide support and encouragement. Whenever your mentee hits a milestone or successfully completes a project at work – however big or small – celebrate it and remind them that they’re capable. Encourage them to tell you how they feel after reaching that goal – they’ll slowly start to talk about themselves more positively and see what they can do.

3. Share Your Own Stories

Sharing your own experiences can be a powerful way to connect with your mentee. It’s helpful to let them know about times when you’ve experienced similar feelings. If they respect where you are now and are inspired by your path, it could really help them to know that you once doubted yourself too.

Describe how you tackled those obstacles, offering up the tips and techniques that proved successful for you.

4. Don’t Let Your Mentee Give You All The Credit

People struggling with imposter syndrome at work have a knack for attributing their professional success to everything and everyone but themselves, while downplaying the impact of their own involvement or talent. When a mentee with imposter syndrome attempts to give you all the credit for an achievement, say thanks, but clearly state how they actually did all the hard work themselves.

5. Create a Secure, Encouraging Atmosphere

Encourage your mentee to have an open conversation about their emotions and worries regarding imposter syndrome. Establish a secure environment where they can openly express their vulnerabilities and feel safe sharing their negative thoughts. You need to know the extent of what they’re telling themselves so you know exactly what to work on with them.

6. Encourage Positive Self-Talk

Help your mentee to start recognising negative self-talk before replacing it with positive affirmations to overcome limiting beliefs. Motivate them to substitute self-deprecating ideas with optimistic, practical ones. Encourage them to talk to themselves as they would a loved one, and let them know that self-doubt can be normal and healthy – but it should never dominate.

7. Set SMART Objectives

Work with your mentee to establish SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-bound) objectives. Divide bigger goals into smaller, more actionable chunks to boost their self-confidence and show them that advancement is attainable.

Lifelong imposter syndrome won’t vanish overnight but every small win will add up over time, until those negative voices feel like an irritating occasional acquaintance rather than a constant domineering presence.

8. Give Helpful Feedback and Compliments

Provide your mentee with detailed and constructive feedback to help them work on any areas that remain a weakness for them. As they start to overcome imposter syndrome and work on their insecurities, give them genuine praise and recognition for their achievements, reinforcing their self-belief.

9. Encourage Self-Reflection and Personal Development

Motivate your mentee to contemplate their achievements, positive attributes and opportunities for improvement, perhaps as part of a mentoring log or journal. Some people will need that visual aid to physically be able to see how far they’ve come, so find what works best for your mentee.

10. Suggest Helpful Resources

Mentoring someone with imposter syndrome might require more than your support and guidance alone. Signpost your mentee to any information, tips and methods for dealing with imposter syndrome and encourage them to seek further help – especially if they share something with you that you don’t feel equipped to deal with.

Think You Can Mentor Someone with Imposter Syndrome?

Embarking on the journey of mentoring someone with imposter syndrome can be challenging, but the satisfaction of being a supportive presence for someone who came to you with low self-esteem and now exudes confidence in their career is truly unmatched.

Feeling motivated to become a mentor? Read more about what makes a good mentor and help others overcome imposter syndrome at work.

Or…
You can just go ahead and sign up to become a Career Navig8r (that’s what we call our mentors 😉)