The executive board meeting ran two hours over schedule. My presentation had landed exactly as planned: the client approved the campaign, the revenue projections exceeded expectations, and three team members received promotions based on the work. Walking back to my office, I should have felt accomplished. Instead, a familiar thought surfaced: anyone could have done this. I just got lucky with the timing.
After managing creative teams for Fortune 500 brands across two decades, I’ve learned something uncomfortable about success. The promotions, the client wins, the leadership recognition, none of it silenced the persistent whisper suggesting I’d somehow fooled everyone. That voice doesn’t belong exclusively to me. Research from a 2020 systematic review published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine found that roughly 70% of people experience these feelings at some point in their careers.
Understanding how your energy patterns intersect with professional achievement reveals something critical about this experience. Our Career Skills & Professional Development hub explores numerous workplace challenges for those who process internally, and imposter syndrome represents one of the most persistent obstacles you’ll face. The disconnect between external success and internal belief creates a specific kind of exhaustion for those of us who already spend considerable energy managing workplace dynamics.
What Makes This Different for Internal Processors
Psychologists Pauline Rose Clance and Suzanne A. Imes first described the impostor phenomenon in their landmark 1978 study, initially focusing on high-achieving professional women. The original research identified something crucial: these weren’t struggling professionals. Objective evidence consistently demonstrated their competence, yet they couldn’t internalize their accomplishments.
The introvert dimension adds layers most research overlooks. During my agency years, I watched extroverted colleagues handle success differently. Positive feedback energized them visibly. Recognition from clients or senior leadership seemed to land and stick. Their confidence appeared to grow proportionally with their achievements.
