The Imposter Effect: Why So Many Capable Women Still Feel Like They Are Faking It
By: Angela Fenton, Systems and Professional Development Coach
In my coaching practice, I have worked with many accomplished women: executive directors, senior leaders, emerging managers, board members, and professionals navigating complex careers. They are thoughtful, capable, values-driven, and deeply committed to the work they do.
And yet, in one form or another, every woman I have ever coached has described some version of the same private fear: What if I am not actually as good as people think I am?
I hear things like, “I just got lucky,” “They’re eventually going to find out I don’t really know what I am doing,” “I shouldn’t put my name forward until I have more experience,” or “Everyone else seems so much more capable than me.”
This is often called “imposter syndrome,” but let’s move away from that phrasing. The word “syndrome” can make it sound as though something is wrong with the person experiencing it, as if it is a pathology or personal defect. In my experience, there is nothing pathological about it. It is not a diagnosis. It is not a flaw. It is not proof that someone lacks confidence, competence, or resilience.
And it is certainly not uncommon, particularly among women. Instead, let’s call it the imposter effect.
An "effect" is something that happens in response to conditions. It can be influenced by our environments, our histories, our social conditioning, our workplaces, and the systems we operate within. For many women, especially women leading in sectors where the stakes are high and resources are stretched, the imposter effect is less a personal failing than a very human response to pressure, visibility, expectation, and comparison.
How the Imposter Effect Shows Up
The imposter effect isn’t always obvious. In fact, it often hides underneath behaviours that look responsible, diligent, or high-performing from the outside.
One way it shows up is through over-preparation. A leader may spend hours perfecting a presentation, rewriting an email, or preparing for a meeting long past the point of usefulness. On the surface, this looks like commitment to excellence. Underneath, there may be a fear that one small mistake will expose a deeper inadequacy.
Another way it shows up is through hesitation around opportunity. A woman may be invited to apply for a senior role, speak on a panel, join a board, nominate herself for public recognition, or lead a major initiative, and her first instinct is to scan for the ways she is not ready or deserving. She may focus on the one qualification she does not have, rather than the many strengths and experiences she does bring. Meanwhile, others with similar or even less experience may step forward with far less internal debate.
It can also show up as difficulty receiving praise. Many clients explain away positive feedback almost immediately. “It was a team effort.” “The timing was lucky.” “They were just being nice.” Humility and shared credit are valuable. But when someone consistently deflects recognition, it becomes harder for her to internalize evidence of her own capability.
In nonprofit leadership, the imposter effect can be intensified by the nature of the work itself. Leaders are often managing urgent community needs, limited budgets, complex stakeholder relationships, and emotionally demanding missions. The work can feel endless. When there is always more to do, it is easy to confuse unfinished work with personal insufficiency.
Why It Matters
The imposter effect does not simply create private discomfort. It can shape careers, leadership, and organizations. When capable women hold back, their ideas may not be heard. When they over-function, they may burn out. When they minimize their contributions, they may be overlooked for advancement, funding opportunities, influence, or recognition. When they assume everyone else is more certain than they are, they may carry unnecessary shame about a feeling that is actually remarkably common.
The goal is not to eliminate self-doubt completely. Some self-questioning can be useful. It keeps us reflective, ethical, and open to learning. The problem is when self-doubt becomes the dominant lens through which we interpret our own competence and achievement.
A healthier goal is to build a more accurate relationship with ourselves: one that can hold both humility and confidence, both growth and evidence, both uncertainty and capability.
If something has resonated so far, you are definitely not alone, and you are certainly among incredibly talented company. Here are two practices you might try.
Practice 1: Gather Evidence, Not Reassurance
One useful coaching practice is to distinguish between reassurance and evidence.
Reassurance can help in the moment, but it often fades quickly. A client may hear, “You are doing a great job,” feel better briefly, and then find the same doubts returning before the next challenge.
Evidence gives the mind something more concrete to work with.
I often encourage clients to keep a “capability file” or “brag bag.” This can be a simple document or folder where they collect positive feedback, successful outcomes, meaningful milestones, difficult situations they navigated, and examples of impact. It might include a thank-you note from a stakeholder, a successful funding result, a strong performance review, a project completed under challenging conditions, or a moment when they handled a hard conversation well.
The point is not ego. The point is accuracy. When the imposter effect says, “You do not belong here,” the capability file says, “Here is the evidence that you have contributed, learned, led, and grown.”
This practice helps because many women are socialized to move quickly past accomplishments and focus on what still needs to be done. A capability file creates a deliberate pause. It helps the nervous system and the mind take in success, rather than treating it as a brief accident before the next test.
Practice 2: Name the Voice, Then Widen the Frame
Another helpful practice is to name the imposter voice without over-identifying with it.
Instead of saying, “I am an imposter,” a client might learn to say, “The imposter effect is showing up right now.” That small shift creates space. It reminds the person that the thought is an experience, not a fact. One client even chose to give her imposter persona a name, “Debbie Doubter,” as a powerful way of distinguishing that voice from her authentic self.
From there, we can widen the frame with coaching questions:
What is the imposter effect, or Debbie Doubter, trying to protect me from?
What evidence supports this fear, and what evidence complicates it?
What would I say to another woman with my exact experience and qualifications?
What standard am I holding myself to, and is it reasonable?
What would be possible if I didn’t need to feel fully confident before taking the next step?
These questions help move a person from fusion to reflection. Rather than arguing with the imposter voice or trying to silence it, she can become curious about it. Often, the voice is trying to prevent embarrassment, failure, rejection, or criticism. Those concerns may be understandable, but they do not need to be in charge.
Widening the frame also means recognizing context. If a woman is the first, the only, or one of very few people like her in a room, her self-doubt may not be just an internal issue. If she has received biased feedback, been underestimated, or had to prove herself repeatedly, then her hesitancy may be connected to real experiences. Coaching should not turn systemic realities into personal mindset problems.
The work is to honour the context while still supporting agency.
A Shift Toward Self-Compassion
One of the most powerful shifts I see in coaching is when women begin to interpret their discomfort more compassionately.
Nervous before a big presentation does not mean unqualified. Wanting to do well does not mean lacking confidence. Not knowing everything does not mean not knowing enough. Being stretched does not mean being fraudulent. Needing support does not mean being weak.
The imposter effect often appears at the edge of growth. It shows up when we are visible, when we are trying something new, when we care about the outcome, or when we are stepping into a larger version of our leadership.
For women in the nonprofit sector, the stakes of leadership can feel very high and deeply personal. The work matters. The community matters. The mission matters. It is no wonder many women feel pressure to be endlessly competent, prepared, and certain.
But leadership does not require certainty all the time. It requires presence, learning, courage, judgment, and the willingness to act in alignment with purpose, even when self-doubt comes along for the ride.
With practice, we can shift the focus from “How do I get rid of the imposter effect forever?” to “How do I stop letting it make my decisions for me?”
That is where confidence often begins: not in the absence of doubt, but in the growing ability to see ourselves clearly and step forward anyway.
About the Author
Angela is a systems and professional development coach who works primarily with leaders and teams in the private sector, supporting high-responsibility roles to strengthen clarity, confidence, and effectiveness. Alongside this work, she has extensive experience coaching nonprofit Executive Directors and senior leaders navigating the demands of mission-driven organizations. Angela has also served as a board member and board chair for nonprofit organizations, giving her a grounded understanding of governance and the Executive Director–Board relationship. She is the host and facilitator of Executive Director Coaching Circles, peer-based spaces designed to reduce isolation at the top and support leaders through shared learning and deep listening. Angela brings a structured, thoughtful, and relational approach to her coaching and is particularly interested in the inner work of leadership and the role of connection in sustainable performance.