“I don’t belong here.”
“I’m going to mess this up.”
“I don’t want make a fool of myself.”
Anyone who struggles with impostor syndrome can relate to these feelings.
The National Institutes of Health describes impostor syndrome as a “behavioral health phenomenon” that affects high-achieving individuals who have pervasive feelings of self-doubt, anxiety, depression or fear of being “found out” as a “fraud” at work.
One study found that 62% of employees globally have experienced impostor syndrome – and it reaches all levels of organizations.
“The way I look at impostor syndrome is those who are in positions where they don’t feel prepared or ready but they have to be ‘on,’” said Monique Parker, senior vice president of environmental, health and safety at Piedmont Lithium, a North Carolina-based mining company.
When faced with a question or issue from a co-worker or manager, the effect can be devastating.
“I tend to describe it as a paralyzing and debilitating fear,” said Bryce Griffler, co-founder of Safety is for Everyone, a consulting and training firm. “The words ‘paralyzing’ and ‘debilitating’ are really important because it’s not just this nagging discomfort of self-doubt, but it truly is this internalized, constant twisting in your stomach.”
The impact
For safety pros, thoughts of failing associated with impostor syndrome can be intense.
“The fear of failure is terrifying for an EHS professional,” Griffler said. “Failure can mean the difference between life and death or life and ill health.”
Allie Kroeger knows the feelings all too well.
Despite having more than a decade of professional experience in the EHS field and a master’s degree, as well as being fluent in Spanish, nagging doubts were a constant.
“You feel like you try so hard to make something of yourself, but then you wonder, ‘Is this right? Am I doing it right?’” said Kroeger, safety director at Buckeye Elm Contracting near Columbus, OH. “There were all kinds of questions.
“You have the inspectors that show up to the site that know all the citations. They know all the codes. You ask them a question and they’ll spout out, ‘29 CFR 1926 blah, blah, blah.’ I’m like, ‘I’ve got to look that up.’ I’m not good at memorizing. I have to see the process. I have to figure out how it works.”
As a manager, Parker has seen how impostor syndrome affects others.
“There was a young lady who used to work for me, and I immediately saw her ability and the impact that she could have,” she said. “But she had no clue. It’s more about their confidence in their own abilities vs. their skills and knowledge.”
The hurdles
Griffler says safety pros experiencing impostor syndrome can be hesitant to share innovative ideas, join special projects or “tiger teams” that work on a specific goal, or identify a known issue and stop work.
“It’s almost introducing another avenue where a person might find out that they don’t belong here,” he said. “It’s a bit of self-preservation.”
Along with experiencing negative emotions, safety pros can feel like they aren’t working effectively.
“In daily work, sometimes it makes people feel like they’re slower,” Parker said.
For some safety pros, including Kroeger, impostor syndrome can result in procrastination. Others may have a fear of failure or a fear of success and/or experience perfectionism, NIH says.
The unrelenting daily challenges can disrupt careers – or even end them.
“A lot of time when you deal with impostor syndrome, you put limits on yourself,” Parker said. “You stop your career growth because you feel like you need to check all the boxes or you need to know everything about every piece of occupational safety. That’s just not realistic.”
The day-to-day plan
Griffler recommends focusing on data and celebrating each day. Whenever someone completes a goal, it should be treated as a success.
“There are going to be metrics of success,” he said. “Whatever that success looked like, focus on those numbers. Focus on that evidence of what you achieved, because that’s objective.”
Safety pros can set a calendar invite or put a sticky note on their computers as a reminder to celebrate small wins.
“We fail to actually celebrate,” Griffler said. “Where’s that reminder to ask, ‘What are you proud of today?’”
If a glove program results in 60% of your workers wearing them, Kroeger suggests talking to that group about what it likes and declaring that a win. Then, focus on what the other workers don’t like and what fixes can be made.
And she has a reminder for safety pros: You’re never truly alone. Every glove program, for example, has a distribution representative who can help ensure compliance and solve problems.
“I consider a successful safety professional as someone that doesn’t know everything but knows somebody that can help,” she said.
And these days, when Kroeger wakes up thinking about the “30 gazillion things” on her task list, she leans on her advance work on taming anxiety.
“Before I go to bed, I say, ‘Which one of these isn’t something that can wait, but if it doesn’t happen, what’s the consequence?’” she said. “If the consequence is just for me, I say, ‘If I get to it, great. If I don’t, then it will be the next day.’”
For Parker, meditation is an effective tool to “ground yourself and get rid of the noise that’s around you. Start your day on a level place where you are in a positive mindset.”
Then, when the inevitable challenge comes up, you’ll be more prepared to manage it.
“If you promise yourself in the beginning of the day how you’re going to respond to those negative areas, then it will allow you to be in a better mindset when they do come about.”
What can managers do?
Griffler, who’s set to present on impostor syndrome during the 2025 NSC Safety Congress & Expo in Denver, said employers can help support workers with impostor syndrome.
Managers should avoid trivializing a high-achiever’s feelings or comments, which can reinforce that they’ve successfully concealed their perceived incompetence and could lead to additional fears of being exposed.
Griffler also recommends providing teaching opportunities to help safety pros gain expertise on a subject matter. Allowing someone the opportunity to teach a topic forces them to conduct a variety of preparation activities.
If someone struggling with impostor syndrome is already knowledgeable on a certain safety topic, teaching to a room full of people can alleviate a person’s perception of incompetence.
“Continuing to try to hide and mask is so exhausting and not sustainable,” Griffler said. “It’s so uncomfortable to be vulnerable. But it’s so important. It’s not a sign of weakness. In a lot of ways, it’s a sign of strength.”
