Impostor Syndrome Has Officially Entered the Zeitgeist

Impostor Syndrome has gone mainstream. It’s showing up not just in workplaces but in popular culture.

In Poker Face, a recurring character recently said, “I’ve been working on my Impostor Syndrome.” A few months earlier, in Only Murders in the Building, Marshall admitted he felt like an impostor, and Selena Gomez’s character replied, “Sometimes I feel like one.”

When a concept enters the zeitgeist, it becomes part of the cultural conversation. Impostor Syndrome—once a hidden, personal struggle—is now openly acknowledged. That visibility helps normalize it, but most portrayals stop there. They label it as a problem without pointing to a solution.

Acknowledging it is a powerful first step. But real change requires understanding why it happens and learning tools to break the cycle.

Success Deflection: A Core Dynamic

The character Simon, an FBI agent in Poker Face, offers a perfect example of one of Impostor Syndrome’s biggest traps: success deflection.

Rather than owning our accomplishments, we chalk them up to luck, timing, or the help we received.

In the show, Natasha Lyonne’s character Charlie can instantly tell when someone is lying. Simon uses her gift to solve cases but hides her involvement from his superiors. So when he’s promoted, he believes he doesn’t deserve it.

What Simon overlooks is this: what you do with the help and opportunities you receive is what creates success. He fails to acknowledge the effort it takes to secure Charlie’s help and the skill he uses to deliver results while protecting her role.

Changing the Narrative

With clients, I often help them see the role they truly play in their success—their effort, intelligence, and gifts, combined with the ways they leverage timing, support, and opportunity.

This simple shift can unlock confidence and pride that was always there but buried under self-doubt.

Awareness Isn’t Enough

Impostor Syndrome is now part of the zeitgeist because it’s everywhere—84% of employees experience impostor feelings at some point. Yet the nature of the struggle is to hide it.

This invisibility leaves individuals suffering in silence and organizations losing valuable ideas, innovation, and leadership.

Now that Impostor Syndrome is in the mainstream conversation, it’s time to move beyond awareness. We need to teach people the tools to break free from it and create cultures where confidence and contribution can thrive.