Two-thirds of people have imposter syndrome, according to a 2011 article published in the International Journal Of Behavioral Science. These are people who often feel like a fraud or believe their achievements were a fluke.
Bearing those statistics in mind, there’s a high likelihood that mentors suffer from this as well. How is someone who doesn’t recognize the inherent value of their own achievements supposed to mentor others?
Imposter syndrome amongst mentors
Mentorship discussions typically focus on the mentee’s imposter syndrome but neglect the mentor’s own struggles.
When someone, no matter how successful, feels like an imposter (assuming they can get over the first hurdle and agree to mentor someone) it impacts how effective they are in the relationship. They might over-prepare for mentoring sessions and hesitate to offer advice for fear of being wrong. When the mentee succeeds, it can amplify their imposter feelings. If they don’t take steps to address this, it can erode the trust between themselves and the mentee.