We’re not qualified to give this talk: Imposter syndrome

There is a quiet epidemic running through the cyber security industry - and it has nothing to do with threat actors, vulnerabilities, or compliance gaps. More than 80% of professionals, at every level, silently wrestle with the belief that they are about to be found out. That their past successes were luck. That the room is about to realise they don't belong.

This is imposter syndrome (or more accurately, the imposter phenomenon) and it is disproportionately experienced by high achievers and professionals with underrepresented identities. It manifests not just as self-doubt, but as over-preparation, procrastination, perfectionism, and the quiet habit of brushing off every win as circumstance rather than capability.

In an industry that can demand consistency, fast decisions, and preparation for the inevitable, the cost of leaving this unaddressed is significant - not just to the individual, but to the teams they lead, the organisations they protect, and the profession as a whole.