Imposter Phenomenon - The Researcher's Perspective - with Dr Terri Simpkin

Episode 6 of Work Truths: Off the Record is live, and today I’m joined by Dr Terri Simpkin, an academic and self-described ‘chaos wrangler’!Terri brings a brilliantly fresh perspective to the imposter phenomenon because she doesn’t just research it — she has lived experience of it too. In our conversation, we explore how imposter feelings are shaped by the wider systems around us, not just by what’s happening inside our own heads. That means looking at childhood messages, class, underrepresentation, and the ways social narratives can quietly tell us we simply ‘don’t belong’.One of the things I found most powerful was Terri’s personal story of moving through university and a PhD while carrying the fear that she would be ‘found out’. She also explains why the word syndrome is so misleading, and why calling it a phenomenon matters so much. For the record #NotASyndromeWe talk about the cycle she identified through her profound academic research –links between procrastination, perfectionism, overwork, self-doubt, and the exhausting crash that often follows success. And for managers, colleagues and organisations, Terri shares what to look out for when someone keeps discounting their achievements, refuses praise, or seems unable to see their own evidence of success.If you’re interested in how systems, language and lived experience intersect, this episode is a fascinating one. It is packed with useful content.Guest InformationTerri has enjoyed a long and international career as a senior academic, business leader, trusted adviser, consultant, and public speaker with over 30 years of experience across higher education, industry, and the not-for-profit sector. She has also led her strategy consultancy, Mischief Insight and Impact, for more than 25 years across Australia and the UK.With a career that is international but grounded in Australia and the UK, she brings expertise in organisational capability development, strategic management, SHRM, leadership evolution, counters to ‘WEIRD’ perspectives and workforce transformation. Her portfolio includes designing leadership programs in STEM, stewarding international academic operations, advising governments on workforce strategy, and speaking internationally on leadership, inclusion, impostor phenomenon, and the future of STEM work (but without the futurist ‘fluff’).Her professional practice centres on cultivating capability in people and systems, and she is often engaged in high-ambiguity contexts where familiar answers and standard interventions have lost traction or failed.Terri’s Website and Social Links: https://www.uptomischief.com.auhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/terrisimpkin/Terri’s Upcoming UK Events:https://heyzine.com/flip-book/52e7142fae.html