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A quick glance at her CV, and Claire Williams – whose career spans 25 years+ in senior HR roles – including currently both COO and CPO at Ciphr – should say it all.
Currently recognised by the CIPD (via its 2025 HR30 list), as one of the UK’s top 30 HR leaders and thought leaders in the profession, Williams is outwardly the picture of success, swagger and self-confidence. And yet for all of her career she says she’s had to deal with something many will recognise, but few will be so public about – imposter syndrome (IS)
Typically associated with CEOs, and often felt by those who have risen fast (perhaps faster than those around them are happy with), imposter syndrome is the feeling people get that they are somehow ‘frauds’ – that they have got to where they are more by luck, or chance than skill or authority. Doubting their actual capabilities, those who experience IS fear any mistake they make will cause them to be ‘found out’. For some, it can be a debilitating condition – one that breeds self-doubt, and which (ironically), can actually make their fears even more likely to happen. IS is estimated to impact a whopping 70% of people at some point in their career, but for many (like Williams), it’s a feeling that never really goes away – despite her climbing the career ladder and proving that she deserves to be where she is.
“For me, I think reaching certain levels at a young age – I was a head of HR at 24, and a director at 30 – has played a factor,” says Williams, who is acutely aware that she has always had some form of IS. She says: “No matter how many years of experience I have, and despite most people saying I’m an incredibly confident person outwardly, I still have moments where I doubt my abilities, and while IS doesn’t scare me as much now, and it’s better than it was, I think it’s something I will always carry with me.”
Imposter Syndrome (IS): The facts:
The term ‘impostor phenomenon’, as it’s known in psychology, was first coined in 1978 by psychologists Pauline Clance and Suzanne Imes in their paper: The Impostor Phenomenon Among High Achieving Women.
Back then impostor syndrome was considered a predominantly female issue. Today this has broadened out to include everyone.
They reached the top – but still had IS:
- Sheryl Sandberg, ex-COO of Meta and author of Lean In, wrote that she believed that she always needed to do more to ‘deserve to be in the room’. In another interview about her book, Sandberg said: "There are still days when I wake up feeling like a fraud, not sure I should be where I am."
- Howard Schultz, Starbucks CEO, once said: "Very few people, whether you've been in that job before or not, get into the seat and believe today that they are now qualified to be the CEO. They're not going to tell you that, but it's true."
- Sonia Sotomayor, the first Hispanic Supreme Court justice has remarked: “I have spent my years since Princeton, while at law school and in my various professional jobs, not feeling completely a part of the worlds I inhabit. I am always looking over my shoulder wondering if I measure up."
- Michelle Obama said: “I still have a little [bit of] impostor syndrome, it never goes away, that you’re actually listening to me.”
According to Williams, her form of IS less a lack of confidence in herself, rather a sense she feels that others around her don’t know of her abilities. As a result, she says she feels she has to constantly prove herself to others. “I think it’s more people’s opinions of me,” explains Williams, and she says she fully understands why having IS can worsen the feeling many CPOs have of feeling ‘out of their depth’ (as HR Grapevine recently reported on – PUT LINK HERE).
Says Andrea Rowe, HR Director at BI Worldwide: “HR professionals wear many hats. We’re expected to be cultural architects, strategic partners, operational problem-solvers, coaches, legal interpreters, conflict navigators, and mental health first aiders – all while trying to explain to Bob why he can’t bring his three-year-old into the office every day during the summer holidays. There’s no single qualification that can fully prepare someone for a career in HR. It’s a profession that is actually built through experience and learning on the go – which includes learning from making mistakes.”
But this, is arguably the problem. HR professionals with IS are more likely to fear that ‘mistakes’ will only negatively impact them and ‘show them up’, rather than build their experience base.
A form of protection?
“At its core, imposter syndrome is a psychological safeguard to protect us,” observes Flora Hamilton, Executive Director of the Small Business Charter (SBC), which delivers the government-funded Help to Grow: Management Course. “While we expect career advancement to build confidence, many professionals actually experience the opposite. As responsibilities grow, self-assurance often shrinks, particularly for leaders whose personal and professional identities merge.”
