REFLECTIONS ON CHARACTER AND LEADERSHIP

THE IMPOSTOR SYNDROME 97

ship emerge (Kets de Vries, 1985 ). All entrepreneurs need dreams, but
they are not always effective in distinguishing their dreams from
reality — and there are limits to how far reality can be distorted.
The writer G.K. Chesterton once remarked that ‘ a really accom-
plished impostor is the most wretched of geniuses: he is a Napoleon on
a desert island. ’ However, most impostors do not remain Napoleons for
long. Eventually their all - too - human foibles take over and they unmask
themselves.
The challenge for all of us in avoiding being duped by impostors is to
maintain our capacity for rational thinking and not be swept away by
emotional forces when the sirens promising instant love, wealth, and
happiness are tempting us to respond to their call. But the wish to believe
on the part of many people can be extremely strong. When greed takes
over, rational thinking quickly evaporates, as many recent business scan-
dals have demonstrated. It is not easy to resist an individual who says, in
effect, ‘ Trust me, I will take care of all your needs. ’ It is par ticularly dif fi -
cult to fi ght the formidable force that greed can be. However, when these
powerful feelings arise, the time has come to distance ourselves, take
another hard look, talk to outsiders, and work out what really is going
on.

Endnote

This chapter has been compiled from the following sources:

• Kets de Vries , M.F.R. ( 1990 ). ‘ The impostor syndrome: Developmental and
  societal issues , ’ Human Relations , 43 ( 7 ): 667 – 686.


• Kets de Vries , M.F.R. ( 1993 ). Leaders, Fools and Impostors. San Francisco :
  Jossey - Bass.


• Kets de Vries , M.F.R. ( 2005 ). ‘ The Dangers of Feeling like a Fake , ’ Harvard
  Business Review , 83 ( 9 ): 108 – 116.