Utkarsh NarangFounder, IgnitedNeurons · Your best doers become your worst managers as you scale. I turn them into leaders so your best people don’t leave.

Shame Is the Root of Imposter Syndrome

4 Dec 2025 · 1 min

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Shame is the real engine behind imposter syndrome and procrastination, not a feeling to manage but a tool of control to reject. Most people won't name it directly, and self-help advice teaches you to cope with it instead of getting rid of it.

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It's always shame. Imposter syndrome, self-sabotage, procrastination, all these things are just— especially imposter syndrome. People much prefer to say imposter syndrome than to say they're carrying shame, but that's what imposter syndrome is. Shame is the root, and so many people, they're trying to deal with symptoms without dealing with the root of the problem. And the other thing that I want to say here is that most people who talk about shame and helping people with shame They teach them, and this includes people like Brené Brown, they teach them how to cope with their shame rather than to kick it out, you know, get out of there. Everyone is talking from inside the shame cage, where shame is normal, where shame is natural, shame is part of what it is to be human, rather than recognizing shame for what it is. It's a construct. It's a construct of control, and that's all it is.