{"id":243,"date":"2026-03-19T06:05:32","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T13:05:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/leenewman.us\/library\/?p=243"},"modified":"2026-04-16T08:56:36","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T15:56:36","slug":"imposter-syndrome-stress-anxiety-oh-my","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/leenewman.us\/playbook\/imposter-syndrome-stress-anxiety-oh-my\/","title":{"rendered":"Imposter Syndrome for Engineers: Lessons from a Google EM"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ll start by staying I am not a therapist nor a mental health professional. I am a technologist<\/strong> and I\u2019m sharing my own lived experience<\/strong> in this post.<\/p>\n

\"Software<\/a>
Navigating imposter syndrome requires more than just technical skill.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

These are topics come up frequently in my coaching sessions<\/strong>. It can be in the context of interviews. The day-to-day grind of the tech industry. The uncertainty of the job market. General chaos. Constant curve balls from leads. AI. Everywhere. Anything. Everything.<\/p>\n

My Own Journey<\/h2>\n

I\u2019ve had anxiety<\/strong> my entire life. I had always thought this was just the way life was. It was my lived experience<\/strong>.\u00a0 They didn’t have names.\u00a0 It was just the way life was.<\/p>\n

One memorial day weekend, in the late 2000\u2019s, my anxiety paralyzed me. I couldn\u2019t leave my apartment. It was after this moment that I deiced to find a therapist. When I joined Google as an Engineering Manager<\/strong>, I was surprised to find that Imposter Syndrome<\/strong> was discussed on Day 1. It made me realize that even at the highest levels of the tech industry<\/strong>, these feelings are universal. Now I had a name for this as well.<\/p>\n

Tools<\/h2>\n

Pause<\/strong>. Take a breath<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

This is my go to. I use when I become aware<\/strong> that I\u2019m experiencing any of these. If you\u2019re reading this post, you too have this tool. However, in my experience, while it\u2019s an innate ability, it took a lot of training, a leap of faith, (trust in my therapist, not religous) and lots of practice (both in the past and on-going) to learn how to wield it effectively. I\u2019m going to call this mindfulness.<\/p>\n

Dealing with Engineering Stress and Anxiety<\/h3>\n

How do you practice? Mediation<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Mindfulness:Mediation::Lifting a Box::Going to the gym<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

Navigating the ‘day-to-day grind’ of tech shouldn’t feel like a solo battle. If imposter syndrome,<\/strong>\u00a0anxiety <\/strong>or strees<\/strong> is holding you back, let’s have a low-pressure chat<\/a> if you want to dig into this formula and learn more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ll start by staying I am not a therapist nor a mental health professional. I am a technologist and I\u2019m sharing my own lived experience in this post. These are topics come up frequently in my coaching sessions. It can be in the context of interviews. The day-to-day grind of the tech industry. The uncertainty of the job market. General chaos. Constant curve balls from leads. AI. Everywhere. Anything. Everything. My Own Journey I\u2019ve had […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,9,7,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-243","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-anxiety","category-imposter-syndrome","category-mental-health","category-stress"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nImposter Syndrome for Engineers: Lessons from a Google EM - Lee Newman's Career Playbook<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/leenewman.us\/playbook\/imposter-syndrome-stress-anxiety-oh-my\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Imposter Syndrome for Engineers: Lessons from a Google EM - Lee Newman's Career Playbook\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I\u2019ll start by staying I am not a therapist nor a mental health professional. I am a technologist and I\u2019m sharing my own lived experience in this post. These are topics come up frequently in my coaching sessions. It can be in the context of interviews. The day-to-day grind of the tech industry. The uncertainty of the job market. General chaos. Constant curve balls from leads. AI. Everywhere. Anything. Everything. My Own Journey I\u2019ve had […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/leenewman.us\/playbook\/imposter-syndrome-stress-anxiety-oh-my\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Lee Newman's Career Playbook\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-03-19T13:05:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-16T15:56:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/leenewman.us\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/managing-imposter-syndrome-software-engineering.jpg-300x200.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lee Newman\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lee Newman\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leenewman.us\\\/playbook\\\/imposter-syndrome-stress-anxiety-oh-my\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leenewman.us\\\/playbook\\\/imposter-syndrome-stress-anxiety-oh-my\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lee Newman\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leenewman.us\\\/playbook\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d91c0d4bf1771b4c2fe235bbd1a40f16\"},\"headline\":\"Imposter Syndrome for Engineers: Lessons from a Google EM\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-19T13:05:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-16T15:56:36+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leenewman.us\\\/playbook\\\/imposter-syndrome-stress-anxiety-oh-my\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":357,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leenewman.us\\\/playbook\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d91c0d4bf1771b4c2fe235bbd1a40f16\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leenewman.us\\\/playbook\\\/imposter-syndrome-stress-anxiety-oh-my\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leenewman.us\\\/library\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/managing-imposter-syndrome-software-engineering.jpg-300x200.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Anxiety\",\"Imposter Syndrome\",\"Mental Health\",\"Stress\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leenewman.us\\\/playbook\\\/imposter-syndrome-stress-anxiety-oh-my\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leenewman.us\\\/playbook\\\/imposter-syndrome-stress-anxiety-oh-my\\\/\",\"name\":\"Imposter Syndrome for Engineers: Lessons from a Google EM - Lee Newman's Career Playbook\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leenewman.us\\\/playbook\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leenewman.us\\\/playbook\\\/imposter-syndrome-stress-anxiety-oh-my\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leenewman.us\\\/playbook\\\/imposter-syndrome-stress-anxiety-oh-my\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leenewman.us\\\/library\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/managing-imposter-syndrome-software-engineering.jpg-300x200.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-19T13:05:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-16T15:56:36+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leenewman.us\\\/playbook\\\/imposter-syndrome-stress-anxiety-oh-my\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/leenewman.us\\\/playbook\\\/imposter-syndrome-stress-anxiety-oh-my\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leenewman.us\\\/playbook\\\/imposter-syndrome-stress-anxiety-oh-my\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leenewman.us\\\/library\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/managing-imposter-syndrome-software-engineering.jpg-300x200.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leenewman.us\\\/library\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/managing-imposter-syndrome-software-engineering.jpg-300x200.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leenewman.us\\\/playbook\\\/imposter-syndrome-stress-anxiety-oh-my\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leenewman.us\\\/playbook\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Imposter Syndrome for Engineers: Lessons from a Google EM\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leenewman.us\\\/playbook\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leenewman.us\\\/playbook\\\/\",\"name\":\"Lee's Coaching Library\",\"description\":\"Thrive in Tech. On Your Own Terms.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leenewman.us\\\/playbook\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d91c0d4bf1771b4c2fe235bbd1a40f16\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leenewman.us\\\/playbook\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":[\"Person\",\"Organization\"],\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leenewman.us\\\/playbook\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d91c0d4bf1771b4c2fe235bbd1a40f16\",\"name\":\"Lee Newman\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leenewman.us\\\/library\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/lee-prof-2026.jpg\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leenewman.us\\\/library\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/lee-prof-2026.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leenewman.us\\\/library\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/lee-prof-2026.jpg\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":1024,\"caption\":\"Lee Newman\"},\"logo\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leenewman.us\\\/library\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/lee-prof-2026.jpg\"},\"description\":\"I've spent over 25 years navigating the software engineering landscape\u2014scaling teams, fostering well-being, and mentoring the next generation of technical leaders. After 6.5 years at Google, I built a coaching practice to help talented engineers and techies unlock their potential and build the momentum that transforms careers. I'm the coach who meets you at your pivotal moments and helps you make the most of them.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/leenewman.us\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/in\\\/lee-n-662879\\\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leenewman.us\\\/playbook\\\/author\\\/leedur337\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Imposter Syndrome for Engineers: Lessons from a Google EM - Lee Newman's Career Playbook","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/leenewman.us\/playbook\/imposter-syndrome-stress-anxiety-oh-my\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Imposter Syndrome for Engineers: Lessons from a Google EM - Lee Newman's Career Playbook","og_description":"I\u2019ll start by staying I am not a therapist nor a mental health professional. I am a technologist and I\u2019m sharing my own lived experience in this post. These are topics come up frequently in my coaching sessions. It can be in the context of interviews. The day-to-day grind of the tech industry. The uncertainty of the job market. General chaos. Constant curve balls from leads. AI. Everywhere. Anything. Everything. My Own Journey I\u2019ve had […]","og_url":"https:\/\/leenewman.us\/playbook\/imposter-syndrome-stress-anxiety-oh-my\/","og_site_name":"Lee Newman's Career Playbook","article_published_time":"2026-03-19T13:05:32+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-04-16T15:56:36+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/leenewman.us\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/managing-imposter-syndrome-software-engineering.jpg-300x200.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Lee Newman","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Lee Newman","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/leenewman.us\/playbook\/imposter-syndrome-stress-anxiety-oh-my\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/leenewman.us\/playbook\/imposter-syndrome-stress-anxiety-oh-my\/"},"author":{"name":"Lee Newman","@id":"https:\/\/leenewman.us\/playbook\/#\/schema\/person\/d91c0d4bf1771b4c2fe235bbd1a40f16"},"headline":"Imposter Syndrome for Engineers: Lessons from a Google EM","datePublished":"2026-03-19T13:05:32+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-16T15:56:36+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/leenewman.us\/playbook\/imposter-syndrome-stress-anxiety-oh-my\/"},"wordCount":357,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/leenewman.us\/playbook\/#\/schema\/person\/d91c0d4bf1771b4c2fe235bbd1a40f16"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/leenewman.us\/playbook\/imposter-syndrome-stress-anxiety-oh-my\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/leenewman.us\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/managing-imposter-syndrome-software-engineering.jpg-300x200.jpg","articleSection":["Anxiety","Imposter Syndrome","Mental Health","Stress"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/leenewman.us\/playbook\/imposter-syndrome-stress-anxiety-oh-my\/","url":"https:\/\/leenewman.us\/playbook\/imposter-syndrome-stress-anxiety-oh-my\/","name":"Imposter Syndrome for Engineers: Lessons from a Google EM - Lee Newman's Career Playbook","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/leenewman.us\/playbook\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/leenewman.us\/playbook\/imposter-syndrome-stress-anxiety-oh-my\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/leenewman.us\/playbook\/imposter-syndrome-stress-anxiety-oh-my\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/leenewman.us\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/managing-imposter-syndrome-software-engineering.jpg-300x200.jpg","datePublished":"2026-03-19T13:05:32+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-16T15:56:36+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/leenewman.us\/playbook\/imposter-syndrome-stress-anxiety-oh-my\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/leenewman.us\/playbook\/imposter-syndrome-stress-anxiety-oh-my\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/leenewman.us\/playbook\/imposter-syndrome-stress-anxiety-oh-my\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/leenewman.us\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/managing-imposter-syndrome-software-engineering.jpg-300x200.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/leenewman.us\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/managing-imposter-syndrome-software-engineering.jpg-300x200.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/leenewman.us\/playbook\/imposter-syndrome-stress-anxiety-oh-my\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/leenewman.us\/playbook\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Imposter Syndrome for Engineers: Lessons from a Google EM"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/leenewman.us\/playbook\/#website","url":"https:\/\/leenewman.us\/playbook\/","name":"Lee's Coaching Library","description":"Thrive in Tech. On Your Own Terms.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/leenewman.us\/playbook\/#\/schema\/person\/d91c0d4bf1771b4c2fe235bbd1a40f16"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/leenewman.us\/playbook\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https:\/\/leenewman.us\/playbook\/#\/schema\/person\/d91c0d4bf1771b4c2fe235bbd1a40f16","name":"Lee Newman","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/leenewman.us\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/lee-prof-2026.jpg","url":"https:\/\/leenewman.us\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/lee-prof-2026.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/leenewman.us\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/lee-prof-2026.jpg","width":1024,"height":1024,"caption":"Lee Newman"},"logo":{"@id":"https:\/\/leenewman.us\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/lee-prof-2026.jpg"},"description":"I've spent over 25 years navigating the software engineering landscape\u2014scaling teams, fostering well-being, and mentoring the next generation of technical leaders. After 6.5 years at Google, I built a coaching practice to help talented engineers and techies unlock their potential and build the momentum that transforms careers. I'm the coach who meets you at your pivotal moments and helps you make the most of them.","sameAs":["https:\/\/leenewman.us","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/lee-n-662879\/"],"url":"https:\/\/leenewman.us\/playbook\/author\/leedur337\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/leenewman.us\/playbook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/leenewman.us\/playbook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/leenewman.us\/playbook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leenewman.us\/playbook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leenewman.us\/playbook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=243"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/leenewman.us\/playbook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":347,"href":"https:\/\/leenewman.us\/playbook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243\/revisions\/347"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/leenewman.us\/playbook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=243"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leenewman.us\/playbook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=243"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leenewman.us\/playbook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=243"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}