Rachel
Dickson
Lead Coach & Founder at Culture + Cleanse
"It's Not Imposter Syndrome. It's Pressure: Why High Performers Overthink - and How to Think Clearly Anyway"
"It's Not Imposter Syndrome. It's Pressure: Why High Performers Overthink - and How to Think Clearly Anyway"
Thu May 14 - 8:10 AM EDT/New York (See in local time)
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05/14/2026 8:10 AM
05/14/2026 08:50 AM
America/New_York
#WTGC2026
"It's Not Imposter Syndrome. It's Pressure: Why High Performers Overthink - and How to Think Clearly Anyway"
#WTGC2026
"It's Not Imposter Syndrome. It's Pressure: Why High Performers Overthink - and How to Think Clearly Anyway"
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"It's Not Imposter Syndrome. It's Pressure: Why High Performers Overthink - and How to Think Clearly Anyway"
"It's Not Imposter Syndrome. It's Pressure: Why High Performers Overthink - and How to Think Clearly Anyway"
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Session: It's Not Imposter Syndrome. It's Pressure: Why High Performers Overthink - and How to Think Clearly Anyway
Imposter Syndrome often shows up for women who are already performing at a high level. What's mischaracterised as a lack of confidence, on closer examination, is usually a natural, rationale response to operating in environments that keep their thinking under constant evaluation.This session isn’t a lecture. It’s a live, responsive conversation shaped in real-time.
We’ll work directly with what participants recognise in themselves: the moments where thinking tightens, decisions slow down, or self-monitoring creeps in. As those patterns surface, I’ll explain what’s happening in the brain and nervous system, and we’ll test simple ways of interrupting them together, in real time.
The science is there, but it’s used to orient, not overwhelm. The value comes from noticing what changes when pressure is handled differently, even briefly.
Participants will leave having experienced what it feels like when overthinking eases, rather than being told why it should.
This is practical, participatory work for high performers who want their thinking back under pressure - without adding another framework, mindset, or standard to maintain.
Key Takeaways
- Overthinking and second-guessing in high performers is often a response to pressure and scrutiny, not lack of confidence or ability.
- You can interrupt second-guessing in the moment by reducing cognitive load, rather than questioning your capability.
- Clear thinking returns when vigilance drops, even briefly.
- The goal isn't to eliminate doubt, but to stop it running decision-making.
- When pressure is handled differently, performance stabilises without adding more internal standards.
Bio
Rachel Dickson is a leadership advisor and coach working with high-performing executives and senior leaders under sustained pressure. She brings over two decades of experience from financial services and technology, including holding Global Head roles within a FTSE 100 organisation.Her work focuses on the internal cost of sustaining success - particularly overthinking, over-responsibility, and the quiet strain that accumulates in high-accountability environments. She is known for a grounded, non-performative approach that blends neuroscience, psychology, and lived senior-level experience.
Rachel has long mentored, sponsored, and coached women in tech and financial services, and is particularly interested in challenging false narratives that frame self-doubt as personal weakness while ignoring the real pressures and structural conditions people operate within.
She works privately with senior leaders and delivers small-group and organisational sessions internationally.
