From the perspective of an individual it's hard to say which is the case though. For instance, if one looks purely at the first anecdote in the article I'd argue that either could be true. If someone is truly afflicted with impostor syndrome they could describe things exactly that way even if they were the best in the room (I realize the rest of the article takes a different path, just an example).
If you were to ask me to describe my lot in life in my workplace it'd probably sound like your first bit - I'd describe myself as being the one holding things up, slow to understand, having the least amount of domain knowledge, etc. Yet, I know this isn't true, based on objective measures of the feedback I receive (even beyond verbal accolades) I know I'm doing better than "just fine". I have to work pretty hard to not picture myself as the worst person in the room at work, even though I know that's not the case.
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From the perspective of an individual it's hard to say which is the case though. For instance, if one looks purely at the first anecdote in the article I'd argue that either could be true. If someone is truly afflicted with impostor syndrome they could describe things exactly that way even if they were the best in the room (I realize the rest of the article takes a different path, just an example).
If you were to ask me to describe my lot in life in my workplace it'd probably sound like your first bit - I'd describe myself as being the one holding things up, slow to understand, having the least amount of domain knowledge, etc. Yet, I know this isn't true, based on objective measures of the feedback I receive (even beyond verbal accolades) I know I'm doing better than "just fine". I have to work pretty hard to not picture myself as the worst person in the room at work, even though I know that's not the case.