Even the most accomplished leaders experience moments of self-doubt. Imposter syndrome in leadership often shows up during growth phases—new roles, bigger rooms, higher stakes—whispering that you don’t belong or aren’t ready. Left unchecked, these thoughts can quietly erode confidence, clarity, and decision-making.
But imposter moments aren’t a sign of failure; they’re often a signal of expansion. In this article, 13 seasoned leaders, founders, and executives share the practical strategies they rely on to navigate imposter syndrome when it appears. From grounding in evidence and lived experience to shifting focus toward service and contribution, these insights offer real-world tools to move through doubt and lead with intention.
Whether you’re stepping into a new leadership role or navigating unfamiliar territory, these strategies will help you recognize imposter thoughts—and keep moving forward anyway.
- Name It and Reconnect With Value
- Use Numbers to Restore Clarity
- Ground in Lived Experience
- Lean on Affirmations and Allies
- Review Receipts and Trust Yourself
- List Facts Then Reframe and Act
- Center on Purpose and Drive Impact
- Prepare Deeply and Master the Details
- Serve Others and Quiet the Ego
- Focus on Contribution Not Validation
- Remember Wins and Tackle Small Pieces
- Choose Evidence Over Anxiety and Fear
- Zoom Out and Recall the Big Picture
Name It and Reconnect With Value
I name it when impostor thoughts arise. It’s not the truth; it’s an imposter, a form of self-doubt. If I name what is happening, I have enough space in the moment to reconnect with what I’m good at. Then I ask myself one grounding question: What value am I here to offer right now? The shift removes me from comparison and returns me to purpose. It reminds me not to be perfect, but to be, within my capabilities, as the most present and aligned version of myself that I can be.
Kamini Wood, Certified Life Coach, Kamini Wood
Use Numbers to Restore Clarity
Whenever I step into a bigger opportunity and feel that imposter moment kick in, the strategy I use is to go back to the data and the work. For me, imposter syndrome usually comes from imagining expectations instead of looking at the reality in front of me.
We’re constantly running experiments, reviewing metrics, and learning from what works and what doesn’t. So when I start questioning whether I’m the “right” person for a situation, I remind myself of something very simple: we’ve earned every step forward by understanding the numbers and improving the product, not by pretending to be something we’re not.
That grounding pulls me out of the emotion and back into clarity. I don’t have to know everything; I just have to stay curious, keep testing, and keep moving. That’s what got us through the early days, through setbacks, through hard pivots, and it’s what makes bigger opportunities feel manageable instead of intimidating.
The moment I stop trying to “perform” leadership and just focus on the next measurable improvement, the imposter feeling disappears.
Louis Ducruet, Founder and CEO, Eprezto
Ground in Lived Experience
Imposter moments are very real, especially when you are scaling a company and the rooms you walk into get bigger. One strategy that has helped me is grounding every new opportunity in my lived experience. Instead of trying to match the expectations of the room, I remind myself that I earned my seat by solving real problems in a real business.
Before a big meeting, I take a moment to think of three situations where my decisions moved Tecknotrove forward. It keeps me centered and replaces doubt with clarity. Over time, this practice has made me show up with more authenticity and a lot less pressure to perform. I realized that confidence grows when you trust your experience more than the titles around you.
Payal Gupta, Co Founder, Tecknotrove
Lean on Affirmations and Allies
I keep affirmations everywhere. On my phone, my computer wallpaper, sticky notes on my mirror. What you think becomes your reality, and when imposter syndrome hits, I need those reminders staring back at me.
But here’s the thing: imposter syndrome never fully goes away. It shows up every time you level up, every time you step into something bigger. So I don’t try to eliminate it; I work against it.
The strategy that’s saved me? I lean hard into my inner circle. When self-doubt gets loud, I reach out to the people who know my strengths better than I do in that moment. Sometimes when I feel like giving up, they remind me of what I’ve already overcome and what I’m capable of. That’s social support, one of the core pillars of emotional intelligence, and it’s non-negotiable for me.
I also practice radical self-awareness. I’ve learned to recognize my triggers. Is this imposter syndrome talking, or is this legitimate feedback I need to act on? Most of the time, it’s fear dressed up as doubt. When I can name it, I can separate my worth from my worry.
And finally, I honor my story, all of it. I grew up with limited resources, became a first-generation college graduate, worked my way through education and big tech, and built a business from scratch. Every time I question whether I belong in a room, I remind myself: I didn’t get here by accident. Neither did you.
Imposter syndrome isn’t a sign you don’t belong. It’s a sign you’re growing. And growth always feels uncomfortable before it feels powerful.
Alinnette Casiano, Leadership Strategist, Growing Your EQ
Review Receipts and Trust Yourself
Each time I walk into a larger-than-life chance and hear the inevitable “you don’t belong” voice in my head, I turn to what I call the evidence reset: a way to silence the imposter voice in my head and assure myself I actually know what I’m doing.
The evidence reset has nothing to do with pretending to be confident and plenty to do with remembering the receipts: a constant list in my head of the moments I’ve crushed hard problems, run a good project, and simply been there for my colleagues when it counted.
Something big I’ve learned is that the feeling of an imposter means you’re not qualified enough; it means you are enough to want to do the work well. At the start of my leadership experience, I believed confidence comes first and competency follows. But the thing is, it’s the opposite: arriving and working gives way to the proof that the mind requires to feel a sense of belonging.
So now, whenever I find myself at a table that feels too large, I take a deep breath and remember: growth doesn’t happen by accident. You’re there because someone believed in you enough to let you rise to the occasion. The trick is to trust in yourself in the same way.
List Facts Then Reframe and Act
The approach that has been most beneficial for me during imposter experiences is distinguishing evidence from feelings. Whenever I embrace a larger role or a new challenge, I encounter a disconnect between my current knowledge and what I believe I ought to know. Rather than resisting that emotion, I take a seat and jot down the details. What expertise do I genuinely offer? What issues have I addressed that are similar to this one? What support structures are currently established? Viewing it in writing diminishes the strength of the unclear anxiety.
I remind myself that moments of growth are meant to be uncomfortable. If something seems entirely known, it isn’t truly an advancement. Reinterpreting the discomfort as a sign of advancement helps to facilitate progress without becoming trapped in self-doubt.
Another aspect that aids is establishing a brief time frame for action. I assign myself a specific, manageable task that I can finish within the first 48 hours of a new duty. It generates initial drive and redirects my focus from assessing myself to finding solutions.
Imposter feelings haven’t disappeared, but they occur for shorter durations since I don’t view them as a judgment on my skills. They are merely a component of the shift towards something greater.
Aditya Nagpal, Founder & CEO, Wisemonk
Center on Purpose and Drive Impact
As I assume a more prominent leadership position where I find myself dealing with impostor syndrome, I have learned to reframe my thinking by focusing on service to my purpose instead of needing to prove myself as a leader. Once I realised that my opportunity does not require me to be perfect but instead to make an impact on the lives of others, I felt a tremendous release of pressure. Rather than feeling like I wasn’t ready, I am now able to utilise the knowledge and experience I have developed to facilitate success.
With this shift in mindset, I now approach high-pressure situations with confidence rather than fear. Therefore, whenever you feel as though you are suffering from impostor syndrome, I would suggest you look beyond yourself and think about how your role is tied to something larger; your mission, fellow employees or what you are trying to resolve. Doing this will help you ground yourself quickly and put you back in a place of authority.
Kevin Baragona, Founder, Deep AI
Prepare Deeply and Master the Details
The most practical approach to killing imposter syndrome is to rely on extreme preparation to silence the noise. Confidence isn’t about how you feel. It comes from knowing the details and the facts better than anyone else in the room. When a leader does the heavy lifting beforehand and masters their material, the fear of being “found out” evaporates because they know they are the most prepared person standing there, making the feeling of being a fraud impossible to sustain.
Sarah Toney, Founding Attorney, The Toney Law Firm, LLC
Serve Others and Quiet the Ego
A powerful method to overcome imposter moments is to shift the focus entirely outward, moving from self-consciousness to service. When a person concentrates 100 percent of their energy on the people they are helping or the team they are responsible for protecting, there is no mental space left to worry about whether they belong there. Viewing a new, bigger opportunity simply as a tool to better advocate for others helps quiet the ego and allows a leader’s natural instincts and training to take over without the interference of fear.
Ross Albers, Founder & CEO, Albers & Associates
Focus on Contribution Not Validation
When imposter moments show up for me, it’s usually because I’m too focused on myself. I dwell on what the opportunity means for me and whether I’ve “earned” it. When I flip my perspective and focus on what I can give instead of what I might receive, it helps ground me. I can then focus on the knowledge and experience I already possess and all the ways I can contribute, support, and add value.
Kimberly Poremski, Founder & President, Agile Prowess
Remember Wins and Tackle Small Pieces
Imposter moments come from having a growth mindset. You realize just how much there is still to learn, so you feel as if you know nothing. But I pull back and remind myself of how far I’ve come and what I have already learned. I also focus on taking action anyway, knowing that I can improve while having confidence that I’m enough as is. I also break larger opportunities into smaller steps. Each step I complete builds confidence and reduces doubt.
Echo Wang, CEO and Founder, Yoga Kawa
Choose Evidence Over Anxiety and Fear
One strategy I rely on is grounding myself in evidence instead of anxiety.
When impostor thoughts pop up, my brain loves to spin the absolute worst case. So I pause and run a quick gut-check.
First, I ask myself three questions:
1. What have I already done that proves I can handle this?
2. How likely is my worst-case scenario, really? (Ninety-nine percent of the time, it’s a dramatic story, not a genuine risk.)
3. What version of me is going to create the outcome I actually want? The panicked one trying to shrink…or the one who steps in with clarity and intention?
This pulls me out of fear and into reality. I stop reacting to the imaginary disaster and start choosing the leader I want to be. And from that place, the opportunity feels a lot less intimidating and a lot more like the next right step.
Dana Zellers, Executive & Leadership Coach | Team Facilitator | Speaker, Dana Zellers
Zoom Out and Recall the Big Picture
Zooming out and remembering the bigger picture — what they’ve already pulled off, the skills that got them there, and the wins they tend to forget about. That quick reset reminds them they’re not “lucky to be here”; they actually earned their spot.
Joe Papagoda, Marketing Pro & Fine Artist | CEO, Artfinest.com
Conclusion
Imposter syndrome in leadership doesn’t disappear with success—it evolves as leaders grow. What separates confident leaders from stalled ones isn’t the absence of doubt, but the ability to respond to it skillfully. Across these 13 strategies, one theme is clear: confidence is built through action, evidence, purpose, and perspective—not perfection.
By naming imposter thoughts, grounding yourself in facts, leaning on experience, and focusing on contribution over validation, you create space to lead with clarity rather than fear. Imposter moments aren’t proof that you don’t belong; they’re proof that you’re stretching beyond what’s familiar.
Leadership isn’t about having all the answers. It’s about showing up, using what you know, and trusting that growth happens one step—sometimes one uncomfortable step—at a time.
