Most leaders who experience imposter syndrome have tried the standard advice. They've reviewed their accomplishments. They've reminded themselves of hard things they pulled off. They've been told that even CEOs deal with this — 71% of them, according to Korn Ferry — which is supposed to be reassuring but mostly just confirms that having a lot of evidence of competence doesn't make the doubt go away. The advice assumes the problem is insufficient evidence. It isn't. It gets wo

Most of the leaders I work with know exactly which conversation they're avoiding. They can name the person. They can describe the issue. In some cases, they've been thinking about it for weeks. And still, they haven't had it. When I ask why, it's rarely because they don't know what to say. Most leaders know what needs to be said. The issue is something else. The conversation doesn't go away The thing about a hard conversation you're putting off is that it doesn't stay where y

Most of the founders and new leaders I work with didn't come to coaching because they were failing. They came because something felt off. They were doing the job. Getting results. Keeping the team moving. And still, something wasn't right. When I ask them to describe it, the answer is usually some version of the same thing: the job changed, and nobody told them how. The skills that got you here When you're good at what you do as an individual contributor, the job is simple in

A lot of leaders going through burnout don't look like they're burning out. The work is still getting done. The team is okay. But underneath that, something is wearing thin — and most people don't have words for it until it gets a lot worse.