You’re at the top of a company.
You carry responsibility for hundreds, maybe thousands of employees and for billions in revenue.
You make decisions of enormous consequence.
And yet, time and again you secretly ask yourself: When will someone notice that I actually have no idea what I’m doing?
Welcome to the club.
The impostor syndrome doesn’t just hit young talents or career changers.
It also affects CXOs, executive board members, division and department heads — and sometimes especially them.
Success does not protect against self-doubt – quite the opposite.
The more visible you become, the louder the inner voice gets: Am I really good? Or just good at convincing others?
Surveys show: Over 70 percent of CEOs worldwide know exactly this feeling.
They are capable — and at the same time doubt their own legitimacy.
A CEO of a large Swiss technology company once told me how he lay awake at night while playing the untouchable role during the day.
Every strategic decision, every budget approval, even small personnel issues — everywhere he felt the pressure to always deliver the perfect answer.
At the same time, he heard the inner voice:
“What if I’m wrong? What if I run the company into the ground?”
Why do so many leaders feel like impostors?
- Because they’re often the first in their family to get that far.
- Because they have no real sparring partners inside the company.
- Because they’re torn between political loyalty, factual correctness and personal impact.
- Because they don’t just roll out their leadership role — they constantly have to justify it.
And because hardly anyone talks about it openly.
The gender aspect: more nuanced than you think
Women talk about self-doubt more often — but that doesn’t mean men have less of it.
Many men simply compensate differently: with over-control, distancing, displays of power.
The impostor feeling is not female or male.
It’s human — and lonely.
What you can do about it
Not self-optimization. But self-reflection.
Not becoming harder. But becoming clearer.
What helps:
- Open, confidential leadership sparring
- An environment that offers psychological safety
- Feedback that is honest — and kind
- The courage to remain human even as a “leader”
Bottom line: Doubt is not a sign of weakness but of awareness.
Those who never doubt haven’t understood anything.
Those who only doubt lose themselves.
But those who reflect on their doubts lead more clearly, empathetically, humanly.
And that is exactly what is needed today.
👉 If you recognize yourself in this text — or know someone standing at this threshold — let’s talk.
Leadership doesn’t begin with answers. It begins with the right questions.
I accompany leaders exactly at this point.
A more detailed version of this text — and further insights on self-image and leadership — can be found on my website.