How to overcome imposter syndrome as CEO

Turn your own self-doubt into fuel for growth

I’ve spent the last couple of years meeting with hundreds of CEOs and founders, and when I sit down with them one-on-one, many open up about struggling with imposter syndrome.

First-time founders chasing product-market fit feel it. And serial CEOs running companies doing hundreds of millions in revenue feel it. Success, age, or experience doesn’t matter.

At BetterCloud, after we’d raised over $180 million, had over 350 employees, an A-list executive team, over 2,000 customers, and rapid revenue growth month over month, I remember thinking: “Am I equipped to run this kind of company? Do I deserve this much trust from world-class investors? Why would these experienced executives want to work for me? Am I delivering what our customers actually need?”

There were days when I felt pretty confident about these things, but then there were days when I questioned it all.

What I’ve learned from those hundreds of conversations and my own experience is that imposter syndrome doesn’t go away. And the chances you will experience it as a company leader are nearly 100%. It’s how you choose to deal with it that makes all the difference.

Imposter syndrome will either crush you or drive you. It will slow down your decision-making and paralyze you, or it will push you to get better, to overachieve, and to prove you deserve the position you’re in.

This article explores how to react to those uncomfortable feelings that imposter syndrome brings and treat them as fuel for growth and success.

Table of contents

1. What is imposter syndrome?

2. Every CEO battles imposter syndrome

3. There are two paths: paralysis or fuel

4. How to channel imposter syndrome into growth

5. What other CEOs say

What is imposter syndrome?

Here is the definition from Webster’s dictionary:

Imposter syndrome is a psychological condition that is characterized by persistent doubt concerning one’s abilities or accomplishments accompanied by the fear of being exposed as a fraud despite evidence of one’s ongoing success.

Every CEO battles imposter syndrome

Anyone with a shred of self-awareness will experience imposter syndrome as a CEO. Of course, it’s a spectrum, but I genuinely believe most people (especially high achievers and company leaders) experience it to some degree.

The common lie people tell themselves is that they’ll eventually “get past it”. They think once they hit a certain revenue milestone or notch a few wins, the self-doubt will disappear.

It doesn’t. If anything, imposter syndrome intensifies as the stakes increase.

As Michael Cannon-Brooks, co-founder and CEO of Atlassian, said in a TED Talk about imposter syndrome: “Most days, I still feel like I often don’t know what I’m doing.” Here’s someone running a multi-billion dollar, one of the most successful software companies of all time, and he’s openly talking about feeling like a fraud.

It doesn’t matter who you are or what you’ve accomplished. These feelings don’t go away. You’re constantly stepping into roles and making decisions you’ve never made before.

Watch the full TED Talk from Atlassian’s CEO and co-founder here:

There are two paths: paralysis or fuel

When imposter syndrome hits, you’re standing at a fork in the road. You can take one of two paths.

Path one: paralysis

This is where imposter syndrome becomes your enemy. It slows you down and makes you second-guess everything.

I’ve seen this play out with many CEOs. They start questioning their gut instincts because they assume someone else must know better. The investor must know better because they have access to billions in capital. The CRO must know better because they have 20 more years of experience. The customer must know better because they’re an executive at a larger company.

When you let imposter syndrome win, you end up in a place where you’ve lost trust in your own intuition. You think there’s no chance your gut can be right. You feel like you’re getting away with something and that someone’s going to “find out” you’re a fraud.

The result? You slow down decision-making because you’re thinking about what others think. You avoid risks out of fear of potential consequences. The worst part is that this insecurity creates a ripple effect, making the entire organization feel less confident and effective.

So you freeze.

Path two: fuel

This is where imposter syndrome becomes your competitive advantage. Instead of letting it paralyze you, you channel it into fuel.

I recently sat with a Buddhist monk in Thailand who said something that stuck with me: “Thoughts themselves are neutral. They’re not inherently good or bad. It’s only when we assign them meaning that they take on that value.” In other words, imposter syndrome is just a thought. The question is, what value are you going to give it?

The CEOs I’ve seen take this path treat imposter syndrome as a chip on their shoulder. It pushes them to constantly get better, to prove, without a shadow of a doubt, that they deserve their position.

But there’s a wrong way to do this, and it’s overcompensating. I’ve worked with CEOs who use imposter syndrome as fuel, but they take it too far. Everything becomes about proving they know something, and it comes across as ego rather than confidence. They’re so self-conscious about appearing inadequate that they swing hard in the opposite direction.

When channeled properly, imposter syndrome actually brings you back down to earth. It lowers your ego and makes you a better listener and more grounded leader.

How to channel imposter syndrome into growth

If you’re going to have imposter syndrome anyway (and again, you will), you might as well make it work for you. Here’s what that looks like in practice.

Recognize it as a signal you’re growing

Imposter syndrome shows up when you’re stepping into something new, something that feels uncomfortable because you haven’t done it before. That discomfort isn’t evidence that you’re failing. It’s evidence that you’re pushing beyond what you already know how to do. And it’s also evidence that you care, that it matters to you that you’re successful and that you don’t want to disappoint others.

The difference between paralysis and fuel comes down to how you interpret that discomfort. Do you see it as proof you don’t belong? Or as a sign you’re precisely where you need to be (in the uncomfortable zone where real growth happens)?

This mindset matters. If you can’t channel a growth mindset, imposter syndrome will take a serious toll on you (and your team).

Identify the specific skill gap it’s pointing to

When imposter syndrome hits, ask yourself: “What specifically am I feeling unprepared for? What skill or knowledge gap is this exposing?”

I recently spoke with a CEO I’m mentoring who’s dealing with this. His mindset: “I have to get better. I have to keep up with the growth of this company.” He’s using imposter syndrome to identify exactly where he needs to develop, then actively working to close that gap.

One thing imposter syndrome highlighted for me was public speaking. I always felt like the audience knew more than me or would challenge the points I was making. That feeling forced me to get much better at public speaking and to feel confident that I was indeed an expert.

Another example: As BetterCloud grew, I started to feel disconnected from our customer base. When I’d talk about what we should build or what customers needed, I felt like my team was questioning me. (I found out later they weren’t, it was the imposter syndrome talking.) But that drove me to literally meet with 100 customers in 100 days. I came away with a ton of insights, stronger customer connections, and most importantly, the confidence that my intuition was right.

Use it to stay humble and keep learning

The best CEOs I work with are constantly asking for feedback. “What am I doing well? What am I not doing well?” They’re never satisfied with their own growth. They always feel like they’re behind.

That feeling can actually make you better to work with because it lowers your ego. It makes you listen more carefully. It keeps you open to learning from your team, your board, and your customers.

This is where having a strong CEO support system becomes critical. You need people who can give you honest feedback, challenge your assumptions, and remind you that you’re not alone in these feelings.

Let it create healthy paranoia

There have been moments when I thought, “What if the board fires me?” I know other CEOs have thought this as well.

That paranoia isn’t necessarily healthy on its own. But it drives me to overachieve, to prove I deserve the opportunity, to make sure I’m doing everything I can to earn my seat at the table.

Flint Lane, the CEO and founder of BillTrust, told me he was bullied in middle school. That created a serious drive in him. He built his company partly to prove he was worthy of success, and he sold it for almost $2 billion. And then he started another company. That need to prove himself gave him unlimited stamina. He’ll always be pushing to get better and to achieve more.

Imposter syndrome isn’t going away

You’re going to feel imposter syndrome tomorrow, next month, when you raise your next round, when you hit your next milestone. The feeling doesn’t care about your track record or how many times you’ve proven yourself.

Here’s what you can control: how you react to the feeling. You can let it freeze you up, slow down your decisions, and make your team question whether they should follow you. Or you can use it as fuel and let it drive you to get better, to stay humble, and to prove you deserve what you have. The path you choose makes all the difference.

Key takeaways

• Most, if not all, CEOs experience imposter syndrome.

• Success, age, and experience don’t make it go away. If anything, it intensifies as the stakes increase.

• Imposter syndrome will either paralyze you or propel you. The difference comes down to how you choose to respond.

• Your team feels your confidence (or lack of it), so if you let imposter syndrome paralyze you, it will trigger the same feelings in them.

• Use imposter syndrome to identify specific skill gaps, drive continuous learning, and stay humble enough to listen.

FAQs

Is imposter syndrome the same as self-doubt? They’re related, but imposter syndrome is more specific. It’s not just doubting a single decision; it’s a persistent feeling that you don’t deserve your position and someone’s going to figure that out eventually.

When does imposter syndrome become a problem? When it paralyzes you. If it’s slowing down your decision-making, causing you to second-guess every call, or preventing your team from feeling confident in your leadership, it’s working against you.

Does imposter syndrome ever go away? No. And Michael Cannon-Brookes is a great example. He runs a multi-billion-dollar company and still feels it. The goal is to channel it into growth instead of letting it slow you down.