Every Friday, I'm answering one real question from a real leader. No theory. No fluff. Just the stuff you're actually dealing with.

If you've got a question you'd like me to tackle, just hit reply. I read every one.

Aisha, I want to start with the most honest answer I can give you.

No. Not completely.

I can imagine that's not what you wanted to hear. But I'd rather tell you the truth than feed you a line.

What changes is your relationship with the feeling. And that's important.

My first quarterly review at the executive leadership level, my hands wouldn't stop shaking under the table.

The CEO, COO, and 20 other senior execs in a hotel conference room. Every one of them rattling off numbers with the kind of confidence I was certain I'd never have.

When my turn came, I'd practiced my opening 6 times that morning.

My voice still cracked.

I stumbled on a part I knew cold.

I spent the rest of that meeting convinced everyone could see right through me.

Then a few months later, I had a drink with one of the execs from that room. He always came across as the most confident person. The voice that never wavered.

He told me he threw up before every quarterly review for the first year.

That night changed something for me.

The feeling I'd been carrying around like evidence I didn't belong... it was actually evidence I cared.

The people who don't feel it are either checked out or better at hiding it.

Imposter syndrome comes back again and again. Your job is to change how you carry it.

These 5 actions have worked for me and for the leaders I coach.

1. Name it out loud to one trusted person.

The feeling thrives in silence. Tell someone you trust outside your reporting line. Watch how much smaller it gets the second you say it.

You'll also discover something almost everyone discovers. They feel it too. You're not the exception. You're the rule.

2. Keep a receipts file.

Open a doc. Every time someone gives you positive feedback, ships a result because of you, or thanks you for something specific, paste it in there.

When the fraud voice gets loud, open the file. Read it.

Your brain is a liar in the moment. Receipts don't lie.

3. Stop comparing your inside to other people's outside.

The execs who look the most confident have the most practice performing certainty. You're comparing your unfiltered inner monologue to their final, polished output.

Of course you come up short. The contest is rigged.

4. Reframe the feeling as a growth signal.

You only feel like a fraud when you're stretching. Nobody feels imposter syndrome about something they mastered 10 years ago.

The discomfort means you're operating at the edge of your current capability. That's where growth happens. The feeling is the price of admission.

5. Take action before you feel ready.

Action comes first. Confidence follows.

Speak up in the meeting before you feel sure. Send the email before you've revised it 8 times. Take the stretch project before you have all the answers.

Confidence is the receipt for action you already took.

I'm a few years past where you are now. The feeling still shows up.

But I've stopped treating it like a verdict on my worth. I treat it like weather. Sometimes it rains. The rain doesn't mean the house is falling down.

You can lead well without feeling different. Just take action anyway.

So today, do this.

Open a doc. Write down 5 specific things you've delivered as a VP that someone less capable couldn't have. Specific outcomes. Specific decisions. Specific people you've developed.

Save the doc. Title it whatever you want.

The next time the fraud voice shows up, open it.

You're not who that voice says you are.

Best,
Justin

P.S. Quick one for you. What's the best book you've read this year so far? Hit reply with just the title. I'm always hunting for the next one.