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Last week’s issue: How to use AI to lead more effectively (starting this week)
Welcome back to House of Leadership. We explore what it really takes to grow and lead successfully in a fast-paced, high-performance environment.
We publish every Thursday and Sunday.
Thursdays are deep and tactical, practical frameworks, real examples, and leadership tools you can use immediately. Sundays are calm and reflective, with one book, one visual, and one question to sharpen how you think. Thursday builds your capability; Sunday builds your perspective.
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What you'll learn today
Why feeling like a fraud is actually a sign you're growing — and what imposter syndrome is really telling you about your ambition
Which of the 5 imposter patterns is quietly running your self-doubt — and the specific fix for each one
A 4-minute pre-meeting reset that shifts your mental state before any high-stakes conversation, presentation, or negotiation
The exact words to cut from your vocabulary — and what to say instead to command authority even when you feel uncertain
A 15-minute identity audit to close the gap between who you think you are and who you've actually become
How Jennifer Aniston’s LolaVie brand grew sales 40% with CTV ads
The DTC beauty category is crowded. To break through, Jennifer Aniston’s brand LolaVie, worked with Roku Ads Manager to easily set up, test, and optimize CTV ad creatives. The campaign helped drive a big lift in sales and customer growth, helping LolaVie break through in the crowded beauty category.
You just got the promotion. You're in the room. Everyone around you looks like they were born knowing what to do, and somewhere in the back of your mind, a voice whispers: how long before they figure out I don't?
If that sounds familiar, good. It means you're paying attention. It also means you're in excellent company.
"Imposter syndrome isn't proof you don't belong. It's proof you care enough to notice the gap between where you are and where you're reaching."
This week's deep dive
What imposter syndrome actually is
First named by psychologists Pauline Clance and Suzanne Imes in 1978, imposter syndrome is the persistent, irrational belief that your success is undeserved, and that it's only a matter of time before someone exposes you. The twist? The more competent you are, the more likely you are to experience it.
Research suggests up to 70% of people experience it at some point. Maya Angelou. Tom Hanks. Sheryl Sandberg. Howard Schultz. All of them have spoken openly about feeling like frauds at the height of their success.
This is not a bug in your operating system. It's what happens when ambition outruns experience, which is exactly what growth looks like from the inside.
The reframe that changes everything
Stop trying to eliminate the doubt. Start learning to lead alongside it.
The leaders who thrive long-term are not the ones who never feel uncertain, they're the ones who act anyway. Confidence isn't the absence of fear. It's the decision that something matters more than the fear does.
Every time you take action despite the doubt, you generate evidence. And evidence is the only thing that permanently silences an imposter.
88% resolved. 22% loyal. Your stack has a problem.
Those numbers aren't a CX issue — they're a design issue. Gladly's 2026 Customer Expectations Report breaks down exactly where AI-powered service loses customers, and what the architecture of loyalty-driven CX actually looks like.
3 ways to start building confidence now
01 - Build your proof of work archive
Keep a running document of wins, compliments, solved problems, and moments you showed up well. Imposter syndrome lives in the abstract. Evidence kills it. When the voice says "you're not good enough," your archive says otherwise.
02 - Separate feelings from facts
When the spiral starts, pause and ask: what is actually, verifiably true right now? Feelings are real. They are not always accurate. The ability to hold both of those things at once is one of the most underrated leadership skills there is.
03 - Act first. Feel confident later.
Confidence is not a prerequisite for action, it's a byproduct of it. You will not feel ready before you raise your hand, take the stage, or make the call. You feel ready after you survive doing it anyway. Do it scared. Every single time.
This week's challenge
The 3-win rule
Before Friday, write down three things you did this week that required courage, skill, or effort, no matter how small. Read them back slowly. That person, the one who did those three things, belongs exactly where they are.
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