Do Leaders Doubt
Themselves More Than
Everyone Else?
of working adults say they second-guess themselves because of their internal voice. Having a title did not change it.
The short answer is that leaders do not doubt themselves less, and in one respect they feel it more. In a 2026 survey of more than 200 working adults, over a hundred of them managers and executives, people in leadership roles reported the gap between what they were doing and what they were capable of more sharply than everyone else, and they still delayed acting on it at nearly the same rate.
The assumption this corrects
Almost everyone who reports to somebody assumes that the confidence they see above them is real, and that at some point on the way up a person crosses a line where the second-guessing stops. It is a reasonable assumption, because it is what leadership looks like from the outside, and because most leaders have gotten quite good at not letting it show.
What the survey suggests is that the line does not exist. Seniority changed what people doubted rather than whether they doubted, and if 85 percent of a working population is running an internal commentary, that includes the person whose calm you have been measuring yourself against.
The line where the second-guessing stops does not appear to exist. People just get better at not showing it.
Why the gap widens rather than closes
The finding that surprised me most was the direction. You would expect the sense of untapped potential to shrink as people accomplish more, because there is less left undone, and instead it went the other way for the leaders in the sample.
The explanation that makes the most sense to me is that the gap is relative rather than absolute. What you believe is possible expands alongside what you can actually do, and it tends to expand a little faster, so the person who has built something is often looking at a wider distance than the person who has not. More capability produces a bigger view of what capability could mean.
Which is worth knowing early, because a lot of people are quietly waiting to arrive somewhere that will feel like enough. That place does not seem to be at the top of an org chart.
Doubting a decision is not doubting yourself
There is a version of this that helps a leader and a version that does not, and the difference is what the doubt is pointed at.
Uncertainty about a decision is useful and worth saying out loud. It invites the people around you to bring you information, it makes it safe for someone to disagree, and it tends to produce better calls. Uncertainty about whether you belong in the chair is a different thing, and it mostly needs to be worked on rather than broadcast, because a team that senses it stops bringing you problems.
Most leaders I know conflate the two and end up hiding both. The first one is worth showing.
Sund, C. (2026). Untapped Potential Survey. You Are Capable of More.
Survey of more than 200 working adults, including over 100 managers and executives, conducted in 2026. Full findings and methodology are on the report page. Journalists and researchers are welcome to use these figures with attribution.
Common questions
Do leaders experience self-doubt?
Yes. In a 2026 survey of more than 200 working adults including over 100 managers and executives, people in leadership roles reported the gap between their current output and their potential more sharply than everyone else, and still delayed acting on it at nearly the same rate.
Does self-doubt go away as you get promoted?
The survey found no evidence that it does. Seniority changed what people doubted rather than whether they doubted, and 85 percent of all respondents said they second-guess themselves because of their internal voice.
Why do successful people still feel like they are not doing enough?
Because the gap is relative. As capability grows, so does the sense of what is possible, which means people who have achieved more often perceive a wider distance between where they are and where they could be.
Is imposter syndrome the same as self-doubt?
No. Self-doubt questions whether you can do something. Imposter syndrome is the belief you have already been judged capable by mistake and will eventually be found out. They overlap and are not identical.
Should leaders admit self-doubt to their teams?
Naming uncertainty about a decision tends to build trust. Naming uncertainty about your own competence tends to unsettle people. The distinction between doubting a choice and doubting yourself is the one that matters.
Nobody crosses a line where the second-guessing stops. The leaders in this survey felt the gap more sharply than anyone, not less, which means the calm you have been measuring yourself against is mostly practice at not showing it.
The Full Report
Every finding from the survey of more than 200 working adults, plus the methodology behind the numbers on this page.
You Are Capable of More
Ten principles and a no-excuses playbook for becoming the person you know you’re capable of being. Available now in paperback, hardcover, and Kindle.