One of the greatest insights from my work as an executive coach is understanding that even highly successful leaders sometimes struggle with confidence. CEOs have privately shared feelings of being impostors, doubting their ability to succeed, or fearing they'll be exposed as frauds. These feelings are not a sign of weakness but a natural part of leadership growth, especially when taking on new roles, leading significant organizational changes, or recovering from setbacks. The Power of Self-Efficacy in Leadership Albert Bandura's groundbreaking work on self-efficacy offers a transformative framework for understanding leadership confidence. Self-efficacy—our belief in our ability to succeed in specific situations—doesn't just influence our emotions; it fundamentally changes how we act, persevere, and ultimately perform. Four Channels of Self-Efficacy Development Mastery Experiences: Successfully navigating leadership challenges builds confidence for future endeavors. This explains why confidence naturally fluctuates when entering unfamiliar territories—we haven't yet accumulated mastery in that specific...