Dr. Cara argues that faking confidence until you make it backfires. The research shows three costs: fear of exposure, blaming others instead of owning mistakes, and disconnection from your team and yourself. The exhaustion is real, not weakness.
Make it till you make it. I heard it and you probably lived it and it got you somewhere, but here's what the research actually says about that strategy in long term. Performing confidence you don't feel consistently generates 3 things: fear, blame, and disconnection. Fear, because you're always waiting to be found out. Blame, because when things go wrong, you can't own it if you were never really showing up as yourself. And disconnection from your team, your values, and eventually from yourself. That is the real cost of armor. Not weakness, not failure. Exhaustion from the performance of being someone you were never supposed to
