Someone often says ‘I don’t trust my judgment.’ The judgment is actually not a problem, but the confidence.
(An exchange with Angela Wise and the Twitter Women in Product Group)
Being a PM out of school is hard. It’s hard to speak up and feel heard. The main thing that the business school taught someone would be confident to share. The consequence of losing the imposter syndrome — you might not be able to fit into certain places anymore.
The confidence level can vary by situation. It’s normal and it’s a feature, not a bug. But you can feel that you can take up space. It’s ok to not feel confident and develop a realistic sense of what’s going on. It’s rational to be confident or not (especially in a new situation). Not dare to engage is an imposture syndrome.
Story 1: In my head, someone told me ‘someone would think that I’m stupid’ When I came to a meeting, it turned out that not many people actually prepare for it as I thought. Since I have prepared for the meeting, I felt much more confident.
Story 2: I don’t feel that I have enough technical knowledge to drive the conversations. If I asked stupid questions, someone would recognize it immediately, so I kept quiet.
In both of the above stories, preparation plays a key role to make someone more confident. However, self-confidence requires constant work, self-awareness.
It’s ok for you to worry from time to time as your circumstances change. Experienced PMs can be worry, but do not lose their self-confidence — they simply turn worries into a feature to make them stay alert and question everything.
