How To Succeed In Product Management | Jeffrey Shulman, Red Russak & Soumeya Benghanem 39: Dealing with Imposter Syndrome in the Product Management Space
In this episode of the How to Succeed in Product Management Podcast, marketing professor Jeff Shulman and The Product Management Center advisory board members Red Russak and Soumeya Benghanem welcome Chelsea Alexander-Taylor (Redfin) and Jonathan Pappas (Connect the Dots) to talk about how PMs struggle with imposter syndrome often at the early stages of their career. A lot of new PMs find it difficult to adjust in a new role, a new working space, or in a new organization. And it doesn’t help that they are expected to overperform and carry with them experiences they currently don’t have. As product leaders, how can we create a safe space where confidence is boosted and psychological safety is prioritized?
Support for How to Succeed in Product Management is brought to you by Apptentive, which enables product managers to measure shifts in customer emotion and gather actionable feedback across the mobile customer journey. To learn more, go to Apptentive.com/UW.
What to Listen For:
- 00:00 Intro
- 09:51 The imposter syndrome in tech and in product
- 12:31 Becoming an imposter in the early days of your career
- 19:10 Never point fingers, always assume the responsibility
- 24:04 Why psychological safety matters
- 29:46 Helping and empowering women in the PM space
- 35:29 Ways to allow and encourage a safe space
- 39:00 What can you do to deal with imposter syndrome?
- 44:15 Conversations on Twitter
- 50:11 Not all self-doubt is bad
- 52:25 Find communities where you can share your experience