If you are struggling with imposter syndrome, read this
Notes from a conversation with Shreyas Achar, Head of Marketing at Plum
I have had imposter syndrome all my working life. In fact, every time I do something, I start out with the idea that I’m going to screw this up. This has not changed, ever, even 12 years into doing what I do.
But I’ve also never thought about it or confronted it properly. It’s just something I take as par for the course, and shrug off.
My conversation last month with Shreyas Achar, for my podcast Super Marketers, changed that. We were having a great conversation about other (marketing) things, when in the last 10 minutes, Shreyas delivered the most vulnerable monologue on having and confronting imposter syndrome I have heard.
It was so good that out of nowhere, it helped get a few things sorted in my head.
I will link to the podcast episode itself. But I wanted to write about a few points we spoke about, things I think are important enough to reiterate.
A lot of what we do as marketers is abstract and subjective. What we think is good will not be good for someone else. Marketing is not like engineering, where something just works or doesn’t work. This is one of the primary reasons we doubt ourselves all the time. And that’s fine. There’s no other way other than to lean into this.
Both Shreyas and I spoke about taking and owning the small wins and validations. I actually believe this a lot: As a marketer, don’t be afraid of seeking validation. Because of the nature of what we do, this can sustain us. So even if you are fishing for it, get it. I actually have a brag folder of nice things people have said about my work. This helps at times when you make mistakes and are feeling miserable. Hat tip to my colleague Shankar Ganesh for this idea.
Remember that we are all proud of different things. In the podcast, I spoke about how my team at Wingify, and their success, was my biggest source of validation over the years. Shreyas said something similar about his team at Plum, and how their success gave him the most joy. This doesn’t have to the case for you. It can be something completely different. See what makes you feel good, and optimise for it.
And finally, as regular readers of my newsletter will know as something I harp on: Give yourself and your career time. Don’t rush. Rome wasn’t built in a day.
Here’s the complete podcast. The bulk of what I’ve written about is from the last 10 minutes of the conversation, so please remember to listen to the whole thing.
And yes, please do share and subscribe.
On another note, this was an incredibly timely topic for me to think about. Because something really special happened last week.
At SaaStr Annual, in his keynote on the main stage, my former boss and CEO of Freshworks, Girish Mathrubootham, brought my career up as an example of how the startup had hired fresh, unproven talent with a learning mindset, and how that had paid off.
(The complete video is here, from 11:50 to about 16:58, if you want to watch the whole thing)
I was fast asleep in Bangalore when this happened, and I woke up to a flurry of messages from friends, colleagues, and former bosses.
What made this even sweeter was that Vijay Rayapati, CEO of Atomicwork, and Aparna Chugh, our product manager, were also in the hall (It is their cheers you’ll hear in the video on Youtube, about 15:46).
Now I can play this down as much as I can, but I have to admit that this is a big deal for me, a career high-note. On probably the biggest stage of the SaaS industry, the man who gave me my first job as a unproven, unknown rookie, showcased my career as a success.
For someone who has struggled with imposter syndrome, self-doubt, and a lot of episodes of complete loss of confidence, this was validation of the highest order. And I’m more than thankful. I’m grateful.
I’ve spoken repeatedly of what Girish and Freshworks gave me (and to a lot of other people). What makes me even happier is that I made something of that opportunity given to me.
There are miles to go yet, of course. But this is a bit of a reason to look back at how far I have come, and breathe a bit. I’m also glad I can share this with you folks, my readers for the last 3 years. You are my constant validation. :)
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