Leading a product strategist out of the self-doubt circle of doom.
Leadership is about adapting, here's how.
Amelia’s challenge.
Meet Amelia. A product strategist that you can’t afford to lose.
She is an exceptionally talented individual. Smart AF. A deep thinker. Curious. A Maker. Considered and thoughtful.
But,
She struggles to find her role amongst an environment where roles are unclear and goal posts change. She desperately wants to immerse herself in a problem and wants to be valued and appreciated for attempting to solve it. She has no role models. She has no guidance. She has no one to challenge her. When she's on it she knows it, and it's such a thrill, a high. When she's lost it, it's low and it engrosses her. Takes her joy away. Dims her light. She doesn't shine.
We need the Amelia’s, so how do we help her?
Give her confidence.
Give her outcomes.
Give her space.
An audience (not for ego but for stimulation).
Give her a big problem to solve.
How to build confidence?
Set her small wins and celebrate them loudly.
Encourage her to get outside of her own head and talk to people.
Ask her to repeat positive affirmations.
Practice reframing the negative dialogue in her mind to say something positive, if that's too stretchy at least something neutral like "the opposite of that statement is equally true"
If she’s in a circle of self-doubt, ask her to reach out and share her idea with a friend or a peer.
You got this.
G