Welcome to Edition #45 of Ask Gorick Anything. This AMA is part of Gorick's Newsletter, where Harvard career advisor and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Gorick Ng shares what they don't teach you in school about how to succeed in your career.
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→ Read time: 4 min
ASK GORICK ANYTHING
“How to bring back my confidence?”
Have a career question? Ask me here.
Subscriber’s question:
“Gorick–I’m feeling like an imposter. I know everything about my job but can't explain in brief the impact I make.
This affirms the belief that I'm an imposter & don't deserve a seat at the table.
All this occurs while the people I know who are bad at their jobs confidently exaggerate their impact & get ahead in their careers.
What would you suggest me to do to bring back my confidence?”
— “Jane Doe” from Austria
Gorick’s response:
Hi “Jane”,
You don’t need to exaggerate to articulate your impact. You do, however, need to give yourself the credit you rightfully deserve.
Try filling out the following blanks:
1. “If I didn’t show up to work, [A: these tasks would not get done].”
- E.g., “If I didn’t show up to work, our customer service tickets would go unanswered.”
2. “If [A: these tasks did not get done], then [B: this immediate consequence] and, in turn, we’d start [C: this ultimate consequence].”
- E.g., “If our customer service tickets go unanswered, then our customer satisfaction would go down and, in turn, we’d start losing customers.”
3. “The fact that we care so much about not [C: this ultimate consequence] means that I’m crucial for [D: this metric that matters].”
- E.g., “The fact that we care so much about not losing customers means that I’m crucial for customer retention.”
4. “So, while my job title is just _______, my mandate is really to increase/decrease [D: this metric that matters] and I’m really the subject matter expert on [E: this topic].”
- E.g., “So, while my job title is merely Customer Service Rep, my mandate is really to increase customer retention and I’m really the subject matter expert on what our customers need and want.”
5. “Since my mandate is [D: this metric that matters], then I’d suggest that we look into / work on [F: fixing this problem / trying this new idea]. In fact, I can get started by [G: doing these things].”
- E.g., Since my mandate is to increase customer retention, then I’d suggest that we investigate the most common drivers of customer churn over the last quarter and address them. In fact, I can get started by analyzing our exit survey results, which I just realized no one’s looked at for six months.”
The key?
Internally… focus less on just your job title—and more on your “mandate” (the broader goal).
Externally… talk less about your tasks and more about those metrics that matter.
In case you’re interested, this is a common topic I talk about in my speaking engagements. Here’s how I show it in slide form:
A line I like to drop in my keynotes is: "You know something others don't. The fact that you're closer to the details means that there's something you know better than even the CEO." You're a subject matter expert (a topic I discussed a few weeks back here). Own it!
See you next Tuesday for our next story and unspoken rule,
Gorick
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