Everyone's an Imposter
Inspired by on Lenny's Podcast
The woman who ran design for Facebook felt like a fraud every single week for seven years - and that's exactly what your toddler needs to hear someday.
Julie Zhuo was VP of Design at Facebook, running one of the most important design teams in tech history. And for seven years, every single week, she felt like an imposter.
'Do you really deserve to be here? Do you really know what's happening? You're not really prepared for this job.'
That voice never stopped. Not when she got promoted. Not when she led major launches. Not when millions of people used what she built.
Here's what finally helped: realizing everyone feels this way.
'I think so much of it that helped me was realizing that everyone feels this way to some extent.'
Your child will face moments of doubt. First day at school. First time trying something hard. First failure in front of friends. The gift you can give them isn't confidence - it's the truth that doubt is normal. That the people they admire most have felt exactly what they feel.
Not 'you've got this.' But 'we all feel this way, and we do it anyway.'
PM Theme: Imposter syndrome and growth
Parenting Theme: Normalizing self-doubt
“I always say that the first seven or eight years that I was at Facebook, every single week, I felt like an imposter. I had no idea really what I was doing. The constant refrain in my head is like, 'Well, do you really deserve to be here? Do you really know what's happening? You're not really prepared for this job.'”Julie Zhuo · 00:08:36
“I think so much of it that helped me was realizing that everyone feels this way to some extent.”Julie Zhuo · 00:11:14
