Imposter syndrome in a new senior role — what actually helped mE
by Vidhya Subramaniam·May 23, 2026
Got promoted to Head of Product at 31. Spent the first 4 months convinced someone was about to discover I had no idea what I was doing.
What made it worse: Comparing my internal experience (doubt, uncertainty) to other peoplE's external presentation (confidence, decisive answers). Nobody shows their uncertainty publicly.
What actually helped:
Documenting decisions. When I had to make a call, I wrote down my reasoning. Reviewing these 3 months later, almost all were reasonable. The evidence that my judgment was sound existed — I just hadn't been collecting it.
Talking honestly to a peer. When I admitted feeling like a fraud, they said: "Welcome. We all feel like this. You just get better at working through it."
Focusing on the next specific thing. The role is too large to hold all at once. The meeting in an hour is manageable.