To my younger self,
I imagine you’re sitting at a desk, head down, perfecting another slide deck, rewriting copy for the hundreth time or adding another layer of detail to a spreadsheet. Just to let you know that we’ve been horribly missold on the "Great Meritocracy." Right now, you think that if you are the most diligent, the most expert, well read, and the most professional person in the room, the world will beat a path to your door. I’m writing to tell you that you’re wrong.
Knowledge and expertise are entry stakes to get you into the game, but as I look back I realise that your career ceiling won’t be determined by competence, it’ll be determined by confidence.
Here is what I wish I’d known thirty years ago.
Competence is a silent; Confidence is a megaphone
You’ve always been modest. You were taught that "letting your work speak for itself" was a virtue. It isn't. Research (and what’s left of my grey hair) confirms the hard truth, that people judge your competence by how confidently you present yourself. If you hedge your words or downplay your wins, people don't think you’re being polite or modest, they think you’re unsure of yourself.
The "Hidden Trio": Luck, Judgment, and Company
Success is a chemistry experiment, and hard work is only one reagent. There are three others you’re currently ignoring:
1. Good Luck: You’ll spend years trying to control every outcome. Stop. Success involves a massive amount of luck. The trick isn't to work harder to avoid luck; it's to stay in the game long enough and project enough confidence so that when luck strikes, you’re the one chosen to catch it.
2. Sound Judgment: Being an expert means knowing how to do something. Having judgment means knowing whether it should be done at all. As you get older, your gut experience will be more valuable than your technical skills. It’s hard, but trust it.
3. Keeping The Right Company: You are the average of the people you spend the most time with. If you surround yourself with safe thinkers, you’ll stay safe. Success is found by keeping company with those who challenge you and who are willing to advocate for you when you aren't in the room. Most don’t.
The Modesty Trap
You think being real about your mistakes makes you trustworthy. Of course, honesty is vital, and your professional reputation takes years to create and seconds to destroy, but be aware that, without any exageration, modesty is a career-killer.
HBR studies show that "self-praise" sticks. When you speak matter-of-factly about your achievements, people believe you. They then use your later work to confirm that belief. Conversely, if you start from a place of modesty, they look for evidence of your mediocrity. That’s just the way people are, don’t blame them now you know.
Looking Forward
It’s all about tomorrow. Decades from now, when you’re 55 and looking at a shifting marketing landscape filled with AI and tools you haven't even dreamed of yet, you might feel a flicker of imposter syndrome. Don't let it in.
Your value won't be in your ability to click the buttons, it will be in your ability to lead the strategy with a relaxed, steady confidence that only decades of experience can produce. Calm certainty will be your greatest marketing asset.
The Bottom Line
Be diligent. Keep learning and know your profession. But be more confident.
You’re expected to be good at your job but I’m telling you to be visibly good at your job. Don’t be afraid, don’t treat every interview, meeting, or networking event as a test you need to pass, but as a peer-to-peer conversation where you are already the expert.
Success is now about how much you believe in what you know.
You’re doing great,
Your Older Self