You Are Not Perfect — And That's Okay! (PW #16)

The other day, I caught myself hesitating before telling someone that I coach product managers. Not because I don’t love doing it; helping PMs navigate their careers and reduce stress is something I genuinely enjoy.

I hesitated because I didn’t want to be lumped in with the countless “product gurus” flooding LinkedIn with perfect frameworks, grand strategies, and thinly veiled humblebrags. You know the ones: their posts make you feel like if you’re not running a high-autonomy, outcome-driven, customer-obsessed, Agile machine, you’re failing as a PM.

And let's be honest: this mindset is toxic.

We are constantly being told what “great” product management looks like, and anything short of that feels like a personal failure. But the truth? Most PMs aren’t building category-defining products. Most are just doing their best in environments where influence is limited, stakeholders are stubborn, and priorities shift daily. And that’s okay.

The Pressure of Perfection

It’s impossible to scroll through LinkedIn without seeing yet another post about the “perfect” way to do product management. Whether it’s a diagram that makes everything look simple or an anecdote about how a well-timed pivot saved the day, these stories often leave out one key detail: reality. The reality is that most PMs don’t work in environments where these idealized methods are even possible.

Books by industry legends like Marty Cagan are packed with great insights, but they set an impossibly high bar. It’s easy to feel like a failure when your day-to-day looks nothing like the product utopia described in these sources. If you’ve ever read a post from a self-proclaimed product thought leader and thought, “I wish I worked in a company that allowed me to do that,” you’re not alone.

Perfection != Impact

When the PM world is constantly portrayed as one of perfect strategy, complete autonomy, and flawless execution, it can lead to imposter syndrome. You start to question whether you’re even doing “real” product management.

Here’s the truth: Just because you’re NOT launching groundbreaking new features every month, doesn’t mean you aren't making an impact. The reality of product management is often messy. Sometimes, being a good PM means keeping the train on the tracks rather than building the actual tracks. And that’s valuable too.

Screw the "Product Messiahs"

If you can relate to any of this so far, I have a simple solution. Stop comparing yourself to the vocal minority of PM hot-shots. There are no messiah-types that have all the answers. You don't need to feel insecure about how you are doing. Because once you stop feeling insecure, all of the influencer noise just goes away.

It's absolutely fine to want to better yourself. But only because you want to, not because someone is making you feel bad about yourself.

Embrace What You Do Well

It’s human nature to obsess over fixing weaknesses, constantly chasing perfection in areas where you're naturally less talented. But here's a different perspective: what if your greatest impact lies in amplifying your strengths, not in relentlessly addressing shortcomings?

Imagine what you could achieve if you invested more energy into refining the skills you're already good at—whether it's stakeholder communication, strategic visioning, or working with your team to build great software.

Working on your weaker skills is definitely helpful, but your real magic comes from your strengths: the things you're naturally great at. Those are exactly what make your team trust you, help stakeholders see your value, and lead your products to success. Leaning into your strengths doesn't just make you feel good; it sets you up for bigger wins and faster progress.

So why not spend more energy getting even better at the things you already enjoy and do well?

What is Your Talent?

I want to challenge you to answer this question. Really take a moment to think about this. Here are a couple of questions that might help you examine this:

• What aspects of my job energize me the most?
• When do my teammates or stakeholders rely on me the most?
• What type of problems do I naturally gravitate toward solving?
• When have I received genuine praise for my work, and what was it about?
• In what areas do I feel the most confident in making decisions?
• What activities make me feel the most accomplished at the end of the day?

Be Proud of What You Do

If I could only leave you with one take-away after this it's:

Be proud of yourself. You are doing your best, even if you are not the picture-perfect PM.

Feeling like you are stuck in feature factory? Just remember: there is still a lot of value in someone who can execute really well.

Tired of pushback from stakeholders when you ask them the tough questions? You're probably the only one challenging them to really think about their problem. While that may cause friction, it's extremely valuable!

Celebrate your wins, and be proud of what you've accomplished!