 Hi everybody, welcome to this product school webinar on succeeding as a product manager with anxiety Just as a reminder, this webinar is for educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice So before we get into it, I'd like to share a little bit about myself Again, my name is Lee. I'm a UC Berkeley graduate. I studied cognitive science while I was there Professor James Landay and his graduate students Scott Clemmer were really instrumental in me getting inspired by user experience design human computer interaction and As a result, I practice product design after school at companies like Autodesk and MindJet While I was at MindJet, I stepped into product management After which I did some product and UX consulting for a few years I'm working with small and medium-sized companies and start-ups. I Then went full-time into product management and I've worked in various areas like nonprofit nonprofit technology Focusing on data analytics. I've also worked in HR tech Doing platform work API integration and B2B features I've also worked in at Shell in their commercial digital ventures division working on some venture and strategy work and also Managed mobile apps at AAA most recently. I worked in hardware research mobile apps and early device concepting at Google So today we're going to talk about succeeding as a product manager with anxiety first. We're going to Define what anxiety is Then we're going to dig deep into anxiety triggers that are specific to product managers in the product management world I'd like to answer the question. Can you succeed as a product manager with anxiety? And then I'd like to discuss how to fill up your anxiety management tool box as a product manager And I'll leave you with some final thoughts and resources. So I hope that you Stay with us till the end So first of all, what is anxiety and why should we care? Well, anxiety is intense excessive and persistent worry and fear about everyday situations You can experience fast heart rate rapid breathing sweating and Feeling tired or exhausted because of these physical symptoms Generalized anxiety is severe ongoing anxiety that interferes with daily activities. I got this definition from the Mayo Clinic the The link is available for you right down below And the real question is why should we care? Why should we care about anxiety? We don't struggle with it The truth of the matter is that anxiety is the most common mental health obstacle in the world So if this is the case More likely than not you're probably working with somebody who struggles with anxiety You could be managing somebody who struggles with anxiety You might be working for somebody or the founder or CEO of the company that you're working at might be struggling with anxiety one of your colleagues might be struggling with anxiety and So because of this It's I believe it's pretty important to at least learn about it And also offer hope and help Now these are all pretty generic definitions of anxiety, but I just wanted to share a little bit about how I personally experience anxiety as a product manager if I Am triggered by something or if I'm not taking care of myself as well as I should The way that I experience anxiety is that I get a dry mouth It's hard for me to swallow my throat can start to feel constricted My chest can start to feel constricted and I feel this heaviness on my shoulders My body literally goes into a bit of a fear a fear mode and Sometimes I could even feel a little bit like I can't think clearly and so these are some of the physical symptoms that I have when I experience anxiety and Over the years working in product management. I've started to realize that the role of product management Has a lot of triggers a lot of anxiety triggers that are specific to the role There's a lot about being a product manager that could trigger anxiety and I wanted to share those with you today There's a handful of them so bear with me First of all interviewing as a product manager can definitely trigger anxiety As a product manager, you're going to be interviewed on many different topics You'll also be pressured to think and act on the spot during an interview and this could definitely trigger some anxiety in people Some of the larger big tech companies have very rigorous and difficult Interview loops and so yeah Going through going through those interviews and also being Prodded prodded to think on your feet could definitely trigger anxiety There's also an issue of a PM role fit now The product management industry has grown so much and there are categories of Product management specialties these days and if you happen to be working In a role that is not a good fit for your PM skills This could definitely trigger anxiety because you may feel like you're not prepared for this particular role Now another thing that product managers Deal with a lot is balancing the needs We're often told that we have to work by influencing Don't have all the authority and yet we have to balance the needs of many different stakeholders Now balancing needs can start to feel a little bit like like balancing spitting plates and After doing this for for a very long time. It could definitely trigger anxiety, especially if you Find that you you know, you won't be able to balance everybody's needs Now launching products in and of itself can can trigger anxiety a lot of responsibility will ultimately end up falling on the part manager and So preparing for and then dealing with the fallout of a product launch could definitely trigger anxiety But that's not all There are other triggers When it comes to time management the product managers to do this can get very long and There are also several people waiting on several deliverables from you it if you happen to be working at a company that isn't as sensitive or receptive to resourcing projects properly The to-do list for the product manager on the project or on the team can continue to get longer and longer So this is something to definitely be aware of and could be an anxiety trigger There are also interpersonal relations to deal with as a product manager If you happen to be working on a project or a team or a company where you're experiencing microaggressions where Manager or an executive or a colleague participates in gas lighting or You're just not feeling like you're able to build trust or that it's hard to build trust This could definitely trigger anxiety for you as a product manager There's also the issue of performance anxiety There's the typical Challenges around performance anxiety that we all know like preparing to speak publicly or to do a presentation But there's also performance anxiety around Your creativity and being able to strategize for your team so every so often you may get a creative block and You may not be able to Be as creative as you as had hoped or I think outside of the box or dream up some of those ideas that your team is really depending on you for and so when you feel an undue amount of responsibility or You get locked up with a creative block. This could definitely trigger anxiety as well and finally when it comes to Anxiety triggers for that are specific to product management the cognitive load Conduct can definitely be a trigger When it comes to technology product management There's always so much to learn and we can never really feel like we've learned or mastered everything and this sense of there being so much to learn and with Technology moving so fast you could get stuck with this feeling like you're never mastering all the all the technology topics and You know this could this could start to weigh on you and and trigger anxiety And yeah, just you know generally speaking Product managers have to make a lot of decisions and at some point Decision fatigue could also set in and could trigger anxiety You thought that we were done with all the anxiety triggers But I just wanted to point out that there are general anxiety triggers as well that affect everybody external factors How you take care of yourself and what kind of mindset you're living with all trigger anxiety as well When it comes to external factors How your family is doing how your health is doing? whether or not you are You know deficient in any vitamins for minerals Your iron levels Could all you know could all kind of affect How you you know how you deal with triggers Your financial situation could be putting stress on you and then the world's you know the world's issues could also be a trigger How you're taking care of yourself? How you're eating how you're sleeping? I heard how you're how your hygiene is whether or not you're getting exercise How much screen time you're getting and how you manage stress in general could all contribute to triggers and then your mindset Could also be a source of anxiety triggers for you If for some reason you've developed a fixed mindset about a challenge that you that you've got going on at work or if you've got a fixed mindset in general about life this could really Hinder your end of your growth Sometimes learn helplessness becomes a problem where you've kind of given up on Having an impact or having an effect on a certain problem or obstacle and you throw up your hands and give up Blaming shaming avoidance all of these things Don't work in your favor and don't really You know benefit you in the long run and then that's that sense of having to defend yourself or be in the state of self-defense That's pretty much the classic anxiety trigger so after reviewing this Huge collection of triggers for anxiety You might be throwing your hands up in the air as well and giving up But actually there is really good news And I'm I'm here to tell you that there is good news Generalized anxiety does not have to completely stop you from becoming a successful product manager Your professional journey brought you to the doorstep of product management Now is the time to reflect on why you enjoy this role Where do you excel? What energizes you? What part of the role makes your fear melt away and allows you to experience mastery and flow And I would ask you at this point To get really specific about why you love PM because it will help fuel you and fill up your anxiety management toolbox so to summarize What we need to do is first become aware of your triggers and then next Prepare your anxiety toolbox So we could just take a second to review Some of those product management specific triggers that I shared with you Really look at that list and try and see if any of these triggers speak to you If you've experienced any of them You can also think of some of the triggers that are specific to you that aren't listed here and I challenge you to become more and more aware of these triggers Either as you're reflecting on your day your work day or your work week Or if you can become aware of them in the moment as they're happening More you become aware of your triggers the more you can actually do something about them finally Your anxiety management toolbox The great news is that there are a lot of tools that you can put in your toolbox and I've listed them here Some of them here I've put them into four groups Avoiding isolation getting creative being prepared fighting back So I'll just quickly review these and Hopefully they will spark some ideas in you and allow you to fill up your anxiety management toolbox with tools So if there's Anything I could say That is the most important thing to do when you're filling up your toolbox it would be to avoid isolation I think that's why I put this put the section first It's it's very tempting to isolate and Kind of sit with your anxious feelings and struggle with your anxiety alone But from my experience Avoiding isolation is one of the best things you can do for yourself and for for your job in your career Things like therapy and psychiatry Product management industry groups like product school others Getting a coach either a career coach or a life coach Making sure that you get out in nature Or spend time with animals as it suits your personality and your preference Making sure that you collect allies People who you can really depend on you've had good experiences with trust you and be your allies and sponsors in the product management industry be great and Also, try to find ways where you can help others and maybe gain some strength that way These are some of the key tools that you can put in your toolbox Next Getting creative what I mean get creative. I mean thinking outside of the box because Product manager who struggles with anxiety may not be taking the traditional product management path May not be able to have some of those traditional product management successes They're gonna have to get creative. You can get creative with job arrangements You can work on contract to contract to hire you could You could share a job you could Get really specific about their arrangements that are good for you that avoid some of your most pressing triggers These are some things that you can do you could Spend a little more time and be a little bit more picky about finding the right company culture that would be right for you you can also Pad your job search and extend the amount of time that it will take you to find your next project or your next job To give yourself that time that you might need to do all your research and to get prepared you could also Explore your PM type or your PM Daisy and Really get specific about what type of product management work is going to suit you some ideas around Product management type could be that you could create that you could develop a specialty for yourself around working in Mental health apps or the health care space so that you can help others that are like yourself you could also Explore the idea of Focusing on people management and managing and coaching other product managers so that You can help others manage their anxiety and stress as well as they can so that you can build like The best teams at your company are the best teams in the industry Yeah, or you can you know choose a PM role that It's not as triggering for you Maybe the lead times or the release times for the types of products and services you work on are a little bit longer So perhaps if time management is one of the biggest triggers you could stop triggering that At work. So those are some ideas about how to get creative next being prepared This is going to start to get really important because if you are considering yourself Product manager for the long haul. You're going to have to think of yourself as an athlete either a physical athlete or a mental athlete and you want to prepare yourself for the long haul and Some things that you can do to be more prepared is to think about Writing up a pre-mortem. I know some big tech companies do this often, but you could write up a pre-mortem and think about all the things that could possibly go wrong or all the things that could possibly trigger you and developing a plan For how you might avoid some of those mistakes or obstacles you could do a Risk assessment actually at any point in your job or project or career Premortem would happen ahead of time for anything any new prospect, but a risk assessment can happen at any time Another thing you can do is to find the right words or phrases to use when you are triggered This particular tool has helped me a lot and I love finding the right words The right phrases to keep in my back pocket. So one specific example of that is For times when in a meeting somebody else somebody else may take my idea or speak over me I Have found that instead of getting triggered or when I get triggered I Have a script that I use and one of my favorite phrases the right words that I like to say at that moment is Thank you colleague for spotlighting my point. Thank you for spotlighting my point. This is a way that I can Basically deal with an anxious feeling By using the right words and in this in this way I've collected Few key phrases that I can use in certain situations that trigger me You can be prepared also by creating an action plan an action plan that makes you feel more comfortable and more prepared and in general practice practice practice practice as much as you can for whatever area of the product management field is More challenging for you whether that interviewing whether that be having difficult conversations Whether that be dealing with ambiguity Whether that be having one-on-one conversations or interpersonal relations any of those things Practice them as much as you can Easier said than done. I know but I had to mention it and finally Fight back This is where I get to remind you again that you are already the product manager of you You are already the CEO of you You are the driver of your bus. You are the master of your fate and you have the power to fight back and Have an active role in overcoming obstacles with anxiety You can do things like face your fears with a fear ladder worksheet where you write several In in in product management parlance It could be use cases or several scenarios that you can rate on a fear scale of one to ten and then just practice one by one going through and Having those experiences and facing those fears of starting with less fearful Experiences and then moving up to your most fearful experience You could also talk back to your anxious thoughts, which is a classic cognitive behavioral therapy technique You can employ meditation and mindfulness This works especially well for me. I found a lot of relief by practicing mindfulness and meditating and then any kind of movement is really proven to To to to help manage anxiety so movement exercise Breathwork, you know anything that gets you moving is gonna is gonna be a great tool for managing your anxiety So here I have some final thoughts What I do want to say Even though there's a lot of tools that we can use in our anxiety management toolbox It is not all good news Anxiety is a struggle and that might mean that your product management journey or path is not ideal You might struggle with You might it might take you longer to find work it might take you longer to get promoted it might take you longer to find an ideal PM role for you or an ideal work situation But if you have found that kernel of passion and love for product management and the work that you do you should be able to succeed Here are some great resources For product managers with anxiety. I've got some podcasts to share with you and books as well The anxiety guide podcast I have found to be very helpful and useful The anxious achiever podcast is also very good The Huberman lab podcast out of Stanford has a lot of great scientific research if you're up for very long podcast sessions and I wanted to call out Lisa Kostova's female tech exec podcast which could Be very useful for women in women in product management women in technology. I find that Lisa's podcasts are especially Poignant and they really get at the heart of The world of product management And they're offered like on a pretty intimate level and so I think for somebody struggling with anxiety They could really speak to them and Then these are some classic books that have helped me over the years Feeling good by David Burns Get out of your mind and into your life by Stephen Hayes Hope and help for your nerves by Claire Weitz and the anxiety and phobia workbook by Edmund Warren. Uh, yeah, these are all Classics in the field focusing on just different aspects of anxiety We wanted to make sure to address those for whom anxiety is beyond severe We wanted to make sure that you knew that there is help The CDC has a 24-hour crisis center line that you are free to call at any time And there are also some government resources with the full URLs listed here for you to note down if You need help that is just beyond educational or beyond Moderate generalized anxiety And with that This concludes my talk on succeeding as a product manager with anxiety I do encourage you to stay in touch. I would love to learn a little bit more about your anxiety triggers What kind of tools you have in your anxiety management toolbox? I would love to meet more of you and Contact me anytime. Yeah. Thank you