The success of the Chandrayaan 3 mission stands as a source of immense pride for every Indian, demonstrating the remarkable blend of confidence and perseverance. Just yesterday, I was listening to a speech delivered by the mission’s chief project coordinators. Their unwavering confidence in the face of doubt and criticism struck a chord within me. While my world may not be as complex as orchestrating a moon rover, that sense of determination resonated deeply.

From time to time, all of us deal with similar challenges. It is during these moments that we often seek a ‘confidence buddy’. Similar to the support of a fitness buddy who keeps us motivated.

In my work-life, my Engineering Manager serves as my own ‘confidence buddy.’ As a product manager, the responsibility of making decisions, whether they are affirmative or constructive, falls squarely on your shoulders. Yet, the true challenge lies in steadfastly standing by these decisions and sharing the underlying thought processes and rationales to your team, stakeholders, and leadership. This is precisely where an Engineering Manager can seamlessly transition into your ‘confidence buddy.’

I recall a time many years ago when I was a part of the platform team. It was my first role directly engaging with external stakeholders. The decisions we made had a direct impact on the businesses of others. We held quarterly calls with these external stakeholders to both convey our decisions and gather their feedback. Often, these conversations would escalate in intensity.

As we prepared ourselves and about to dial in for the meeting I would ask my team, “Are we ready?” My Engineering Manager would do this: pulling his chair closer to the table, rolling up his sleeves, and with a soft bang on the table, he would say, “Let’s do this!”

I’m uncertain how I picked up this personality trait from him, but it has organically evolved into a source of confidence-building for me.

Recently, my team launched the Nearby Share App for effortless file sharing between Android and Windows devices. You can imagine, this product had double the complexity and scale as it was bringing two big devices platforms together. Our team was facing healthy skepticism and a push to ship a high quality product. It was our first product for cross device story between Android and Windows so everyone wanted to make a good first impression.

One day, I was in a one-on-one meeting with my Engineering Manager, William Harmon. We needed to make a call on the launch timeline for our product. Both us needed to stand by our decision, justify it and bring everyone along on the ride.

You can imagine the intensity in the call. We started asking questions to each other.

• Do we believe this product is solving real customer problems ?
• Has the quality of product improved with each successive update?
• Are we in consensus that core user journeys are working well?
• Have we put in guardrails in case something goes wrong?
• Is our team ready and capable to handle the unknowns?

We were nodding ‘yes’ to each other for every question. That’s it, I pulled my chair, rolled up the sleeves, and with a gentle bang on the desk said “Let’s do this!”

We sealed our decision and stood unwaveringly by it. Fast forward six months, and the product launch stands as a resounding success, surpassing even the most optimistic expectations. Notably, concerns about product quality have been dispelled, replaced with glowing reviews from customers and the press alike.

This is the influence of a ‘confidence buddy,’ be it in the realm of products or in the broader context of life itself. Who serves as a ‘confidence buddy’ in your life?