The nervous pilot example

𝘜𝘩 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘰 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘬𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘪𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨...𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬. 𝘈𝘯𝘺𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴, 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘰....𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘐 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯.....𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺 𝘍𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 452 𝘵𝘰 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘴! 𝘈𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘐'𝘮 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘺 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦'𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘥, 𝘩𝘢.

𝘚𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺, 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘦 - 𝘐 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘫𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴! 𝘕𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘐? 𝘈𝘩 𝘺𝘦𝘴, 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘺 𝘨𝘰 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦𝘵𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘥𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺'𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘱. 𝘓𝘦𝘵'𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘦, 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦...𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵, 𝘥𝘰 𝘸𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘧𝘵? 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵, 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘬𝘴.

𝘐 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘪𝘭𝘰𝘵. 𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘮𝘦, 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘺 𝘢 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘍𝘔𝘊𝘎 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴!

𝘈𝘯𝘺𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴, 𝘴𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘰𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 - 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯! 𝘖𝘩, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘣𝘶𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘶𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘴𝘮𝘰𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘩! [away from mic] 𝘔𝘢𝘵𝘵, 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘫𝘰𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯?

Pep talk to fellow marketers on confidence

Can we talk real for a minute, my FMCG marketers? I want to chat about something I suspect many of us deal with: confidence. 

Or rather, the lack of it. 

Raise your hand if you can relate to any of this:

• You stay up overprepping for a big presentation, convinced it won’t go well.
• You hesitate to share that product launch idea because, well, what if it falls flat?
• You beat yourself up comparing your work to Rachel who seems like she has it all together.

The cost.

I've been there too. And here’s what that lack of confidence has cost me: opportunities I didn't seize. Ideas left unsaid. Leadership moments missed.

I have missed out on major opportunities simply because I didn't speak up with conviction during key meetings. Promotions I was qualified for that went to others who projected more confidence, even if they had less experience. Campaigns that never made it off the ground because my perfectionism led to over-analysis.

Does this sound familiar? Read on, then. 

Our ideas and knowledge don't come to fruition when we second guess ourselves. We fail to gain stakeholders' buy-in when we exude self-doubt. Our leadership presence suffers when we shy away from speaking out. And believe you me, looking confident doesn't have to be bragging about, being overly extroverted. We are all able to be confident in our ways, without sacrificing who we really are.

"The pilot you want" example.

Imagine you're a passenger boarding a flight. The pilot greets you over the intercom with their flight plan.

But they speak hesitantly, can't recall the names of the flight crew, and mix up the safety protocols. When asked about expected weather conditions, they fumble for answers and lack conviction.

Let me ask you this: how would you feel as a passenger on this flight? 

Even if this pilot is highly skilled, their shaky confidence does little to inspire trust. As a passenger, you'd likely feel uneasy seeing the pilot so visibly unsure.

Now imagine your key company stakeholders are the passengers boarding your "flight." As their pilot, you're presenting the plan - your marketing strategy and vision for the brand in 2024.

Like that uncertain pilot, if you communicate with self-doubt and hesitation, your audience may not feel compelled to come along for the ride. But when you speak with assurance and conviction, you instill confidence that you can steer the flight path to success.

The pilot might not have every answer. But much of how passengers trust their guidance comes from the confidence they exude while communicating. The same goes for us as marketing leaders presenting to stakeholders.

Here's where to start

The confidence gap is holding us back from achieving our goals and getting what we want as marketers. Here's an ebook I've prepared for you to guide you through simple and effective steps.

We go through:

• A quiz to know where we're starting off
• Pinpointing where that pesky inner critic rears its head
• Setting goals to speak up and get out of our comfort zone
• Quick exercises to put tips into action

You can get it here.

Here’s to voicing our ideas, taking risks, and putting marketing in the lead. Here's to knowing our worth and owning our seat at the table. Let's spend some of these slower days in January working on this, download this ebook for free here!

Some more news coming

In a few weeks time, I'll be sharing some big news on a new launch. Something ONLY for marketers. If you want to be kept in the loop with exciting news and early-birds, it's over here!

Mags

Leadership Coach for Marketers

Visit for more: startingblockscoaching.com