Leslie Tom on Imposter syndrome
Fake it until you make it
Through my lifetime, I've had the privilege of meeting some very special people who just seemed born natural to do the audacious goals set forth for them. Everything seemed so effortless to these people. One of those people was my friend Leslie Tom. She owned partner marketing (sometimes fondly called mdf) at Salesforce for over a decade. Between years doing City Tours, Dreamforce and other events, I have watched Leslie in action countless times. She was and is amazing with partners; she is excellent in communicating the value to that eco-system of the marketing programs that she promoted.
I saw her about a year ago at the annual Dreamforce reunion of old-timers taking place in the lobby of the St. Regis in in San Francisco. As you can see in the picture, she hasn't aged a bit, but she was so happy when I saw her because she had recently shifted roles at the company where now she was running the new Trailblazer Camp, a retreat area around the foothills of Half Moon Bay created to on-board and inspire various Salesforce employees and other stakeholders. (Note Leslie's cool trailhead ranger hat!)
We got to talking about the past. I congratulated her on her accomplishments and asked her the secret to her success. Her response surprised me. She told me that everyday for the last 20 or so years she came into the office thinking she was going to get fired after her bosses finally realized she didn't know exactly what she was doing. Her humility was not surprising, but I was frankly shocked. Here was a person who consistently blew her numbers away, no matter how inflated they might be. And she always seemed calm.
I always felt like I had imposter syndrome, It was comforting to know that others experience that too. And like she said: fake it til you make it. Bravo Leslie!
