As a rookie consultant at McKinsey, before the final client presentation, I used to feel very jittery. No matter how much work I had done, there would be so many things we were not sure of — what if the client asked about them?
But the senior partner on the project would casually listen to our presentation for a bit, and then calmly walk into the client meeting full of confidence.
I used to wonder, why that was the case. Partly, it was because our roles were different — a senior partner could talk about some generic universal truths but I had to talk numbers.
But there was another factor — the deeper you are into something, the more you are aware of your knowledge gaps. And never in one client meeting, did anyone ask any question that I could not answer.
When you start gaining depth, in the beginning, it may ironically increase your insecurity and anxiety since you know what you don’t know.
So if you ever feel jittery, remember that it may not be because you don’t know enough — but that know too much about your knowledge gaps.
Since then, I have come a long way and I feel almost zero jitters before any meeting or presentation.
Because I have learned the secret of confidence — focus on what you know, not on what you don’t know.
– Rajan