For years, I was immersed in product management: defining features, refining user experiences and staying close to customer needs. When I joined Zalando, it was as a Product Manager.

Then the move to a new role. New structure, new priorities. I wasn’t building a product anymore. I was creating space for multiple teams to build theirs. At first, I felt like a traveler in unfamiliar territory, trying to read the map. But looking back, this change brought exactly the kind of challenge and growth I didn’t know I was ready for.

The real challenges (and small crises of confidence)

As a Product Manager, my world was focused. One team. One roadmap. One set of features that made users’ lives a little better. Then everything changed. Now I was working across teams, across domains and often across different ways of thinking. My job wasn’t to define features anymore. It was to make sure all the moving parts stayed in sync and made sense together. I’ll be honest. There were moments when I questioned if I was the right person for this. The learning curve was steep and my usual tools didn’t always work. The shift into Program Management wasn’t just about learning new responsibilities. It was about redefining my role in the system. I had to:

• Let go of the details and start thinking in systems: I was used to knowing every metric, every Jira ticket, every design trade-off. Suddenly, I had to zoom out. To trust that others had it under control. And to focus on dependencies and momentum, rather than specific deliverables.
• Lead through influence not direct ownership: I couldn’t “decide” things anymore. I had to guide, support and align. That meant learning how to listen more deeply, frame discussions with care and build trust across a landscape of strong opinions.
• Create alignment without slowing things down: I had to bring people together, offer clarity and remove friction (without becoming a bottleneck myself). That required structure without rigidity, process without bureaucracy.

And through all this, I was still figuring out who I was in this new role. I didn’t feel like a Product Manager anymore, but I wasn’t sure what kind of Program Manager I was either. It felt uncomfortable. Like growing out of your favourite shoes before finding a new pair that fits. But it was also exciting. Because every week I discovered something new I could do. A new conversation I could shape. A small shift I could enable that made someone else’s work easier. And that’s when I realised that I didn’t need to feel fully confident to be effective. I just needed to stay open. To learn out loud. To keep showing up.

What helped me find my ground

As I grew into this new role, a few habits helped me stay grounded:

• Zooming out on purpose: I started asking how each project fit into the bigger picture. This helped me focus on long-term impact instead of daily urgency.
• Communicating with care: I made it a habit to share context early, ask questions that brought clarity and keep things transparent for everyone involved.
• Investing in relationships: beyond meetings and updates, I focused on building trust. That’s what makes real collaboration work.

One of the biggest turning points for me was leading a highly complex program involving multiple stakeholders and shifting priorities. Navigating this project challenged me in unexpected ways. It pushed me to strengthen my confidence, improve conflict management and sharpen my communication skills. It was a moment of real growth, not just in skills but in understanding the impact I could make when I leaned fully into this new role.

For anyone navigating a career shift

If you’re facing a transition or stepping into something new, I want you to know: it’s OK to feel unsure. Growth doesn’t always look like confidence at the start. Sometimes it feels like confusion, doubt or even discomfort. But here’s what helped me:

• You don’t need to know everything to be effective. Ask thoughtful questions, listen closely and keep learning.
• You’re allowed to grow out of one role and into another. You’re not leaving your old self behind. You’re evolving.
• Leading with empathy is powerful: people remember how you made them feel, not your decks or your frameworks
• You can find strength in softness: clarity, patience, kindness; these are not compromises. They’re strengths.

What this role taught me (that I didn’t expect)

Program Management gave me a wider perspective. It taught me how systems breathe, how people connect, how tension can be turned into alignment when you hold space with care. It reminded me that you don’t have to be loud to lead. That real change comes from consistency, not control. And that sometimes the best roles aren’t the ones we choose…they’re the ones that find us just when we’re ready to grow.