The Evidence-Based Approach to Building Confidence in CPG Leadership
My client was shaking during her first CPG director interview.
"I don't have confidence," she told me afterward. "Everyone can see it."
She'd been a brand manager for eight years. Led successful launches. Saved failing products. Built relationships with every major retailer. But sitting across from that hiring panel, all she could think about was what she hadn't done.
Six months later, she landed three offers—including one from that same company that saw her shake.
What changed? Not her experience. Not her skills.
She stopped trying to "build confidence" like it was something you could order from Amazon.
The Confidence Myth That's Killing CPG Careers
Here's what nobody tells you about confidence in CPG: It's not about feeling ready. It's about proving you've already done it.
Every week, I get messages from talented CPG professionals convinced they need more confidence. They read books about power posing. They practice affirmations in their car before walking into Bentonville. They try to "fake it till they make it."
Meanwhile, they're sitting on goldmines of evidence that they're exactly who they claim to be.
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺? They've never documented it.
Your Invisible Wins Are Your Secret Weapon
My shaking client started what I call an Evidence Journal. Not a gratitude journal. Not a wins tracker. Evidence.
Hard proof that she knew her stuff.
She documented everything:
- The $2M pricing error she caught before it hit Walmart's system
- The category review where her one slide changed the entire strategy
- The distributor relationship she salvaged when everyone else had given up
- The time she negotiated an extra 4 feet of shelf space at Target by presenting shopper data everyone else missed
- The product launch she saved by pivoting the positioning 48 hours before the buyer meeting
Not the stuff that made it onto her annual review. The stuff that happened between the PowerPoint presentations.
The Shift From Generic to Specific
Here's where it gets interesting. When she went back to interviews, she didn't feel different. But she sounded different.
𝗕𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗷𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗹:
- "I'm good at managing complexity"
- "I handle pressure well"
- "I'm strategic but also tactical"
- "I build strong relationships"
𝗔𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗱𝗼𝗰𝘂𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴:
- "Last quarter I managed 47 SKU launches across 6 retailers while our team was down 40%. I created a priority matrix based on velocity and margin that..."
- "When Kroger threatened to delist our top brand, I had 72 hours to build a case. I pulled IRI data showing basket penetration that proved..."
- "I noticed our trade spend was 2% higher than needed at Albertsons. By reallocating those funds to digital coupons at Walmart, we increased..."
She wasn't more confident. She was more specific.
And specific beats confident every time.
Why Evidence Beats Everything Else
In CPG, everyone claims they can:
- Drive growth
- Build brands
- Manage P&L
- Lead cross-functional teams
But when you ask for specifics, most people freeze. Not because they haven't done it. Because they haven't captured it.
𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸:
How many fires did you put out that nobody saw?
How many decisions did you make that saved money, time, or relationships?
How many problems did you prevent from becoming disasters?
That's your confidence. Right there. Waiting to be documented.
The Evidence Collection System That Actually Works
Here's exactly how my client built her evidence arsenal:
𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝟭: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗖𝗮𝗽𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲
Every evening, she wrote down one thing she did that day that mattered. Not tasks. Impact.
- Wrong: "Attended category review"
- Right: "Convinced buyer to keep 3 SKUs by showing velocity trends they hadn't considered"
𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝟮: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗡𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗛𝘂𝗻𝘁
She went back through performance reviews, emails, presentations, and reports to find numbers that proved her impact.
- Sales increases
- Cost savings
- Time reductions
- Process improvements
Even estimates work. "Approximately $500K saved" beats "significant savings" every time.
𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝟯: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲
For each piece of evidence, she created a micro-story:
- Situation (what was broken/at risk)
- Action (what she specifically did)
- Result (what changed because of it)
𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝟰: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀𝗮𝗹
She practiced saying these stories out loud. Not memorizing. Just getting comfortable with her own accomplishments.
The Hidden Power of Invisible Work
Here's what most CPG professionals miss: Your best evidence isn't in your job description. It's in the invisible work.
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗸𝘀 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁:
- Launched new product line
- Managed key accounts
- Led cross-functional team
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀:
- Caught the pricing error before it went live
- Talked the buyer out of delisting during a tough phone call
- Found the insight in the data that everyone else missed
- Prevented the crisis by flagging the issue early
- Saved the relationship with one honest conversation
This invisible work? That's where your real value lives.
From Shaking to Director: The Complete Transformation
My client who couldn't stop shaking? Let me tell you what happened next.
After three weeks of evidence collecting, she had 21 specific stories. Not generic accomplishments. Specific moments where she made a difference.
In her next interview (for a Director role at a natural foods company), they asked the dreaded "Tell me about a time you failed" question.
Old her would have given a safe answer about learning from mistakes.
Evidence-based her said: "I lost a $100K sku at Whole Foods because I didn't see the dip in velocity due to competitive activity. As a result, I built a dashboard to track competitive threats. It's prevented four similar situations since."
She turned a failure into evidence of growth.
𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗼𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗷𝗼𝗯 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗱𝗮𝘆.
But she has receipts. And receipts beat confidence every time.
Your Evidence Audit Starts Now
Stop reading articles about building confidence. Stop practicing power poses. Stop trying to fake it till you make it.
Start documenting.
𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸:
𝗗𝗮𝘆 𝟭-𝟮: Write down three things you've done that nobody knows about. The saves. The fixes. The disasters prevented.
𝗗𝗮𝘆 𝟯-𝟰: Find numbers for each one. Sales, costs, time, percentages. Even if you have to estimate.
𝗗𝗮𝘆 𝟱: Turn each into a 30-second story. Situation. Action. Result.
𝗗𝗮𝘆 𝟲: Tell someone one of these stories. Notice how different it feels to share evidence versus claims.
𝗗𝗮𝘆 𝟳: Start your daily evidence capture. One impact per day. Every day.
The Truth About Confidence Nobody Wants to Admit
Here's what I want you to really understand: Confidence isn't a feeling. It's a filing system.
It's having the receipts organized and ready.
It's knowing where to find the proof.
It's being able to pull the specific example instead of the generic claim.
You don't need to feel confident. You need to be documented.
My client learned this the hard way. She spent years trying to build confidence through self-help books and motivational podcasts. But confidence came instantly when she could point to specific evidence of her capabilities.
You already have everything you need. You've already done the work. You've already proven yourself.
You just haven't written it down yet.
Ready to Build Your Evidence Arsenal?
Stop waiting to feel ready. Start proving you already are.
Your invisible wins are waiting to be documented. Your evidence is waiting to be organized. Your specific stories are waiting to replace your generic claims.
The question isn't whether you have enough experience or achievements.
The question is: Will you finally give yourself credit for them?
What invisible save from this week are you going to document first?
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𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘊𝘗𝘎 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦? 𝘐 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘊𝘗𝘎 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 (𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥, 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘱𝘵𝘴).
Come work with me. Schedule a Discovery Call. https://calendly.com/cpg-mentor/discovery_call
