Are you waiting to feel confident before taking the next step in your career?
You might be waiting forever.
In this episode, I sat down with Lisa Zaythik, Executive Chief of Staff at AppsFlyer and one of the company’s founding team members, to discuss career transitions, leadership, and what really drives professional growth for women in tech.
What Lisa shared completely reframes how we think about confidence, readiness, and career progression.
About Lisa Zaythik
Lisa Zaythik has been with AppsFlyer since the early startup days (employee #25) and has made multiple career pivots within the company:
- Started in business development
- Moved to operations
- Led HR during hypergrowth (50-60 hires per month)
- Now serves as Executive Chief of Staff to the CEO
She’s also a mother of four, an immigrant to Israel, and someone who built her entire tech career without traditional advantages – no network, no experience, and initially limited English.
Her journey offers powerful lessons for women navigating career growth in male-dominated industries.
Key Takeaways: What Women Need to Know About Career Growth
1. Focus on Your Value, Not Your Gaps
When Lisa graduated from university at 23, she was young and inexperienced, with no connections in the Israeli job market. As an immigrant, she also struggled with English.
Instead of fixating on these disadvantages, she identified what only she could bring to the table.
Lisa’s advice: “Focus on the value you bring, not the things you don’t have. When you focus on your value, you appear in front of people as something valuable , not as someone who lacks experience.”
https://youtube.com/shorts/7rG_P3Rw4O0
How to apply this:
- Identify your unique perspective or skill set
- Ask: What can I do that others in this room cannot?
- Lead with your strengths in interviews and conversations
- Stop apologizing for what you’re “missing”
2. Confidence Comes After Action, Not Before It
When Lisa was asked to lead HR at AppsFlyer during a period of explosive growth, her first response was:
“This is absolutely an irresponsible decision. How can I lead something I have no experience in?”
She took the role anyway.
Lisa’s insight: “My career grew the most when I stopped chasing confidence and started seeking impact.”
She didn’t wait to feel ready. She found advisors, hired people smarter than herself, asked uncomfortable questions, and built the function from scratch.
The lesson: Confidence is the result of doing, not the prerequisite. Stop waiting to feel ready and start taking action.
3. Know When It’s Time to Transition
How do you know when it’s time to move to a new role or function?
Lisa’s framework: “The right time to move is when you feel too comfortable in what you’re doing, and you feel curious about other things.”
She asks herself two questions:
- Do I still add unique value in this role?
- Do I have strong successors who could do this job even better than I?
If you have people on your team who can add more value than you in your current role, it might be time to grow in a different direction.
4. Assertiveness Is About Clarity, Not Force
Women often struggle with the line between being assertive and being labeled “aggressive.”
Lisa’s definition: “Assertiveness is about clarity, not force. When you force it, it becomes aggressive and goes to the emotional side. But when you’re direct, prepared, and not over-apologizing for your ideas – that’s when you come across as assertive.”
Her advice for executive meetings:
- Come prepared with data
- Be direct without over-explaining
- Don’t pad your ideas with apologies and buffers
- Speak with confidence – you don’t have to be loud
5. Build Your Team with People Smarter Than You
One of Lisa’s “secret sauce” leadership principles:
“Find people that are more knowledgeable, more experienced, smarter than you, that you can learn and grow from.”
This requires vulnerability! Being willing to admit what you don’t know and surrounding yourself with people who fill those gaps.
It’s not a threat to your leadership. It’s what allows you to scale.
6. Stop Waiting for Permission
Throughout our conversation, one theme kept emerging: women wait for permission that men don’t wait for.
Lisa didn’t wait to feel fully qualified before accepting leadership roles. She didn’t wait to have all the answers before making decisions. She didn’t wait for someone to tell her she was “ready.”
She moved based on curiosity, courage, and a desire to create impact.
The pattern I see: Many women I coach are waiting for someone to notice them, promote them, give them permission to lead beyond their defined scope.
The truth? That permission rarely comes. You have to give it to yourself.
My Personal Experience: When I Stopped Waiting
I experienced this firsthand when I was pregnant with my second child and an engineering manager position opened up at my company.
I thought the timing was terrible. I had no management experience. I didn’t know the hiring manager.
My husband convinced me to at least try. I knocked on that door, pregnant and scared, and asked for the role.
I got it.
What I learned: You don’t need to be 100% ready. The confidence will come from doing the work, not before it.
How to Apply These Lessons to Your Career
If you’re feeling stuck:
- Identify one area where you can add unique value
- Stop waiting for confidence, take one small action this week
- Look for opportunities to grow, even if they feel uncomfortable
- Ask yourself: Am I seeking impact or just seeking validation?
- Find mentors and advisors who can fill your knowledge gaps
If you’re in leadership:
- Hire people smarter than you in areas where you’re weak
- Be vulnerable about what you don’t know
- Focus on being clear and direct, not loud
- Ask: Do I have strong successors? If yes, maybe it’s time to grow
Final Thought: You Are 1% Done
Lisa ended our conversation with a powerful reminder:
“We are 1% done. There’s 99% of opportunity still out there.”
Stop waiting for permission. Stop waiting to feel ready. Stop waiting for confidence to magically appear.
Start seeking impact. The confidence will follow.
About Lisa
Lisa Zaythik is a founding partner at AppsFlyer and currently serves as Executive Chief of Staff. With a background in marketing, she has played a pivotal role in shaping the company’s value proposition, culture, and organizational DNA from its earliest days.
Today, at a company of approximately 1,300 employees, Lisa partners closely with the executive team to drive company-wide strategy, guide senior leadership on organizational processes, and continuously evolve AppsFlyer’s culture of “doing well by doing good.”
Follow Lisa on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisazaythik/
Listen to the Full Episode
Want to hear the complete conversation with Lisa Zaythik?
🎧 Listen to the full episode here where we dive deeper into:
- Her journey from marketing to executive leadership
- How to navigate career transitions successfully
- Building culture at AppsFlyer (their 18 beliefs framework)
- Balancing motherhood with executive responsibilities
- The difference between self-advocacy and bragging
More Resources on Career Growth for Women
📝 Read my personal story: I Wasted Years Waiting for Permission to Lead – a deeper dive into my own journey and what finally changed
💼 Need support with your career transition? I coach women in tech to grow into leadership roles without losing themselves. Learn more about coaching
About the Author: Limor Bergman Gross coaches women in tech to grow into leadership roles. She hosts a weekly podcast featuring conversations with women leaders and shares personal insights on career growth and leadership development.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you build confidence in your career? Confidence comes from action, not before it. Take small steps outside your comfort zone, ask questions, find mentors, and focus on the impact you can create rather than waiting to feel “ready.”
When should you make a career transition? Consider a transition when you feel too comfortable in your current role, have strong successors who could do your job well, and feel curious about new challenges or opportunities.
How can women be assertive without being seen as aggressive? Focus on clarity over force. Be direct, come prepared with data, avoid over-apologizing, and speak with quiet confidence. Assertiveness is about being clear, not loud.
What is the difference between confidence and competence? Competence is your ability to do something well. Confidence is your belief in your ability. You can be competent without feeling confident, and often, confidence only comes after you’ve demonstrated competence through action.
How do you stop imposter syndrome? Recognize that everyone feels this way at times. Focus on the unique value you bring rather than comparing yourself to others. Take action despite the feeling that imposter syndrome diminishes as you gain experience and evidence of your capabilities.