Really struggling at work:
I’m in that awkward stage between a PM and Senior PM and the expectation from me is to be proactive, strategic and work independently. However I’ve struggled massively due to lack of experience, sometimes knowledge and not having the ability to see the bigger picture so I don’t know what else is required or needed to move the needle.
Currently, there is nothing strategic for me to work on as i don’t have the trust from my manager to own anything

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I’m dialling in on calls on listening mode usually with 2 other PMs who are driving the work
Working very long hours and most of it is in meetings and doing support work

Desired situation
Turn my career around so I can prove my worth that I’m capable of ownership of something e2e to demonstrate my independent working skills

Background
Joined a startup within a corporate where we’re doing 0-1. Previous experience was in a very hierarchical, red taped organisation.
Was given feedback in the first 3 months that I need to work more independently and drive things e2e myself with little to no supervision
When given tasks, I ask questions on what the end product should look like. This leads to further back and forth between me and my manager and eventually leads to him micromanaging me and hence wasting his time. So from his perspective he could have done something else
I ask questions because i don’t have previous experience of doing these tasks and leads to me panic, spending way too much time over something that doesn’t add much value because I don’t really know where I’m heading
So manager steps in and guide me step by step and gets frustrated as it’s been 1 year since i’ve joined and i should have been working more independently now
On a personal note, was suffering from extreme fatigue and burnout due to sudden bereavement of close family members. Situation is much better than what is was at start.

What do I do? How can I prove myself? Thank you

Adding this on top bc I realize I could’ve misinterpreted your post. Your comment confused me even more bc it sounds like you want to take on more responsibility but you’re still confused on how to do your job? So I apologize upfront if my advice is completely off base here.

Instead of asking your manager how to do things, maybe you should be working with other people on your team to figure out how to get things done. Idk exactly what tasks you’re doing so I’m making assumptions here. However, the fact that you’re always asking your manager how to approach something is a red flag to me. You need to trust your own instincts. If you don’t trust yourself, then how do you expect your manager to trust you? Remember, it’s okay to be wrong, esp. early on in your career, as long as you’re learning from your mistakes along the way.

Start small by working without any guidance, and keep asking for more once you’ve mastered any task assigned to you. Eventually you’ll build enough trust with your manager and you’ll take on ownership of something. It just takes time to get to this point.

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