Becoming a new product manager is like becoming the president of a country. Both roles come with great responsibility, and both require thoughtful planning and decisive action. Unfortunately, many product managers fail to properly navigate their new roles because they lack experience or fail to recognize the common pitfalls associated with them. From striving for a point of view to leading through influence rather than dictation, this blog post will provide lessons from history that all new product managers can learn from in order to succeed in their positions.
Strive for a Point of View
Having a clear point of view is essential for product management success. A strong point of view helps PMs avoid indecisiveness, fosters consistency in decision-making, and creates a solid foundation for product development. Steve Jobs and Elon Musk are two examples of leaders who had strong points of view that enabled them to achieve tremendous success with their products. Furthermore, having a clear point of view also allows PMs to better understand their customers’ needs and create more effective products.
Lead Through Influence, Not Dictation
When it comes to leading product teams, dictating decisions is not the best approach. Instead, effective PMs should look to develop soft skills such as servant leadership and transformational leadership in order to influence and persuade team members rather than force decisions on them. Satya Nadella at Microsoft and Sheryl Sandberg at Facebook are two examples of successful leaders who use soft skills rather than dictating decisions in order to bring out the best from their teams.
Prioritize Execution and Team Alignment Over Strategy and Vision
Product managers should strive for balance between strategy (vision) and execution (operations). Focusing only on vision without proper execution will lead to failure while neglecting team alignment during execution can be equally detrimental. It’s important that PMs prioritize both execution and team alignment while developing strategy in order to ensure success.
Conclusion:
When it comes to navigating the presidency of product management, there are many lessons that all new PMs can learn from history in order to succeed in their roles. From striving for a point of view to leading through influence rather than dictation and prioritizing execution over strategy – understanding the common pitfalls faced by both presidents and product managers alike is crucial for achieving success as a PM leader. The importance lies in learning from past mistakes so that future generations don’t have make them again!
