Product management is a challenging role that requires a unique combination of skills, knowledge, and experience. While many product managers can successfully manage their products, great product managers stand out from the crowd by exhibiting certain traits that enable them to drive outsized company impact.
One key differentiator between good and great product managers is their ability to create seemingly well-formed roadmaps and consistently deliver incremental results. However, great product managers take it a step further by putting needle-moving wins on the board, which create magnitude shifts in product outcomes. These initiatives may not have an immediate impact, but they have a significant effect in the long run.
Unfortunately, many product managers are stuck in incrementalism, implementing small changes that yield minor improvements. This short-term thinking is often perpetuated by bi-weekly sprints, OKRs, and constant pressure from leadership to deliver results. Great product managers, on the other hand, are focused on identifying and executing longer-term initiatives that have a significant impact on the company's success.
Team empowerment is another key trait of great product managers. While some product managers may act as a bottleneck for decision-making, great product managers empower their teams to make great decisions without them. This allows the team to operate more efficiently and effectively, freeing up the product manager to focus on higher-level initiatives.
Leadership buy-in is critical for product managers to effectively pursue their initiatives. Great product managers know how to adjust their selling style to different leaders and effectively socialize their goals to earn support from key decision-makers. With sufficient time and resources, they can achieve great results and have a significant impact on the company's success.
Product intuition is another key trait of great product managers. While some people believe that product intuition is an innate skill, it is actually a developed skill that great product managers hone over time. With this skill, great product managers can make great decisions even when working with limited information.
Finally, great product managers focus their efforts on the most important initiatives. By concentrating their team's work on critical product levers, they can ensure optimal product outcomes. They constantly test and refine their understanding of these levers and structure their execution processes, such as OKRs and roadmaps, to focus on improving them.
In conclusion, while good product managers may have certain traits that enable them to successfully manage their products, great product managers stand out by putting needle-moving wins on the board, empowering their teams, earning leadership buy-in, honing their product intuition, and focusing their efforts on the most important initiatives. By exhibiting these traits, great product managers can drive outsized company impact and achieve great success in their roles.
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* This article is based on my learnings from Mastering the Product Management program from reforge.
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