Filling the Void

Tags

leadership, Product Management, void

“We become aware of the void as we fill it.”

– Antonio Porchia – Italian Poet

I’ve seen pictures and heard stories of an incident from when I was really young in Germany. Like less than 2 years old. It takes place in the bath tub. Probably not where your initial thoughts went either :).

As the story goes, the goal was to give Patrick a bath. The obvious tools were in place … the tub, soap, bath toys, and someone overseeing the process. The problem was, this particular tub was missing the drain plug. Not OK!

Everything Goes Back in the Box

Tags

leadership, purpose, servant leadership, serve, significance, vision

So with one of the job opportunities I have been pursuing recently, I had an interesting follow-up conversation with the recruiter after interviews with several of the executives.  The conversation stemmed from a question one of the executives asked me, and my subsequent response.  Basically it went something like this …

EXECUTIVE: So, if [COMPANY] were to hire you, what would we be getting?  Who are you as a leader?

ME: Fortunately, I was challenged not too long ago by a prior President to define my leadership choices, and would be happy to send you a link to my blog where I fully explain my position.  But to summarize, I would say I am a servant leader.

I wouldn’t learn the executive’s response to this answer until a later conversation with the recruiter where she shared he had said “I didn’t know what that meant.” 

Taking it to the Next Level

Tags

CPO, execution, executive leadership, leadership, results, servant leadership, strategy, vision

Several sources recently all converging on the same general idea … when is it time to transition from being a Product Manager to an Product/Executive Leader?

One is an older article from Inc. magazine focusing on 6 Things Really Thoughtful Leaders Do. Another is an article titled So you’ve been promoted to Head of Product. What to start doing now. And finally, a LinkedIn Learning session about Executive Leadership.

All of them share a common thread to each other, but also common themes I’ve consistently shared throughout this blog. These are merely thoughts/tidbits pulled from each source, but this is a topic necessary of much more conversation. I’d highly recommend spending the time with these sources, as well as others in your arsenal, to delve much deeper.

Sola Virtus Invicta

Tags

choices, influence, integrity, leadership, trust, virtue

Sola Virtus Invicta …. this statement is Latin for Virtue Alone is invincible. I discovered it many years ago while tracing my family tree and coming across our family crest. It’s been awhile since I posted about this, but a recent article has brought it back to the forefront of my mind.

The article Integrity is Everything from author and speaker Bridgette Hyacinth puts it this way … “Society longs for leaders of integrity. Integrity can take years to build and be destroyed in one moment. Once trust is lost, it is hard to regain.“

The author’s take is a 3rd person view of what happens when trust is betrayed. I’ve always liked to make things a bit more 1st person and personal. The hard truth to the matter is integrity cannot be taken from you … but it can be freely given away! It is a choice.

Leadership Choices

Tags

accountability, courage, ethical, expectations, forgiveness, gratitude, humility, influence, integrity, leadership, responsibility, servant leadership, vision, wisdom

A few months ago, the President of our Business unit challenged his leadership team to define our leadership philosophy.  If we were to explain to peers or the people who worked for us what we believed or expected … what would we say?

A thought provoking question for sure.  If you have read my blog for very long, you will have noted that I believe whether intentionally chosen, or inadvertently thrust upon them, people serving the Product Management role are called to be leaders.  I have spent the better part of 20+ years as a student of both Product Management and Leadership, and through my journey the following is what I have come to believe and what those working for me should expect of me.

Focusing on the Right Things

Tags

CEO, culture, financial, focus, leadership, operational, strategy, team, vision

We’ve all heard it said Product Management is akin to being CEO of your own product line.  In prior posts, I compared/contrasted the roles/responsibilities of a CEO and the Product Manager, and even took the bait on an article that lead with the provocative statement Product Managers, you aren’t the CEO of anything.

Regardless of where you stand with the conversation, I am a firm believer it’s not the title, or the perceived authority with the role, that defines leadership.  You are a leader when you start acting like one.  But if you do aspire to achieve a CEO role, you should know what to expect going in.

Knowing Me, Knowing You

Tags

assessments, curious, leadership, mentor, negative habits, perspective, self-awareness

Had a wonderful lunch conversation today, and the context reminded me of an article I once read many moons ago.   And as happens sometimes, my mind would not let go of the topic.  So I decided to see if I could dig it out of the archives … lo and behold, I still had it!

The article is titled Unschooling: The Secret to Being a Great Leader and this is one I definitely recommend you dig into for yourself.  There are a couple of poignant items I took away, and they brought to mind lessons I learned from a Leadership training program I went through almost a decade ago. Allow me to share thoughts from both.

When Might it be OK to not Listen to the Customer?

Tags

clayton christensen, disruption, enhancements, execution, innovator's dilemma, leadership, strategy, sustaining

What if, despite your best intentions with what you think you know at any given point in  time, and despite doing everything right based upon your current knowledge, you still failed?  It is highly likely you have faced this situation, or know somebody in your close circle of friends who has.  Not convinced?  How about these examples:

1. Sports context – you laid out a strategy for an upcoming game, and executed on that strategy to what appears to be near perfection … but still lost the game.
2. Driving context – you followed the speed limit and any other traffic rules … but still got in an accident.
3. Health context – you followed a healthy diet, and worked out regularly … but still got sick.

I’m sure there are others from a non-work perspective, but what happens when this scenario presents itself at work?  What happens when you capture a dominant market share because you solved a specific market problem; when you responded to customers’ needs in a timely fashion; when you proactively and re-actively reacted to competitive threats to neutralize them quickly; when you consistently delivered a positive P&L for the business year after year?   Doesn’t this type of performance describe what good Product Management leaders should be doing?  And wouldn’t these results equate to success?

The answer is not always!

People Don’t Care What You Know …

Tags

authenticity, courage, leadership, priorities, purpose, relationships, servant leadership, transparency

Every once in a while, we are reminded people matter and relationships should be prioritized over tasks.  That we even need to be reminded of this is an unfortunate truth, but a truth nonetheless.  I received just such a reminder when I stumbled across this article/interview about Deloitte CEO Cathy Engelbert a few days ago.

And in the midst of a very busy season, it was just the rude awakening I needed. In particular, this quote captures the essence of what good leaders should be striving for …

Building a team that brings you solutions instead of challenges, listening to and collaborating with them—that ultimately prioritizes your focus on issues where you can have the most impact, not just scratch items off the to do list … to me, productivity is directly related to the personal relationships you are able to build.

True Leaders Produce More Leaders …

Tags

character, competence, effective, impact, integrity, leadership, people, purpose, results, servant leadership

I was recently reminded of this quote, and I’ve seen variations from several well known leadership gurus … Tom Peters, Ralph Nader, John Maxwell and others … true leaders produce more leaders, not more followers.  And with a long holiday weekend recently, I had some time for introspection on the topic.

There are certainly times in our roles as Product Manager Leaders where you may question the true impact of what you are doing.  Or at least I have.  Partially with the products I’ve led and their impact … but more so from the perspective of impact with people. This is just something that isn’t easy to gauge unfortunately, and it can often leave you wondering.