Product Collective - 😓 Challenges of product leadership

Challenges of Being a Product Leader

When you get that promotion into product leadership there’s a lot of excitement about the opportunity to have a bigger impact in your company and your team’s careers. And then reality sets in and you get to deal with all the challenges that come along with being a product leader. Here’s a look at the challenges you’re likely to face and some suggestions on how to deal with them.

Challenges of product leadership. A product leader has to tackle ever-present uncertainties in a changing market along with leading a team to create products that solve the pain points of the customers. It’s never easy to decide when there are uncertainties surrounding the product. The folks at The ProdZen describe several challenges that product leaders may face when managing a product team.

(via theprodzen)

Leadership challenges throughout the product life cycle. In this episode of The Product Experience, Todd Olson, Co-founder and CEO of Pendo, reveals how he climbed the leadership ladder and shares his advice for anyone keen to do the same. 
 

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New York Product Conference

• A full-day experience for Product Managers and Product Leaders taking place in the heart of Midtown Manhattan. 
• Over 10 great main-stage sessions featuring the best of the best in product, including Chad Dickerson (former CEO at Etsy), JJ Rorie (Author of Immutable), Shelly Kalish (Head of Product Partnerships at Facebook) and more. 
• Sessions covering strategic decision-making, re-igniting stagnant products, leadership, and more. 
• An opportunity to get your questions answered in our intimate Talk Shop audience Q&A sessions. 
• Access to all recordings – plus a pass to INDUSTRY Virtual on May 18th. 
• Breakfast, Lunch, Snacks, plus an end-of-day After Party to celebrate!

This past week, we did something that we haven’t done in over three years – and that’s to gather our community of (mostly) European Product Managers and Product Leaders together in person for the European edition of INDUSTRY: The Product Conference in Dublin, Ireland. 

And we did it! False modesty aside, we put on an amazing conference… and I’m so incredibly proud of the entire Product Collective Team for doing so. The speakers – everybody from John Cutler to Petra Wille to Matt LeMay – were all incredible. And being able to talk to attendees and learn more about their stories really felt good, too.

It made me realize that being with “your people” in person – no matter what group of people you identify with – there’s really nothing like it. In the case of INDUSTRY, yes – I’m sure that people learned a lot from the amazing speakers and workshop facilitators we had. But let’s face it, you can spend all day on YouTube pulling up the best conference talks in the world and learning without leaving your living room. But the real value you get when you’re with your community in person is hearing others’ stories and viewpoints and realizing that you’re not alone. The everyday stresses, anxieties, and doubts – they’re shared by others just like you.

So, INDUSTRY Europe – I’d call it a big success. And now, I look forward even more to the other opportunities we’ll get to gather everyone in-person – first in New York City on May 4th, and then for INDUSTRY again this Fall. 

I hope I’ll see you there, but even if not – make it a point to find your people and spend time with them wherever that may be. 

(Oh, and you can check out all of the fun we had in Dublin by seeing the #INDUSTRYconf hashtag here!)

Core challenges for Product Managers and Product Leaders. JJ Rorie, who runs Great Product Management and wrote Immutable, invited Rich Mironov to join her Product Voices podcast. They had a wide-ranging conversation about responsibility versus authority, political leadership challenges for CPOs/VPs, talking in money language with go-to-market executives, roadmap amnesia, and having empathy for the other functional groups in your company.

(via @richmironov)

How to deal with 17 common leadership challenges. Only 33% of leaders feel confident making business decisions yet companies need leadership at all levels more than ever. Middle managers connect senior leaders with their front-line employees. This is why leadership training is critical even during these challenging times. You develop leadership through practice. With support, coaching, and mentorship, you can overcome the challenges of leadership and grow to be a good leader. Maggie Wooll describes some common leadership challenges, and the best way to manage them.

Product leader: A day in the life. Many people associate product leaders with owners of strategy, tools, and systems. But Kimberly Bloomston thinks a product leader is someone who helps individuals and teams be their best selves. A product leader’s role is to listen, learn, and ask questions; define a positive, trusting culture; and hire and promote top talent to achieve the best results on behalf of customers, stakeholders, shareholders, and users. Kimberly shares four important tenets product leaders need to remember as they seek to grow day-to-day, month-to-month and year-to-year.

(via @4enterprisers)

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