Do you know what it takes to be a great Product Leader? In this post, you’ll learn about the 4 Pillars of Product Leadership, and discover key skills that can take your career from good to great.
Product Management is often referred to as the “everything profession.” In a way, that’s true. We are the hub for all departments, and we juggle many critical tasks at the same time. Sometimes we get caught in the “management” portion of our profession, and we lose track of the greater goal: working towards becoming Product Leader. Management is about execution. Leadership is about inspiring others to follow you and to bring your vision to life.
Believe it or not, the secret sauce of Product Leadership can be distilled down to 4 core pillars. Mastering them can really propel you from being good to being great. The 4 pillars of Product Leadership are:
- Soft skills
- Business acumen
- Domain knowledge
- Technical skills
Pillar #1: Soft skills
Technology and business are the first skills we often hear around Product Leadership. I’m always surprised that soft skills are often an afterthought. Consider that in most organizations, Product Managers are often individual contributors, so we rely on soft skills to get the job done. And like any other skill, soft skills are something that can be learned and needs to be practiced. “Soft skills” is a very broad term, and honing your abilities in the following areas will give you a good start.
In most organizations, Product Managers rely on soft skills to get the job done.
Communication
Communication has to be one of the core strengths of Product Leaders. We are always selling the product vision, and making sure everybody, from developers to executives, are on the same page. In general, the better you communicate, the easier your job will be. Here are some areas I recommend focusing on:
- Practice active listening and empathy. See How to Win Friends and Influence People in my books section. I also recommend this great post on active listening by Teresa Torres.
- Learn about communication styles like DISC.
- Improve your presentation skills, both to big and small audiences. (Considering joining Toastmasters)
- Improve your whiteboard skills. (Check out Sketchnote Workshop by Mike Rohde)
- Improve your writing skills. (Get some coaching from people you respect. Technical writers are always a good ally.)
As a Product Manager, the better you communicate, the easier your job will be.
Relationship Building
In our fast paced world, it’s easy to focus on business or technology and forget that there’s people behind it. Products are built by people for people. In that sense, building solid relationships is a key to success. Networking, team building, and creating rapport with our peers and executives is not a luxury; it’s a requirement.
Product Managers are often the hub between multiple internal and external groups with different backgrounds and motivations. Building strong personal relationships not only makes it easier to get the job done, but it’s also a better way to go about life. I recommend books like How to Make Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie or Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman.
Also, keep in mind that conflict is unavoidable in every relationship. It’s just a fact of life. Conflict management should be another Ace under your sleeve. I recommend Conflict Competent‘s books and especially their courses.
Negotiation
When people think about negotiation, they think about stress, conflict, and memories of the used-car salesman. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard, “I hate negotiations” or, “I’m not good at negotiation.” And yet, as Product Managers, we do it every day.
Negotiations are just conversations. We do it all the time with our teams, with our boss, with customers, etc. Every time you talk to Sales about why they can’t have a feature, you are negotiating. When you show the roadmap to your Executive team and explain why some features are not going into the release, you are negotiating.
The trick is to let go of the idea that one person wins and the other one loses. It’s not a zero-sum game. The best negotiations aim for a win-win outcome. Very few people are born expert negotiators. Like anything else, negotiation is a learned skill. Check out my books section for some good recommendations.
People Management
People Management is often seen as an HR function or something that you only do with your direct reports. I disagree. According to Wikipedia, leadership is “a process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task.” People Management tools are very useful in gaining the support of others, so they can trust us to lead them.
Some of these tools are listed below. Manager Tools is my preferred resource for anything regarding People Management, and the following topics are covered in their “Manager Tools Basics” series.
- Provide mentorship and coaching
- How to provide feedback
- How to conduct 1-on-1 meetings
- Recruiting (hiring and firing)
- How to set goals, expectations and how to measure results
- The art of delegation
Pillar #2: Business Acumen
Successful products not only solve the user’s needs, but also are very profitable. Product Leaders of all levels need to have a solid understanding of business principles, so they can make trade-offs and decisions regarding what’s best for all parties involved.
Business is a big topic, so what should Product Leaders focus on? Check out my post, “Are you a business-savvy Product Manager?” for key areas of business acumen for Product Leaders.
Pillar #3: Domain Knowledge
Having domain knowledge means having a clear understanding of your industry and your users’ pains and use-cases.
From the 4 pillars of Product leadership, domain knowledge is the only one that doesn’t transfer from industry to industry. For example, I’ve been in the software industry all my career, but that’s just technical knowledge. My domain knowledge has moved around from manufacturing automation, to enterprise data management, to eCommerce. Each time, the problem I’m trying to solve is very different, because the use cases are different.
Having deep domain knowledge is a requirement for creating a solid product vision. It’s also a big asset when transitioning jobs, since companies want to hire people that have the right experience to hit the ground running. For the same reasons though, having deep domain knowledge can be a detriment for when you’re trying to switch to a new industry or career.
I’d venture to say that domain knowledge is the hardest knowledge to get. So, how do you get it? The only way is to immerse yourself in your industry and learn everything you can. Here are a few suggestions:
- Talk to your users.
- Get a mentor. People in Sales, Product Marketing or Executive roles are usually a great place to start. As an example, take a look my Product Leadership Series for interviews with top Product Executives.
- Attend trade shows.
- Read trade publications. Magazines, company blogs and LinkedIn forums are a great resource.
- Follow the experts. Social media makes it easy to locate and follow industry experts. They usually share great content and probably have books/blogs of their own.
- Study your competition. What is their value proposition in the market vs. your company?
Pillar #4: Technical and UX Skills
The internet is full of discussions on whether Product Managers need technical skills. Some say it’s just a business position, and therefore being technical is not important. I’m in the other camp. As a Software Product Leader, I advocate for a deep technical understanding to balance the other pillars. “Technical” is a big term that encompasses a few areas:
Technology
To me, Product Managers and Leaders need to understand how their product is built. I’m not saying they should be coding or playing Architect. I’m advocating for a deep understanding of the technologies being used and how they fit together. For example, a PM building a SaaS product should understand the basics of software engineering, SaaS, SOA, Internet technologies, etc.
A technology-savvy Product Leader has huge advantages like:
- Improved communication (and trust) from your development team.
- Ability to understand tech trends, see how they impact your roadmap, and how they drive innovation.
- Improved communication with your customers. Product Leaders often need to interact with CIOs and CTOs from current or prospective customer companies. For them, it’s important for you to speak confidently in both business and tech terms.
- Ability to understand technical challenges and make educated trade-offs with your team.
As reference, my books section includes some good technology books for Software Product Managers. I also recommend reading my post What is a Technical Product Manager, Anyway?
Note: To get a solid understanding of the technology behind IoT products, I recommend my post: Internet of Things: A Primer for Product Managers.
UX
Today, users won’t settle for mediocre experiences. A good User Experience (UX) is a must, and all companies are (or should be) jumping on it. UX is an umbrella term for multiple design disciplines that together provide a delightful product experience. If you are new to UX, my post “UX for Product Managers” tells you what you need to know.
Product Lifecycle (from a technical perspective)
Software Product Managers, need to be intimately familiar with the complete lifecycle of their product. From ideation, user validation, software development, QA, staging, deployment, support, Sales and Marketing enablement, etc. We need to understand “how the sausage is made,” so we can understand the development milestones, and make sure that the product is going in the right direction.
Processes, Methodologies, and Frameworks
Process is important, but I think it’s often overrated. I find it puzzling how many discussions you find online regarding processes and methodologies. Don’t get me wrong, I think all PMs should have this knowledge, but process knowledge alone doesn’t make for a good Product Manager.
Processes are different in every company and even standard ones continue to evolve. Great Product Managers can take a course, grab a book, or learn processes on the fly. As long as they have a strong foundation in the 4 pillars, then the processes can be picked up quickly.
Related post: A Product Management framework for the Internet of Things.
Other of the processes, methodologies, and frameworks I consider valuable are:
- Agile. A simple internet search will give you a wealth of options for learning Agile. I don’t advocate any particular version.
- Prioritization and roadmapping. I like Bruce McCarthy’s approach.
- Pragmatic Marketing.
- ProdBok. The Product Management book of knowledge.
- PMI. Knowing how to drive a project to completion is always a good skill to have.
The Bottom Line
Product Leadership is a very challenging profession because we have to juggle a huge breadth of knowledge and moving parts. The vast array of information in this post takes years of study and experience to become comfortable with and eventually master. The important thing is to always be improving and work every day on becoming a well-rounded Product Leader. I hope this post helps guide you in creating a roadmap for your own professional development, or helps you become stronger in any of your opportunity areas!
So where do I go next?
Now that you know the 4 pillars of product leadership, it is time to look at what makes a great IoT Product Leader.
