Is the product manager really the CEO of the product?
“The product manager is the CEO of the product.”
I first came across this statement when I literally fell into a PM role about 7 years ago. At the time, I thought it was a load of bollocks. What on earth did my reasonably junior position share in common with the person at the helm of the organisation?
I’d recently moved to the UK, and landed myself a job as a product manager within a rapidly scaling EdTech company, dealing with not only building a platform, but also curating the content in one of their flagship programmes (Squared Online, for those that are curious). At the time, I barely even knew what a product manager was, let alone their responsibilities. In what can only be referred to as a baptism by fire, I quickly found myself tackling tasks that I felt desperately unqualified to do. Liaising with suppliers, managing a development team, creating roadmaps, planning international expansions and trying to coerce a room full of cats to perform a synchronised dance.
What transpired however, in my three years at the helm of this product role, was the development of a set of skills that I never realised would lead me onto a completely different career path.
To say it changed my mindset is an understatement. Every day brought about new challenges, balancing my long term vision for what was the perfect solution was quickly disrupted by a series of fires that not only threatened our product, but also my personal reputation. I had to learn, very quickly, that setbacks were an inevitable part of the role, and more importantly were a chance to learn; about my capabilities, about the business and more importantly, about what our customers actually wanted.
Flash forward to now, and by definition, I am a CEO, admittedly of a much smaller company. So I revisited this quote and reflected on whether my views have changed.
I think the first thing to note is what your definition of a CEO is? If, in your mind, the CEO is the boss, whose job it is to execute on a plan as if it were a game of Command and Conquer, then I would guess you are probably inclined to disagree.
If, however, your definition of a CEO is more like the conductor of an orchestra, quietly keeping things on track, and letting the individual musicians do what they do best, then you might have a different perspective.
I’ve worked with a lot of CxO’s in my time, and I’ve seen it all. From HiPPO’s to dream bosses, ruthless dictators to admirable evangelists. And I want to share with you a five things that have struck me:
I can not give you a book or train you to become a better product manager. You need to learn from the job. For every scenario and every situation, there is never one right answer. You’ll find yourself saying “it depends” more often than not.
A product manager sits at the intersection of many parts of the organisation. Unlike a CEO, they have all of the responsibility, but none of the authority. Their ability to influence and engage others is paramount to their success.
A product manager is only as good as the team around them. A CEO once told me that his golden secret to success was to hire people who were better than him. Knowing what I know now, I couldn’t agree more.
Like a CEO, a good PM needs to be able to zoom into the details, and back out to helicopter level in the same breath. Jack of all trades, master of none.
What you don’t know is as important as what you do know. But more importantly, realising you don’t know what you don’t know and not being afraid of failure or being vulnerable is, in my opinion, the defining trait of any successful person in either role.
What do you think? Do you resolutely disagree with me? I’m always happy to be challenged. Let me know in the comments.