Comments on: Grow Your Career – What Product Managers Need To Do For Success http://www.theaccidentalpm.com/career/what-product-managers-need-to-do-in-order-to-grow-their-career Home Of The Billion Dollar Product Manager Where You Too Can Learn To Be A Wildly Successful Product Manger Fri, 03 Feb 2012 05:14:43 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: David W. Locke http://www.theaccidentalpm.com/career/what-product-managers-need-to-do-in-order-to-grow-their-career/comment-page-1#comment-703 David W. Locke Thu, 25 Jun 2009 20:44:47 +0000 http://www.theaccidentalpm.com/?p=765#comment-703 The Product Manager Career Goals Survey at http://www.noozit.com/article/.ee8578c shows that product managers are not taking an activist role in their careers. What would it look like if a product manager sat out to manage their career? It just be another strategy alignment effort, something that they already do for their team members. They would have to dig deeper into the organization to reach the people they need to get their company to align with their career goals or strategy, but the process would be the same as gettting the development team to align with the overall product strategy. A product manager could align his team with KPIs, balanced scorecards, strategy maps, and other management, heavyweight elements, or they could use the lightweight methodology of leadership. In the case of the product manager's career, they would lead those that would make it so. Computer protocols tend away from the heavyweight towards the lightweight. Management focuses on getting as much of the 100% effort that they can, while leadership gets you well beyond management-level results, say 130% of emergent effort. Lead those around you to a better career. Yeah, I know, you can't escape those product owner duties, you don't have time, you are putting out too many fires. Well, like the doctor says when the patient complains of a particular pain, stop that! Find the breathing room to influence the future. Influence your future while you're at it. Be safe. Lead. The Product Manager Career Goals Survey at http://www.noozit.com/article/.ee8578c shows that product managers are not taking an activist role in their careers.

What would it look like if a product manager sat out to manage their career? It just be another strategy alignment effort, something that they already do for their team members. They would have to dig deeper into the organization to reach the people they need to get their company to align with their career goals or strategy, but the process would be the same as gettting the development team to align with the overall product strategy.

A product manager could align his team with KPIs, balanced scorecards, strategy maps, and other management, heavyweight elements, or they could use the lightweight methodology of leadership. In the case of the product manager’s career, they would lead those that would make it so. Computer protocols tend away from the heavyweight towards the lightweight. Management focuses on getting as much of the 100% effort that they can, while leadership gets you well beyond management-level results, say 130% of emergent effort.

Lead those around you to a better career. Yeah, I know, you can’t escape those product owner duties, you don’t have time, you are putting out too many fires. Well, like the doctor says when the patient complains of a particular pain, stop that! Find the breathing room to influence the future. Influence your future while you’re at it. Be safe. Lead.

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