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Attributes of a Product Manager

Leadership (drafting)

Sean Horgan

Product Managers often don’t talk enough about leadership. Instead they constrain it through the lens of stakeholder management, e.g. managing up, down, across the org.

I believe leadership is central to a Product Manager’s role. Simply put, leadership in product requires 1) clarity in where the product needs to be, 2) honesty in where the product is today, and 3) a plan and the inspiration to close the gap.

Attribute summary

1. Self aware

2. Inspirational

3. Compassionate

4. Get Things Done

5. Thrives in Ambiguity

Attributes

1. Self Aware

Knows own strengths and weaknesses, centered, transparent, humble, authentic, and driven by values.

References

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42 Effects You Should Know: Part 1 — 42courses.com⁠

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Interesting Psychological Phenomena: The Pratfall Effect – Brescia University – Owensboro, Kentucky⁠

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Quotes

It is but well to be on friendly terms with all the inmates of the place one lodges in. -- Ishmael, chapter 1, Moby Dick

2. Inspirational

Inspires and motivates others, tells a compelling product story & vision with conviction, connects product goals to each person on the team

References

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[Workbook] Advanced Influence⁠

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3. Compassionate

Cares deeply and serves the needs of the team, objectively assess situations, knows when to take charge, when to delegate, and how to grow new leaders

From

The First Principles of Product Management⁠

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4. Gets Things Done

Shows up, seeks responsibility, makes sound and timely decisions, bias for action and sets the pace, creates a shared sense of purpose throughout team

Organizing the work — while not getting lost in the sauce

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Leaders as Decision Architects⁠

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Cascading OKRs vs. aligning OKRs⁠

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Cascading OKRs at scale⁠

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Ringelmann effect⁠

- keep your teams small

Prioritizing the work - check out

On Prioritization⁠

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From

Making good decisions⁠

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The less important a decision, the less information you should try to seek to make it.

Gathering information follows a Pareto principle, meaning you can get 80% of the information quite easily, but getting the final 20% requires a lot of effort.

Most decisions are not important

Bringing people along

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IKEA effect - The Decision Lab⁠

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Others

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The Peltzman Effect - The Decision Lab⁠

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Law of triviality⁠

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Quotes