Lessons I’ve learned as a PM
Anniversaries have always been a period for me to reflect on the past (yes, I happen to be one of those cliches😪). They present the opportunity to consciously sit down and think of what you’ve achieved, what you did right or wrong and what could be better. They allow you consciously introspect and retrospect.
This year, I became a PM (if I haven’t said this enough). I speak about my work anniversary here if you care to read. And as I journey on becoming a “product god” (what my boss describes my journey as), I want to reflect on some of the lessons I learned this year.
Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back. This statement may be my favourite thing to say and, if I’ve said it once, I’ll probably say it twice. Being curious served me the most this year. To learn about the systems and products we build, I had to learn continuously. The hunger to learn comes from being curious constantly. Unlearning and relearning is also crucial to this equation. You have to be willing to let go of what you think you know to be receptive to the new things out there.
As a PM, data is your best friend. To be a good PM, you have to understand your data (both qualitative and quantitative data). Deciding on what to build or do isn’t something you let your gut decide on (If you have a troubling gut as I do, you’re about to enter gbese).
However, it’s not as straightforward as this. Sometimes, you may not have the data you need (for many reasons). Other times, you may forget that you need the data (I’m extremely guilty of this). To circumvent this, I’m learning to stick to a decision-making process and, guess what’s number 2 on that list? — Data!
Intuition is key. Yes, like all great writings, I must offer contradictory advice. Using data to support your argument or position is imperative. However, in some cases, intuition is equally as important. How do you answer the tough questions that don’t have enough data to support? Like my boss said, and I paraphrase, “Knowing when to use your intuition is part of what makes a leader”.
But it’s not that simple. You must be able to check your subconscious biases. These biases usually affect how you perceive the issue or problem. And what’s a good way to do this? Get advice. No one knows it all and, having a trusted party to engage with and run ideas by can be super helpful. But, avoid yes-men.
One must learn to lead with no authority. We all know being a leader is hard. Now, imagine being a leader with no actual authority? The true-life story of every PM out there.
Understanding this is very key to being a Product Manager. You have to work with highly skilled and technical individuals who may be arrogant sometimes. But, the beauty of your job as a PM comes with mastering the art of people management. In fact, it is the unspoken part of the JD.
To be a good leader, one must be real and vulnerable.
Side-note: I recently became the product lead at my workplace!
Leading a team is very scarexciting. For one, you’re excited to have achieved such a great feat and be trusted with the responsibility of leading others. On the other hand, you are frantically scared of failing to lead the team the right way and crashing and burning.
I think this is my greatest challenge so far. More so because I just got the responsibility. However, after reading an interesting piece by Pedro Franceschi, a lot of things stuck out to me and helped align my thoughts.
For one, being authentic and true-to-self is beneficial. All the leaders in my life that I’ve ever admired were real and, this made it easier to relate with them. And this is so necessary for leading because it provides your teammates with a clear understanding of why what you say must be done, should be done.
If your team can’t connect with you and understand you, it becomes difficult for them to reason with you and makes working with you more tedious than fun. I don’t know about you but I want to be a fun leader. Not an unserious one, just one that makes the work fun!
So to keep this post as short as possible, I’ve chosen to stick to just 5 lessons. There’s a whole lot I learned. I mean, last year I was an intern. Now, I’m a team lead. So there’s bound to be a ton of lessons I could share. But I choose to keep it short.
In the end, being a Product Manager has undoubtedly been a fruitful experience for me. I’ve gained insights I thought I’d never get and, it has been a super exciting journey and I hope that when you read this, you do get some useful insights for yourself as well. But you don’t have to take my word for it, after all, I’ve only been a PM for almost a year.
Also, I do hope you enjoy the quirky PM cartoons I added. They’re not mine of course but they’re super relatable! 😂
