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Product Managers Need this Trait to be Effective
I was interviewed for a Senior Product Manager role yesterday…
The head of product asked me “what is your best trait as a product manager?”
Obviously we don’t respond with just any trait…
We pick the most important characteristic, and express how we embody it.
So what is the most important characteristic for a product manager?
Leadership?
Decision making?
Teamwork?
Creativity?
These are all important…
However there is one trait that (in my humble opinion) trumps them all.
What is it?
Empathy.
Empathy is the cornerstone of what it means to be a successful Product leader.
Here’s why:
Empathy by definition means to deeply understand the person on the other side of the table.
In a product leadership role - whether you’re a CEO, founder, product manager, or similar - you are the tent in the pole. All lines of communication come back to you.
To find success, you need to understand and align with not only your consumer, but your leadership team, development team, and other internal/external stakeholders to constantly meet expectations & drive growth forward.
Let’s dig into what we mean for each of these areas:
Empathy for the Customer
Empathy for the customer is understanding them on a deeply personal level.
Understanding their needs, wants & desires.
Never making decisions from our own perspective, but rather from real conversations with dozens of users and hopefully hundreds if not thousands of quantitative data points.
A product leader who does not have empathy for the customer will always be leaving value on the table for the product and the business as a whole.
Empathy for Leadership
All organizations have structure. Businesses receive capital funding, and that funding is distributed internally to drive projects forward.
It is the nature of product development that you must be able to effectively understand the needs, fears & desires of your senior leadership so that you can build out products in alignment with overall business objectives.
Furthermore, having empathy for leadership will allow you to best understand their motivations, which in turn allows you to align to those motivations when pitching resources, ideas, etc. - making you more effective in your job.
Lastly, empathy for leadership creates a safe space for effective communication.
Clearly understanding the perspectives of our senior leaders makes it easier to create a space where contrasting opinions & views can be hashed out without creating a “you vs me” scenario.
The best ideas can rise to the top without either party being judged or penalized in any way.
Empathy for Development Teams
No product (at least in tech) can exist without its development team.
Furthermore, the ability to consistently deliver on product roadmap timelines is directly tied to team morale.
If a team is disengaged, they will not be thinking as critically about proactive problem solving, innovation, and identifying blockers/dependencies ahead of time that may delay timelines down the road.
Having empathy for the development team, aka understanding their wants, needs, desires & motivators - allows you to effectively inspire them to give their best effort in their roles.
This is a form of servant leadership, doing everything in our power as product leaders to empower our teams for success.
I approach conversations with my team like this:
“Here’s my plan, what do you guys think? Do you see any holes? Is it realistic?”
“How would you improve this plan?”
“What do you guys need from me to execute this effectively?”
“How can I best support you in being successful with this project?”
In communicating with my developers, I am always seeking to do 2 things:
Get their buy in, making sure they feel that their input is valuable & appreciated
Never create a feeling of ‘top down’ energy, rather we are 2 functions (product & tech) working together to design the best possible solution
Empathy for Other Stakeholders
Products are never successful solely because of the product itself.
For a product to reach massive success, there must be synergy between product, sales, marketing, customer support, and other aspects of the business.
Communication & teamwork across these functions is key to ensure that the customers are educated on the product, have the opportunity to purchase the product, and have a positive experience communicating with the company as any issues arise.
Having empathy for these internal partners - again - allows you to align to their needs, wants, desires & fears - positioning your goals in alignment with theirs to move your product milestones forward efficiently.
Can you build a successful product organization without empathy?
Highly unlikely. Even if you could, that’s not a place I’d want to be!
Do you agree that empathy is the most important trait for product leaders? If not, what is?
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