Member-only story
So you want to become a Product Leader? How to prepare for your Product Leadership next step.
When you’re a Senior Product Manager, being a Product Leader is a natural next step for your career.
For some people, the leap to Product Leadership is unintentional. They become one because of their seniority level so they are asked to fill in a gap or are promoted because there was no other path available in the organization to move up.
For others, the leap to Product Leadership may be attached to a career ambition. An intentional choice to move up the career leader and Product Leadership was their path to take.
Me? I wasn’t really actively thinking about becoming a Product Leader. There was a bit of interest for sure. Mostly because of the shiny new title and the potential seat at the always-talked-about table that came with it.
But I got it anyway because I had to fill in a gap. My product leader was going on parental leave. And somebody needed to cover for her while she was gone. That somebody was me.
Before starting the role, I didn’t fully understand what it meant to be a Product Leader. I thought I “just” needed to do the following:
- Define a product strategy for our group
- Have 1:1s with the people reporting to me to check-in
