Becoming a Permission-Based PM Leader

Inspired by reading a book by John Maxwell called The 5 Levels of Leadership, I will argue in this post that there are two types of product managers: positional or permission-based. Here is the difference between the two:

1. Positional: the only influence a positional leader has is because of the title. People follow because they have to, and only do the minimum that is required of them.
2. Permission-based: influence is based on relationships. People follow because they want to. According to Maxwell: “When you like people and treat them like individuals who have value, you begin to develop influence with them. You develop trust.”

For PMs, this is a very important distinction. Leadership is one of the key components of being a PM. Product managers must motivate their teams, negotiate with others, and sell their vision internally and externally.

However, PMs lead without formal authority. PMs don’t have any direct reports. They have the title of “product manager,” but they don’t directly manage their team of designers, researchers, engineers, or data scientists. If they use the wrong leadership style, they are at risk of losing the influence required to motivate their teams.

I have seen both types of PMs in my career — positional and permission-based. In this post, I will analyze both types and argue why it’s important for PMs to avoid being positional and move towards being permission-based.

Positional PMs

What are Positional Leaders? According to Maxwell:

Positional leaders don’t value people

“People who rely on position for their leadership almost always place a very high value on holding on to their position — often above everything else they do. Their position is more important to them than the work they do, they value they add to their subordinates, or their contribution to the organization… Positional leaders often see subordinates as an annoyance, as interchangeable cogs in the organizational machine, or even as troublesome obstacles… Positional leaders make other people feel small. How? By not having a genuine belief in them. By assuming people can’t instead of assuming they can. By assuming people won’t rather than believing they will.”

Positional leaders place rights over responsibilities

“Positional leaders who rely on their rights develop a sense of entitlement. They expect their people to serve them, rather than looking for ways to serve their people. Their job description is more important to them than job development. They value territory over teamwork. As a result, they usually emphasize rules and regulations that are to their advantage, and they ignore relationships.”

What does a positional PM leader look like? A PM who does the following:

• Relies on their title of “Product Manager” to assert influence over their teams
• Makes important product decisions without involving their teams, because they don’t value the input of others
• Doesn’t communicate decisions or changes to the team, and doesn’t include the right people in meetings or decisions
• Tells people what to do and creates work for others, without taking much responsibility themselves or sharing the team’s burdens
• Works alone, keeps distance between themselves and their teams
• Gets territorial about the role of the product manager, gets defensive when designers/engineers/etc. take on some borderline PM tasks

What is the impact of a positional PM leader on his or her team?

• People don’t trust the PM, greatly limiting the PM’s influence
• Teammates give their minimum, not their best
• Colleagues don’t want to work with the PM again

I once worked with a PM named Will (name disguised). Will had a number of great qualities as a PM — he was a creative product thinker, he was great at pitching his ideas, and he pushed hard to get his products launched. As a result, he was able to ship a number of high-impact products.

However, Will was very much a positional leader to his team. He rarely sought input from his cross-functional colleagues. If they raised concerns, he was skeptical and ultimately ignored them. Will would selectively communicate information to members of his team, and would rarely communicate changes in scope or schedule to them. He failed to build trust and relationships with his teammates. He believed that as the PM, he should make all of the product decisions, and others on the team should follow his instructions.

As a result, despite shipping multiple high-impact products, Will lost credibility with his team. His teammates complained to their managers, who escalated to Will’s own manager. Will’s colleagues refused to work with him and asked to transfer to other teams. Eventually word spread about Will’s positional leadership style. Without any credibility within the broader organization, Will ended up leaving.

Permission-based PMs

What are Permission-based Leaders? According to Maxwell:

Permission-based leaders focus on people, not position

“Permissional leaders like people and want to help them. They want to see them succeed. The prevalent attitude is one of serving others and bringing out the best in the people they work with.”

Permission-based leaders build relationships to gain influence

“When a leader learns to function on the Permission level, everything changes. People do more than merely comply with orders. They actually start to follow. And they do so because they really want to. Why? Because the leader begins to influence people with relationship, not just position. Building relationships develops a foundation for effectively leading others… When people feel liked, cared for, included, valued, and trusted, they begin to work together with their leader and each other.”

What does a permission-based PM leader look like? A PM who does the following:

• Avoids reminding the team that he or she is the “product manager,” eliminating distinctions and barriers between themselves and other members of the team
• Works alongside other members of the team, rather than issuing top-down instructions or orders
• Includes others in important product decisions, and over-communicates to keep everyone on the team in the loop about any changes
• Thinks of ways that he or she can add value to others: “I’m here to help you” and “I want to add value to you.”
• Spends time listening to, learning from, and building relationships with others on the team. Gets to know them as individuals and people, not just as an “engineer,” “designer,” or “researcher.”
• Encourages others on the team, expresses gratitude for them, and generously shares credit

What is the impact of a permission-based leader on his or her team?

• Teammates trust the PM and actually want to follow him or her
• People enjoy working with the PM and being part of his or her team
• The energy levels on the team are high, and people want to give their best
• People feel comfortable opening up to the PM, sharing concerns and feedback

In contrast to my experience with Will, I worked with another PM named Karen (name disguised). Karen always received high marks from her team for building strong relationships with them. She would make the time to have lunch or coffee with her colleagues regularly. Her team trusted her to keep the team’s interests in mind and stand by them, even during difficult times.

For example, one of the products that Karen was responsible for encountered a number of production bugs after it had shipped. Karen’s engineers were responsible for fixing these issues, and they were under pressure to resolve them quickly. Rather than laying these problems at the feet of her engineers, Karen worked alongside them in a war room until all of these production issues were resolved. She found ways to add value to her engineers during the war room by encouraging them, helping them make decisions, removing blockers and obstacles, and documenting the bug fixes. Her team loved working with her, and remained loyal to her over many months.

Becoming a permission-based leader

How can PMs become permission-based leaders?

1. Don’t rely on your position as the PM

“The best leaders don’t use their position at all to get things done,” according to Maxwell. They rely on relationship and influence skills.

Maxwell shares the story of one of his friends, Linda Sasser, who often gives people leadership responsibility before receiving a leadership position.

“At first this is very difficult for them. They often come back to me with frustrations, asking, ‘How can I tell them what do to when they don’t have to follow me?’ This creates perfect teaching moments. It allows me to question their approach. I say, ‘Why are you telling them what to do? A leader finds ways to influence action. Have you asked them how you can help them? Ask them about the challenges they have in their position… Form a relationship with this person and show interest in them.’”

Indeed, PMs have responsibility without having formal authority over others. Rather than relying on the PM title and “telling people what to do,” you should seek opportunities to help your team. Find out what their challenges are, and offer to help. This is a great way to build trust and influence with your team.

2. Spend time with people; work alongside them; go to them.

According to Maxwell, with permission-based leadership:

“Top-down positional leadership is replaced with side-by-side relationships. That requires and cultivates good communication. On the Permission level, leaders listen to their people, and their people listen to them.”

Jack Welch, the former CEO of General Electric, had this to say about an ideal leader.

“Above all else, good leaders are open. They go up, down, and around their organizations to reach people. They don’t stick to established channels. They’re informal. They’re straight with people. They make a religion out of being accessible.”

3. Become the chief encourager of your team.

Maxwell writes that by expressing genuine gratitude and encouragement for your team, you can develop into a permission-based leader.

“As a leader, you have great power to lift people up. Mother Teresa said, ‘Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are endless.’

“People enjoy affirmation from a peer. But they really value it from their leader. The words, ‘I’m glad you work with me; you add incredible value to the team’ mean a lot coming from” their leader.

“If you want people to be positive and to always be glad when they see you coming, encourage them. If you become the chief encourager of the people on your team, they will work hard and strive to meet your positive expectations.”

Be sure to look for opportunities to encourage your teammates, particularly when you sense that someone is feeling uncertain or daunted. But even on an everyday basis, permission-based PMs should take the time to express how much they value working with their cross-functional colleagues.

4. Strike a balance between care and candor.

As Maxwell writes:

“Every person has problems and makes mistakes in the workplace. Every person needs to improve and needs someone to come alongside them to help them improve. As a leader, it is your responsibility and your privilege to be the person who helps them get better. That often begins with a candid conversation…

“I believe that people can change their attitudes and can improve their abilities. And because I do, I talk to them about where they’re coming up short. If you’re a leader and you want to help people, you need to be willing to have those tough conversations. So how does a leader handle being relational while still trying to move people forward? By balancing care and candor. Care without candor creates dysfunctional relationships. Candor without care creates distant relationships.”

In every team collaboration, there will be times when your colleagues may come up short. As a PM, it’s important for you to provide that feedback to your colleague directly. If you express that feedback from a place of caring, it will land much better than if you just deliver the candid feedback. Think about the person’s potential when delivering the feedback, and remind yourself that you’re providing this feedback to help the other person and make them better. Just adopting this mindset may help you balance caring with candor when you have the open and direct conversation to share the feedback.

In this post, I have argued that there are two types of product managers: a positional PM leader and a permission-based PM leader. Here is the difference between the two:

Trust

• Positional PM: People don’t trust him or her, greatly limiting the PM’s influence.
• Permission-based PM: Teammates trust the PM and actually want to follow him or her.

Effort

• Positional PM: Teammates give their minimum, not their best.
• Permission-based PM: The energy levels on the team are high, and people want to give their best.

Relationships

• Positional PM: Colleagues don’t want to work with the PM again
• Permission-based PM: People enjoy working with the PM, remain loyal and seek out opportunities to work with him or her.

Clearly, a permission-based PM leader will have greater trust, influence, and support from his or her team over the long run than a positional PM. This is especially important to PMs, since they don’t have any direct authority over their cross-functional teammates.

We discussed four different ways for PMs to become permission-based leaders:

1. Don’t rely on your position as the PM
2. Spend time with people; work alongside them; go to them.
3. Become the chief encourager of your team.
4. Strike a balance between care and candor.

The 5 Levels of Leadership had a very strong impact on me, and moving forward, I plan to apply many of the lessons learned from this book to my work as a product manager. I hope that I have inspired you to do the same.