Michael Ludwig

Ken Norton, famous GV Partner, Product Manager and newsletter author, says the product manager must do whatever it takes to help the team ship the product. This might mean taking notes at a meeting, testing the product, messing with Hangouts and the proje…

… people. This means if they want people to do their best work they need to engage and inspire them. The PM needs to influence others because they have little authority. However, they must resist being manipulative for this is the dark side of influence. They need to develop strong relationships, make compromises, give a ton of context, and most of all create a sense of shared ownership over most decisions. PMs that don’t do this won’t last long at a company. They just won’t.

…s, aligning those needs with the company’s goals, and articulating a plan to internal stakeholders. Since product managers rarely have direct authority, they must possess the necessary communication skills to manage through influence.