How to Accelerate into Product Leadership (1/4) : Path
At the recent #ProductTonic community sharing “How to Accelerate into Product Leadership”, we kicked off the series with a facilitated discussion around our paths to product management.
We had 122 registered from the various communities of practices like PM Huddle, Product PH, Product Management SG, UXSG, UXMY, UXPH across Southeast Asia.
Self-guided slides available at https://bit.ly/ptl-20jan22-productleadership
The session was framed as an exploration of the individual path to product leadership starting with our own journey in the field of product management.
We then shared about a useful product proficiency framework [deeper dive on Feb 10 : Adaptive Skills] by the Association of Product Professionals.
Individuals were also invited to chat in threes using the following frame for discussion
- What has been my life so far?
- What have I been through that I have empathy [why / who] and authority [how / what] to speak about
REFRAMING the topic as deeper dives for self in upcoming sessions on Feb 10, Mar 3 and Mar 24, we invited everyone to consider the following as we look at wicked problems:
- The path to Product leadership ->
WHY am I interested in the field of product management? - About the adaptive skills required to present yourself as a leader. ->
WHO am I interested to serve / solve problems for? - How to demonstrate your skills and abilities in front of people that can help propel your career. ->
HOW do I wish to create change for the better whole (earth & society)? - The balance between doing the Product job and coaching others how to do their Product job. ->
WHAT behaviours I wish to embody AND value do I bring to the products / companies I wish to work with?
What participants found surprising
- We all had own journeys into PM
- How people (are) exploring the world, learn, grow, and grab opportunities.
- Continually aligning our values with our careers
What could we do more as Product Leaders?
- Creating products for people who do not have the opportunities to use [the other 90%]
- Understanding who do I want to serve?
- Product roles are naturally demanding, and we are sacrificing more and more of our life to it, is there a more sustainable way to (help others) climb the career ladder but still maintain balance?
Why is this important to reframe the WHY/WHO/HOW/WHAT?
#ProductTonic’s mission is to create a space for co-creation between young/junior professionals considering “What can help sharpen my skills?”, busy/senior professionals wondering “what is next for me?” and wicked societal problems that requires “Dialogue and co-generative action”.
In 2021, we launched the first #ProductTonicLab cohort that touched upon topics like Product Leadership / Decisions / Trust / Sustainability / Resilience / Mentorship / Ownership / Culture / Economy / Self.
Participants who took part felt it was a great personal self-development journey as they learnt more about their personal developmental backlog guided by industry mentors who have walked similar paths.
Interested to take part in Cohort 2 and 3 starting in April & June 2022?
Here is the info deck with testimonials http://bit.ly/ptl-info-deck and interest form https://bit.ly/ptl-interest
How to Accelerate into Product Leadership (1/4) : Path [facilitated on 20 Jan 2022]
Self-guided slides available at https://bit.ly/ptl-20jan22-productleadership
This series was first prototyped at Product Tonic Unconference 2021 as a topic “Designing your Product Leadership journey”.
Read more in the series:
- How to Accelerate into Product Leadership (2/4) : Adaptive Skills
- How to Accelerate into Product Leadership (3/4) : Career
- How to Accelerate into Product Leadership (4/4) : Balance
#producttonic #producttoniclab #southeastasia #productleadership
