More segments from our conversation with Ladislav Bartos — and shedding some light onto just exactly what makes Ladislav truly The Best Product Person of 2014.
What makes The Best Product Person person of 2014 tick?
In the now…
> Whose shoes would you like to walk in for a day? why?
Instead of walking in someone else’s shoes, I would prefer to spend a day learning from an inspiring leader, Marissa Mayer. Marissa is a great technical expert and leader who can motivate others, and she has a great vision and focus on execution. I think we all can learn a lot from her.
> What do you like most -and least – about being a product manager?
Being a product manager, you always have to keep up with a fast-changing world. What you know today might not be relevant tomorrow. Technology is changing rapidly, which has a significant impact on user behaviour and user expectations. I like this fast-paced environment, because it forces you to create products for the future and not for the present. What I like least is the fact that I am not able to stop time. Sometimes I would like to enjoy the present a little bit longer.
Watch the video for more on daily inspiration in product management…
More to Come
Over the next few weeks I will share more of my conversation with other great participants from The Best Product Person of 2014!
Thank you to everyone who participated, nominated, interviewed, AND passed on the word! The nomination period for The Best Product Person of 2015 has begun! The individual who first nominates TBPP is also awarded! This year, the first nominator of Ladislav received a $100 gift certificate to Amazon.com. Nominate your pick for The Best Product Person right now!
http://TheBestProductPerson.com
And, don’t forget, take a moment and congratulate The Best Product Person of 2014: Ladislav Bartos. (tweet)
Enjoy!
Jeremy Horn
The Product Guy
About ‘The Best Product Person’
The Best Product Person (TBPP) is the leading international award honoring excellence in Product Management. Established in 2010, TBPP is awarded annually in association with The Product Guy (http://tpgblog.com) and The Product Group (http://meetup.com/theproductgroup).
TBPP Recognizes 1 person each year, invites them to speak and share their knowledge and experience with the larger product community. The nominations can be submitted by anyone. And, if you are the first to submit the winning nominee, you too will be rewarded Over the course of the year, the various nominees are interviewed and the finalists narrowed down to: The Best Product Person of the year . The finalists are interviewed and evaluated for excellence in Product along the following lines… Becoming a Product Person, Your Product, Advice to Product People, and Future & Trends.
TBPP is both (1) the way the Product community gets together to recognize excellence amongst our ranks as well as (2) provide, to a large audience, insights into that excellence in a manner we can all learn from and leverage in our own Product journeys.
For more information about The Best Product Person award and past winners visit https://tpgblog.com/tbpp
About ‘The Product Group’
The Product Group is an opportunity for Product Managers, etc. to come together to meet, interact, and network. It’s an awesome way to meet fellow Product People in a laid-back, conversational environment within which sharing and learning can flourish and complement the knowledge base for all on a peer-to-peer basis. The NYC chapter of The Product Group meets the first Thursday of each month. If you are interested in a establishing chapter near you, please contact The Product Guy or The Product Group for more information. (https://tpgblog.com/theproductgroup/ )
The Product Guy 
Technology is changing rapidly. A great way to make your job easier and keep pace is to get help from your product support group. Hire the right people to staff this group. Then set up a way to gather metrics and numbers from them. Use this data to make product changes in a more efficient way. You probably want to call back some of those customers who have talked to your support group. Often these product users will be surprisingly frank with their suggestions for product changes. I ran a similar operation at a Big 4 where I was involved in preparing and rolling out financial software. This kind of situation can be made to work for you if you do it right.
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