In our latest TPG Live session, we explored two of the most critical topics for product managers: Stakeholder Management and Personal Branding. With our expert guests, Garrett Lang (PlateRate, Founder and President) and Amil Shah (RBC Capital Markets, Senior Product Manager), we discussed strategies for balancing leadership pressures, navigating feature requests, and crafting a personal brand that opens doors to new opportunities.
Replay & Recap
Missed the session or want to revisit the discussion? WATCH, SHARE, LIKE & SUBSCRIBE the full replay on YouTube here.
And, here’s a quick recap of the valuable insights shared.
1. Managing Stakeholder Dynamics: Navigating Leadership Pressures
Managing senior leadership’s focus on immediate wins while maintaining a long-term product vision is a common challenge for product managers. The discussion emphasized the importance of aligning short-term needs with long-term strategy through the following strategies:
- Open Communication: Transparent communication with senior leadership is key to balancing short-term requests with broader product goals. Regular, honest conversations help ensure alignment and build trust.
- Leveraging Data: When leadership insists on a specific feature, it’s important to back your responses with customer data. This turns the conversation into a data-driven one, allowing you to validate or challenge ideas objectively.
- Managing Expectations: Sometimes, leadership and product teams won’t be perfectly aligned. In these cases, it’s often useful to run small experiments or tests to validate assumptions, either confirming leadership’s vision or highlighting alternative approaches.
2. Building Your Personal Brand as a Product Manager
The conversation also touched on the importance of building a personal brand both inside and outside of the organization. Key points included:
- Know Your Strengths: Understanding what sets you apart is the first step in building your brand. Focusing on your strengths and honing them will help shape how others perceive you.
- Be Transparent: Being open about mistakes and demonstrating a solution-oriented mindset when things go wrong can significantly boost your reputation. Transparency builds trust with both senior leadership and peers.
- Visibility Matters: Increasing your visibility through internal networking, attending industry events, and sharing thought leadership content on platforms like LinkedIn can help solidify your brand and attract new opportunities.
3. Key Audience Questions: Managing Up and Rebuilding Your Brand
The session also included a Q&A segment, where several key topics were discussed:
- Resetting Stakeholder Expectations: When projects go off course, it’s crucial to address issues early, realigning leadership’s expectations to prevent friction. Frequent communication helps keep everyone on the same page.
- Rebuilding Your Brand: When faced with a reputational setback, owning mistakes and showing growth are key to rebuilding your personal brand. Learning from past missteps and demonstrating how you’ve applied those lessons in your work is crucial.
Don’t Miss Our Next Event
Stakeholder management and personal branding are two essential skills that every product manager should continuously refine. Whether you’re managing up or growing your brand, these strategies will help you navigate the challenges of leadership while building influence within your organization.
Once again, thank you to everyone who joined, and we look forward to seeing you at the next TPG Live!
Join us in October for another engaging discussion on all things product management. RSVP today to ensure you don’t miss the conversation, and if you can’t make it live, we’ll send you the recap and recording.
RSVP at your local chapter: https://meetup.com/pro/TheProductGroup
The Product Guy 