“Your bias for action too often comes across as impatience. This manifests in the form of curt behavior in meetings and dismissiveness of other people’s ideas.”
Early in my product management career, this feedback from my manager hit me like a ton of bricks. I had always taken pride in my ability to get things done and deliver products ahead of schedule. How could my bias for action lead to a negative performance review?
After a few days of soul searching, I realized that my manager was right. I was so focused on moving fast that my teammates felt left behind. For example, I would reach out to partners directly without consulting my partner manager, which left her feeling demoralized. By not consulting experts like her, I was not only damaging my relationships with my teammates but also doing a disservice to the product.
The directness of the feedback was a wake-up call for me to improve. I worked hard to earn back the trust that I had lost with my team. A year later, the feedback that I received was completely different:
“You listen to everyone to make the product better and take people’s
feedback to heart. Even if you disagree, you document the different viewpoints and the rationale. People respect that you have low ego, a lot of patience, and take time to understand different trade-offs.”
So, what changed? My bias for action was a strength that turned into a weakness when I started using it as an excuse to be impatient with my teammates. Only after receiving blunt feedback and making a genuine effort to improve did I recover.
To lead others as a product manager, you first need to lead yourself. Since you have no real authority over anyone as a PM, you’ll only succeed if people want to work with you. That’s why great product managers are honest with themselves and have a growth mindset. They are constantly looking for ways to improve by setting goals, reflecting on progress, and seeking constructive feedback.
Principle
#6
: Be Honest with Yourself.
Set Clear Goals
Setting long-term goals helps you focus on what truly matters to you. Like product goals, your personal goals should have clear success criteria and time constraints. For example, your goals might be to “transition to PM in a year” or “get positive feedback on collaboration from colleagues in my next performance review.” Although these goals should rarely change, you should be flexible about how you achieve them when new opportunities or challenges arise.
For example, my goal was to transition from product marketing to product management. To achieve this goal, I prioritized learning skills from other product managers over making progress in my marketing career. My plan, however, wasn’t flexible enough. I focused too much on transitioning internally at my company that I didn’t consider external options. Only after I became more open to external opportunities did I finally make the transition
.
Reflect Often
As you make progress toward your goals, you’ll experience both successes and setbacks. When these events occur, you must reflect to identify your strengths and weaknesses.
When you reach a milestone like launching a new product or moving a goal metric, reflect on what strengths helped you along the way. These strengths are usually activities that you’re both good at and enjoy doing. For example, you may excel in execution and can balance multiple projects at ease. Or you may be an excellent mediator whom people rely to resolve conflicts. Whatever your strengths are, you should find opportunities to use them as frequently as possible.
When you experience a setback like failing to resolve a team conflict or receiving a negative performance review, reflect on what weaknesses led to it. Based on my experience, people usually have one significant weakness that’s a common thread through most of their past setbacks. For example, I struggle with being impatient. My impatience has surfaced in past mistakes like becoming frustrated with colleagues or leaving good jobs too early. Whatever your weaknesses are, you must stay vigilant and keep working on them.
Seek Feedback from Others
After you’ve had a chance to reflect on your strengths and weaknesses, you should validate them with people you trust. It may feel awkward to ask others for feedback, but the earlier you know what they think about you, the sooner you can take steps to improve. Here are a few ways to ask for feedback:
- After an important meeting, pull a teammate aside and ask: “How do you think that meeting went? What did I do well, and what could I have done better?”
- After working together with a teammate, ask: “Now that
we’ve spent some time together, I’d love to understand how I can be a better partner for you.”
If you’re aware of your strengths and weaknesses and actively seek constructive feedback from others, then you’re well on your way to becoming a great product manager.