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Interview: Ameet Ranadive

Ameet is the Chief Product Officer of GetYourGuide, a travel company based in Europe. In this interview, he describes how he evaluates product managers, how PMs can build trust with others, and how they can accelerate their careers.

You’ve managed product teams at Twitter, Instagram, and now GetYourGuide. At a high level, how do you evaluate product managers?

I look for three things when evaluating product managers: Vision, Execution, and Leadership.

One of the most important things that product managers do is to develop a compelling product vision. To develop a vision, you need to answer questions like: What problem are you solving for customers? How is your solution better than the customers’ alternatives? What is distinct and innovative about your approach? You have to deeply understand customer needs, question defaults, and have a beginner’s mind.

Vision alone is not enough to have an impact, product managers also must be able to execute and get things done. Two important factors for execution are defining the product and making effective decisions. To define the product, PMs must select the right output (impact) metric and prioritize features by the output metric. In addition, they must simplify their products as much as possible, and take an iterative, hypothesis-driven approach.

The final responsibility of a product management is leadership. Products are built by teams, and teams look to the product manager for guidance. To help teams persist through setbacks, PMs must have a growth mindset and demonstrate resilience and grit. PMs can build trust by operating as givers (not takers), and by creating credibility for themselves through integrity, intent, capabilities, and results. Finally, PMs have to sell their ideas and their team’s contributions with excellent communication and persuasion skills.

How can product managers effectively build trust with others and improve their leadership skills?

I think Steve Covey’s book The Speed of Trust tackles this question well. Covey provides four cores to build trust: 1) Integrity; 2) Intent; 3) Capabilities; and 4) Results.

Integrity is about being honest and showing humility. The moment someone questions whether you are honest, their trust in you nosedives. Be humble and open-minded to the ideas and perspectives of others. Act with courage: Stand up for your beliefs and do the right thing, even when it’s difficult.

Intent is about motives and behavior. You have to genuinely care about others, seek mutually beneficial outcomes, and then act in the interests of others. It’s helpful to declare your intent to signal your motivation and to be transparent about your agenda.

Capabilities are your talents and knowledge for the task at hand. To be viewed as capable, play from your strengths, improve your attitudes, and continually develop your skills and knowledge.

Finally, you must produce results. To do that well, take responsibility for results (especially negative ones), expect to win, finish strong, and communicate your results.

How can people make progress in their product management career?

Great question. Based on my own experience and the experiences of others, I’ve come to think about PM career progress in five steps:

1. Nail the work you have been given. You have to build trust with your management and your teammates that you are someone who can deliver solid results. Clarify the expectations for your role, and then work hard and work smart to deliver those results.
2. Look for more high impact work. This “extra credit” work cannot come at the cost of continuing to perform on your “day job.” You have to continue nailing your original responsibilities and the additional ones.
3. Develop a vision for your area. Create the space for yourself to stick your head up, look ahead (for the long-term perspective) and look around (for the broader awareness). Become a thought partner for your teammates and for your manager, so that they start to see you as a trusted advisor and, in the case of your teammates, as a mentor.
4. Make yourself redundant. If you can find someone to take on your original responsibilities, it frees you up to take on additional scope. Sometimes the opportunities for additional responsibilities come through a “lucky break” in the organization. If you have your own successor at the moment that a “lucky break” presents itself, you will be more attractive for management to entrust with the opportunity.
5. Put yourself in high-growth situations. Finally, in addition to all of the things above, put yourself into high-growth situations and companies. In these high-growth environments, there is a lot more white space to take initiative; there will naturally be more “lucky break” opportunities; and it will be easier to attract and find your own successor.

Even with all of the tips above, it’s important to remember that promotions will require patience and luck. Don’t sweat it if you get passed over for a promotion this time around; keep playing the long game, do great work and build great relationships, and the promotions and recognition will come over time.