Product Management is a relatively loosely defined role that often wears many hats inside an organization. However, I think there are a few traits that distinguish a great Product Manager (PM) from the rest:
Ability to bring clarity - misalignment and disagreement are the biggest drags on team productivity. A great PM uses all the tools in the toolkit to bring clarity when needed and drive alignment across the team or with stakeholders in a timely way.
Believability - a great PM, is believable in a way that naturally overcomes doubts in others. A great PM, is respected as an expert in their product and the customer. A great PM earns trust of their teams and with stakeholders through consistently delivering value, meeting commitments and helping others. A great PM recognizes when they need to be in sales mode and can speak with authority, knowledge and conviction when selling a vision or viewpoint.
Positivity - nobody in the history of the world has ever done anything great by being negative. Achieving hard things requires a positive, optimistic attitude, sometimes to the point that people think that you are immune to criticism and reality. Note that this doesn’t mean that PMs are oblivious to the risks or don’t understand the concerns of others. A great PM always knows the top risks and issues and works to understand and mitigate their impact. However, a PM who expresses doubts in their own vision or the team’s ability to overcome obstacles is sabotaging themselves.
Entrepreneurial spirit - a great PM is focused on outcomes and to achieve bigger outcomes you have to take risks. You also need to overcome roadblocks along the way or work around constraints. Do more with less is often the mantra. PMs have to be adaptable to circumstances and creative in problem solving to overcome challenges.
Dive deep - a great PM isn’t afraid to roll their sleeves up and get stuck into a problem. A great PM can instantly switch from product strategy to the details of a problem and is comfortable having discussions at any level depending on the audience and task in hand. As the owner of the outcome, a great PM helps the team overcome obstacles whatever the problem might be.
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