A lot of info about breaking into PM but not enough about how to build your PM career after 4-5 years in PM. Please share your thoughts, experiences, insights. Some of the points that come to my mind are:
What should one keep doing to get better at their jobs?
How to crack PM leadership vs IC?
If one chooses to stay as IC- what are the options one has?
How should one equip to break into new tech products like smart contracts, metaverse when they have been doing something else for last 5-8 years?
I had this exactly issue until early this year and then I came across Lenny’s PM course, I went from IC to the next level of product management via some specific resources from the courses and mentorship. Feel free to DM me if you’re interested in accessing the course or have any questions.
How would you recommend Lenny s PM course over other courses? And how good could you actually use the learnings in actual working situations? Do you still have access to the course?
There are tons of other options for content and community that’s relevant. Growth topics, data topics, product leadership, scaling product delivery, and a bunch of others. I’m biased as I work there but a bunch of options for a question like this.
There’s a lot of material out there. Start practicing discovery
If you go to customers before you do your research, you can end up going way off course. You want to create and validate your assumptions before you test.
What makes you a successful product manager?
Here is an excerpt from an interesting article, which you might relate yourself to.
The easy answer to this question — would be a list of skills. A long list that would include: subject matter expertise, outstanding communication skills, market knowledge, leadership ability, innovativeness, strong researching skills, the ability to think strategically, etc.
Indeed, a comprehensive list of the skills needed to be a great product manager might be so long that it would intimidate a newbie into thinking that neither s/he nor any mere mortal was cut out for this profession.
But if we had to distill what it takes to be a great product manager into a single concept, a single theme, it would be balanced. Product management is the organizational equivalent of walking a tight rope every day — and if your skills or focus are overdeveloped in one area and underdeveloped in another, you risk setbacks for both your product and your career.
The balance will play an essential role across all of your areas of responsibility as a product manager. Here are a few of the most important examples.
Balance between the tactical and the strategic.
Balance between being a likable team player and holding firm when necessary.
Balance between trusting your own knowledge (and your gut) and following where the evidence leads you.
