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A Simple Primer on Product Leadership

 

Introduction

This primer describes the concept of product leadership and the role owning it (Director of Products) according to the Blackblot PMTK Methodology™.

 

Product Leadership Foundation

Product Leadership is the concept of delivering winning products, and PMTK’s Director of Products is the role that owns the product leadership process.

PMTK’s Director of Products is the prevailing title that represents all mid-level and executive management roles in product management, e.g., Director of Product Management, Product Director, VP of Product, VP of Product Management, and the Chief Product Officer (CPO).

The Director of Products builds and manages product organizations and is responsible for product leadership.

 

Product Leadership Process

All business leadership positions require decision-making, process application, and employee motivation.

Product leadership is no different.

In PMTK, the three areas product leadership is based on are:

 

➀ Strategies — Formulating the market and product strategies.

Strategies are the business compass to which all decisions in product management should conform.

 

Product Management — Applying a product management methodology (terminology, definitions, roles, tasks, occupational responsibilities, teams, models, work processes, and interfaces to other departments).

The product management methodology governs how product managers, product management teams, and the product management department will work in the interest of performance and efficiency.

 

➂ Team Leadership — Effective management of individual and group relationships and interactions at a workplace.

Team Leadership is an applied management style to promote team member motivation, elevate collective productivity; and increase team cohesion, communication, collaboration, decision-making style, employee retention, and morale.

It is noted that Product Leadership is unrelated to Generic Leadership, which is the ability to influence others to change their behavior without having authority over them.

 

Director of Products

In PMTK, the Director of Products is a highly strategic and encompassing role owned by a strategy and process expert who leads the product management team by providing overall product vision, product and market strategies, and team leadership.

The Director of Products is responsible for balancing corporate goals with long-term market trends and opportunities and directing, establishing, maintaining, and planning the overall policies and strategies for the product management department.

On the strategic level, the Director of Products role formulates the company’s product and market strategies and drives their implementation while balancing corporate goals with long-term market trends and market opportunities.

On the tactical level, the Director of Products is a leadership position that provides coaching and mentorship to the product management team members and is responsible for furnishing them with resources, tools, and uniform processes to do their respective jobs.

The Director of Products role creates and manages the overall product management process and oversees its effective execution.

From a deliverables perspective, the Director of Products directs, supports, and contributes primarily to making the product business case, market plan, and market requirements document (MRD). 

The Director of Products also guides and assists with formulating a product launch plan and the value documents.

The prime goal of the Director of Products role is to continuously oversee the successful formulation and execution of the product and market strategies and to achieve better consistency in the internal application of the product management discipline.

 

Summary

Product leadership is the delivery of winning products, and PMTK’s Director of Products role is responsible for attaining product leadership through internal management and application of the product management discipline.