Lead on Purpose

Promoting Leadership Principles in Product Management

Tag Archives: training


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How do you build the right culture in your company?

People in countries, organizations and companies tend to behave in similar ways. The term culture has come to represent this idea: the way people think, behave or work. The culture of a company can have a major effect on the value—in terms of products and services—that a company provides to its customers.

A recent Gallup study analyzed data from more than 30,000 employees in various industries to determine what characteristics led to companies creating a high-performance culture that improves top- and bottom-line business metrics. The analysis revealed six crucial components on which companies should focus: Continue reading →


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Embrace, then apply

What was the last training or career development session you attended? How long did it take to put into practice the things you learned? Conversely, how long did it take to forget the details of the information conveyed in the training?

No matter how good a training session or how compelling the information conveyed, if you do not apply what you have learned the value will be lost. The concept of embrace, then apply is critical to the practical application of any training or educational programs. To convince participants to embrace the ideas taught in a training session, the instructor has to deliver compelling content that is applicable to their daily lives. The presenter must establish credibility with the attendees and deliver the content effectively, thus creating a need for them to adopt it.

Once participants have embraced the concepts taught they need to apply them to their work; the more quickly the better. If possible the company or people responsible for the training should have a follow-up mechanism through which they can provide additional services and direction. Many companies are skilled at delivering compelling training, but lack the resources or abilities to help their customers implement the training they have received. In such cases the participants are left to their own to implement what they have learned or to find another company/person who can help them implement it. Helping others implement what they have learned presents a great opportunity for individuals and services companies to increase the value of their training.

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The Product Management Perspective: Product managers play a key role in helping their teams to embrace product vision and direction. In many cases they also have to help executives do the same. They must learn to present their roadmaps with passion and work to convince their teams they are headed in the right direction. When the teams are on board they will apply their efforts to creating and launching successful products.


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Hire your replacement

Leaders at successful companies focus significant time and resources to hire the right people. The money and effort they spend pays big dividends as the company progresses and matures. The companies that excel at hiring the right people seem to take this one step further: at all levels the leaders hire people whom they can groom as their replacements. This may seem at odds with conventional thinking; generally, most people at most companies do not think about what the company will be like when they leave. However, those who really ‘get it’ make hiring better people than themselves a priority.

The importance of focusing on your replacement cannot be overstated. Following are three actions that will help you focus on successfully developing replacements:

  • Hire the right people: When you select candidates to interview look for people who have the skills and the personality to grow into your position. When making hiring decisions, look for and hire individuals who have the potential to do the job better than you can do it.
  • Train them: Hire the right people, then provide the training to accelerate their growth. Spend money on developing skills that will drive the results your company is seeking. Don’t let the cost of training deter you from training your people. Stephen M.R. Covey drives this point home nicely in his book The Speed of Trust:
I’ll never forget what one CEO said about the risk of investing in a focused training initiative for his company. Someone asked him, ‘What if you train everyone and they all leave?’ He responded, ‘What if we don’t train them and they all stay?’
  • Give them opportunities to grow: Once you hire the right people and give them the training they need, provide them with opportunities to learn and grow. Do not hold on to the most important tasks yourself. Give your team members new opportunities even if it means letting go of your pet project.
One of the key side effects of focusing time and effort on your replacement is your own growth. When you help others learn, you learn more. When you help them hone key skills, your skills improve. You cannot help others progress without advancing your own position. The more you increase the value of others the more your value increases.
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The Product Management Perspective: Product managers are most often leaders by nature; however, they most often do not have anyone reporting directly to them. These principles still apply because, as a PM, you are a member of the team and have influence on the people who are hired on to the team. Leaders of product managers do themselves and their company a favor by hiring people who will eventually replace them and be more successful than they have been. It’s all about progression: the more you help others progress, the further you go.


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Embrace and apply

Think about the last training or career development session you attended…how long did it take to put into practice the things you learned? Conversely, how long did it take to forget the details of the information conveyed in the training?

No matter how good a training session or how compelling the information conveyed, if you do not agree with what you’ve learned, or you do not have a way to apply it, you will not gain the true benefits promised. The dual concepts of embrace and apply are critical to the practical application of any training or educational programs. To convince participants to embrace the subject matter taught in a training session, it must be compelling and applicable to their daily lives. The presenter must establish credibility with the attendees and deliver the content effectively, thus creating a need for them to adopt it.

Once participants have embraced the concepts it is essential they apply them; the more quickly the better. If possible the company or people responsible for the training should have a follow-up mechanism through which they can provide additional services and direction. Many companies are skilled at delivering compelling training, but lack the resources or abilities to help their customers implement the training they have received. In such cases the participants are left to their own to implement what they have learned, or they find another company/person who can help them implement it. Helping others implement what they have learned presents a great opportunity forindividuals and services companies to increase the value of the training.

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The Product Management Perspective: Product managers play a key role in helping their teams to embrace product vision and direction. In many cases they also have to help executives do the same. They must learn to present their roadmaps with passion and work to convince their teams they’re headed in the right direction. When the teams are on board they will apply their efforts to creating and launching successful products.


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Take the time

There’s a somewhat famous quote shared in the product management community that goes something like this: “We never have time to do things right the first time, but we always have time to redo them.” The work or activities required up front (to avoid future problems) seem to take too long or cost too much to make them worthwhile. But when they don’t work out, the time and/or money will be spent to make it right in the end.

The reasons for this phenomenon are vary among different organizations. However, the solution is largely the same regardless of type of “things” a person or a company faces:

  • Training: Spend the time and money to get the training you need. Take a training course to better understand your job or market.
  • Tools: Use the right tools for the job. There are thousands of examples of projects that show the value of using the right software applications or the right hardware. Find out what tools work for the project and use them from the beginning.
  • Time: This one’s obvious, but cannot be overstated. Set aside enough time at the beginning of a product/project cycle to make sure the important factors are considered prior to spending time going down a dead-end path.

Whether you do a product/project right the first time, or you go back and make it right, you will have to spend resources either way. Doing it right the first time will almost always cost less. Defining and designing a product correctly take time, but they are much less costly than fixing bugs after the product has released. Take the time — up front — to do things right.