Background

As I enter a new phase of learning, I will write down what I learned and describe my current perspectives. I don’t possess new ideas. I often learn from people and books nearby. Credits go to others.

Leadership in product development is important to the success of a platform company. Product engineering leaders face with a challenge - have the responsibility for success and failure of their products, but constrained by the assets and resources necessary to deliver those outcomes.

Product engineering leadership is distinct from and inclusive of product and people management. Good product engineering leaders have good management skills in both product and people. However, product engineering leaders do not always manage product and people. Rather, they often guide others, so that their teams can navigate complex product roadmaps and manage people to design and develop world-class products.

Another key challenge that product engineering leaders faces is a constant tension between delivering value to one group and telling another they cannot have what they want. Product engineering leaders also work under the pressure of delivering value while managing the expectations of multiple stakeholders. Unlike the C-level executive of the company, product engineering leaders lack the absolute authority because leadership is not always about authority. Product engineering leaders often do not have actual authority to demand people doing things in a certain way; rather, they influence and persuade. Thus, good product engineering leaders lead by influence and example.

Product engineering leaders do not operate in a vacuum. They align their activities and expectations with others for success. Getting everyone on the same page is key to success. They need to understand the challenges and the gaps, communicate and help others to get the information necessary to act and deliver values.

Steps to Get Started

• Clarify your role in the product, understand what makes your role unique and how you would work with people in other domains.
• Know your product’s unique value, connect the value of your product to the rest of the platform, and deliver that value to others.
• Build the right team and process to ensure that your team has the environment for building the product.
• Appeal your stakeholders to receive support for your product teams.
• Guide your team to build product that is aligned with the platform vision and values.
• Establish a culture that embraces autonomy with accountability in your product teams.