Sogol Fathian

Category: management

  • Leveling Up From Product Manager To Product Leader

    I have previously written about why it’s so hard to jump from a senior product manager to a product leader. Here is what I wrote:

    The catch is you can’t advance to the next level (becoming PM lead) just by doing what you’ve done up to now in a more complex/bigger scale. As a product lead you fundamentally need a different skillsets that you haven’t invested on acquiring.

    In that post I provided strategies to prepare you for this transition and even though those strategies are still relevant, I attended a talk by Jules Walters on Industry Conference this April on this very topic that made the advice crisper and better. When Jules got promoted from a Senior PM to a Product Lead in Slack he struggled to keep up with the new job. He eventually realized he needed to make these key transitions to become a successful product leader.

    From direct to indirect Execution

    Product managers at every level are expected to demonstrate leadership but as a junior product manager you are certainly tasked with more execution than leadership. When you become a product lead “people management” aspect of job becomes much more prominent. Now you need to allocate your time to hire people, set goals and and manage your team to deliver results which means you have less time to manage products directly. To transition from a direct to an indirect execution you need to identify people who are willing to take on more and mentor them so you can delegate. It also means to create a system to share context with others (a consistent way to describe the problems we’re solving, why we’re solving it, the solution outline etc) so they can make the right decisions.

    From team-focused to cross-functional Leadership

    When you are a (senior) product manager your focus is your team or teams you’re working with however when you become a product lead, building trusted relationship with teams becomes ever more critical because at this point your product is understanding and finding solutions to the needs of other teams across the company. You need to understand align with them in order to resolve dependencies and pushing forward. To transition to a cross-functional leadership you need to develop mass communication to keep everyone on the same page and provide context by telling simple and memorable stories.

    From Consuming to Influencing Company Strategy

    Understand other areas of your company and explore ways to influence them. At this point your focus should be to understand the business and how the product contributes to the business deeply. When you have a clear grasp of the business your goals will be aligned with the CEO. Set aside time to think strategically to come up with big picture projects and goals and get buy-in from other teams to execute them.

  • Is It Even Possible to Focus on Anything Right Now?

    I want to acknowledge the strange times we’re in. Lives around the globe has fundamentally changed since March when World Health Organization (WHO) announced COVID-19, a pneumonia-like disease attacking respiratory organs, a pandemic.

    Like everywhere else in the world here in Toronto, we’ve been under lock-down since mid March. Everyday routines are thrown out of the window and joggling remote work with homeschooling, child care and house chores while receiving a constant torrent of bad news has become our new reality. If you are like me, one detrimental result is that it’s harder than ever to find the focus to be productive.

    To find answers, I I experimented with different approaches and also came across excellent articles in Harvard Business Review and WHO. Here are 3 actionable takeaways from what works for me. Hopefully you find them valuable too:

    Restrict your news intake

    Yes, it’s important to be informed about what’s happening so you can form a plan and yes it is also normal to feel sad, stressed, confused, scared or angry about all the changes. However following the news and social media excessively quickly turns our thoughts darker and create anxiety about the worst case scenario. What is proven to be an effective tactic is to minimize watching, reading or listening to news. Get your updates at specific times during the day, once or twice from a trusted source (which is not social media!). When I started feeling drained, hopeless and depressed about all the bad news I decided to completely avoid Facebook, Twitter and Slack. I figured that big news will seep through to m e through family and friends so I blocked off all my regular sources of news for some time to make sure I can cope.

    Create a new routine

    In addition to complete disruption of your normal schedule if you have kids unless you are an experienced teacher you are now charting unknown territory of homeschooling!! Consider creating new routines for your kids and build your work day around those routine! I learned from my daughter’s teacher to build variety into her schedule so she does a daily mix of reading, math, art and physical activity. Since she’s in grade 2 there are a few activities that she can do unsupervised while she needs assistance with others. Here is a snapshot of activities from each category and I mix and match them to come up with a daily schedule.

    Be patient with yourself

    Take care of yourself at this time. Eat healthy, sleep, exercise and be in touch with your loved ones and friends. I call my friends and have a good conversation, these days no body is going anywhere so take advantage of that! Also find opportunities to look at positive and hopeful stories, my favorite. Some Good News on youTube is an awesome one to check out!

    Finally recognize your limitations and adapt based on the situation. Show yourself the same compassion you would show someone else in your situation!

  • Best books I’ve read so far in 2019

    I love reading books and even though I’m a slow reader I’ve managed to read 8-9 books annually for the past couple of years. Here are the top 3 excellent books I’ve read so far.

    Radical Candor by Kim Scott

    This is by far my favourite book from last year. I loved this book so much because it not only provided a playbook on how to manage a team but also it provided this great framework for giving and getting feedback. The book is filled with great insights coming from Kim’s personal experiences from working in Google, Apple as well as having her own start-up. It’s a must read!

    Show & Tell by Dan Roam

    Show & Tell is easy to read and its pages are filled with pictures and drawings but don’t underestimate how powerful and informative it is. I learned so much from this book. Key takeaways, everything is told through a story and even though there are many varieties on presentations, they all follow a few outline formats. Also our brains are wired to process visuals so use pictures, images and diagrams to convey clarity.

    Confessions of a Public Speaker

    Like other Scott Berkun’s book, Confessions of a Public Speaker is an honest book that provides you with everything you need to know to speak well in front of any audience. From excellent tips on public speaking from what to do, how to do things in right way to funny stories of things gone wrong I enjoyed this book enormously.