AMA: BILL Director of Product Management, Joshua Bohling on Influencing the C-Suite

Put simply, there are two things I consider vital when soliciting input from other teams on your roadmap. Firstly, go with a point of view. Don't ask for input on a largely undefined roadmap. Secondly, know for yourself (and then share with others) why you're soliciting input. Set expectations in advance for how you'll use that feedback to refine your plan. To expand on the first principal, I think it's important to anchor on the universal truth that a vacuum demands to be filled. So, applying t ...Read More

I love this question, because it sets a constraint on my expected output. In the age of AI, I think we can all appreciate a good constraint that we can do an eval against. :D In seriousness, though, I think most C-suite members really expect 3 primary things from PMs at every level: Strategic Alignment: Make sure the things you're building clearly ladder up to the overall strategy that the company has set for itself. You should have autonomy to decide the specifics on how you contribute to the o ...Read More

While not ideal, it's also not uncommon that two executive stakeholders will disagree on some level of strategy on a project. I think the path through this for Product Managers really boils down to three things: Understand and leverage alignment that already exists Provide data and insights from your deeper understanding Build a plan together that focuses on iterative validation Firstly, if you are in the room together at all, that almost certainly means that on some level, there is alignment. U ...Read More

I always say "do the job you want, not the one you have", and I feel that's very applicable here. Usually, an organization has no shortage of ideas or initiatives, but often lacks the resourcing to drive ALL of them forward. If you're a junior PM, you probably are assigned to something that is relatively small in scope and hard to get in front of the C-Suite. However, I strongly believe that you should start thinking about how a more senior PM would be expected to operate. At most companies, the ...Read More

In all of my interactions with the C-suite, I've found a handful of consistent principals that I try to ensure I'm hitting no matter the engagement type: Listen & adapt: So much of our jobs as Product Managers center around our ability to adapt our messaging to our audience. Since interactions with C-Suite are generally fewer and further between, you need to listen very actively to know how your message is landing and where their understanding is. Active adaptation really makes a huge differ ...Read More