I’ve heard that the jump from Sr. PM to the “next level” (e.g Principal or Group PM) often comes with a steep learning curve. Is that true, and how would one prepare to solidify the right foundation to ease the transition preemptively?

From personal experience, the Senior to Principal or Group PM transition is one of the hardest in this career. Not only because the craft gets harder, but because the rules change. You are no longer being handed a problem and expected to nail it. You are expected to find the problems worth solving, often before anyone else has named them. Here is how I think about what separates someone who is ready: Scope. Principal PMs operate at a different order of magnitude. We are not talking about one ext ...Read More

In my experience, the learning curve happens in the current role, as a prerequisite to transitioning into the next. You have to be operating at the next level already and there really isn't an easing of the transition beyond that. For example, managing wider scope, solving harder problems, navigating trickier interpersonal dynamics, connecting more "dots", communicating with more clarity on more complex matters, and influencing more people and outcomes, are among some of the skills needed at eve ...Read More

The biggest struggle I have observed is related to transition from an individual level product craft growth to growing that of a group. Andy Grove in High Output Management said "Managers are responsible for increasing the output of their organizations and neighboring organizations they influence". Read this sentence again and again. The learning curve is in learning how to optimize for the outputs of your team vs. your own. This means that you need to make trade-offs across your teammates and t ...Read More

It can definitely be a steep learning curve, because at Staff+ PM level you are expected to have strengths in one or more areas of product management that aren't often exercised at lower levels. Some examples: Having a much wider aperture and being able to develop and sell portfolio-level (not just product or feature-level) product strategy that can touch other areas of the company Assessing and making build vs. borrow vs. buy recommendations & understanding how to work with a channel/partne ...Read More

Love the proactive thinking and the desire to excel :) Not sure if the learning curve is any steeper but there are a few things that can support career growth: Master the craft for what is required of you in the current seniority. Get exposure to delegating more work, creating leverage across different teams, and see if you are able to 'let go of the detailed tasks' but still bring a beautiful product to life with your team. Get exposure to market maps, strategy documents, start asking thoughtfu ...Read More

Yes, advancing from Senior PM to a Principal or Group PM level indeed involves a steep learning curve. To prepare, it's crucial to understand what's expected at each level within your company. For instance, GitLab's PM career development framework provides a clear outline. Moving to higher levels means becoming a leader and expert in your area, impacting multiple teams, and mastering skills in coaching, industry knowledge, influencing, business case creation, and managing executives and stakehol ...Read More