What are some ways that junior and newer pms can get greater exposure to the C-Suite?

Use your product launches as a way to communicate how you are solving customer problems and driving company outcomes.

Most companies these days employ communication platforms like slack, intranet boards or other standardized channels. Leverage these channels to start with the why (customer, business problem) and the what (your solution launch). You can leverage simple product announcement templates or use tools to do a quick 2-min video recording to publish.

Dont just stop with the launch announcement, follow-up with product results. Use things like 30-day adoption stats, customer success stories to show how as a PM, you are not just the product-expert but you are a product-leader that ties the feature to business results.

Quite simply - get involved and that in things that affect the outcomes that matter to executives.

First make sure you clearly understand what you’re executive teams focused on. Your organization should have some high level priorities are OK are as defined no limit what really matters to them. Most of the time that’s going to be top line revenue growth, but depending on the business cycle it may also be profitability. If your executive team hasn’t clearly articulated their top priorities, ask. You can also take cued from listening to them speak – what are the products, teams or initiatives they always go to as examples? Most likely those things are top of mind for them.

Then do whatever you can to align yourself to those flagship products and initiatives that support those executive priorities. As a junior PM, presumably you’re not yet in charge of the flagship, high growth products or product areas, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get involved. Get to know the product leaders in that area and find ways to help out. Your work won’t go unnoticed.

Finally, don’t be intimidated. Execs were all early career once, and we are all human. Find things to talk about, engage, seek out opportunities to bump into them in the hallway. Get and stay visible in any way possible.

Communicate on topics that matter to the executives through the comms channels that scale. For example, you can write your thoughts (but remember to bring specifics/numbers/exact plans) about topics that have a great impact on your product area or business overall. 

Are you as a product line/business not doing something that you think you should be doing? Write about it (long form is better, but keep it simple) and share it with the organization. Executives are always on the lookout for risks and opportunities around the business, and helping them uncover those is a great way to do the right thing for your organization and get heard

• Aligning to Organisation strategy and working on building great products is a key way to stay close to C-Suite.   
• Bring innovation to the organisation.  
• Take mentorship offered in the organisation and become part of efficient teams in the organisation.
• Work on creating products using efficient UX 
• Solve problems efficiently

When I started my PM journey a posting from a prominent Amazon Product leader was something that was referenced. In this piece, the author suggests there are a few traits that put PMs above and beyond others. As a product leader now, I would say the shortlist is:

• Communicate

• Forecast & measure

• Execute

• Write effective copy

As a junior PM, doing these four things exceptionally well will get you recognized and noticed in your role and most likely give you the opportunities to get more career advancement.

I wanted to point out though - in many cases executive exposure might not always be a good thing. For example, when things are going well typically executives won't be super involved and when things are not going well, they get involved. I would definitely question the need/motivation for executive exposure.

This likely depends on the size of the company and the different rituals you may have. Obviously the bigger the org, the harder it is to get direct exposure to the c-suite. If your company happens to have the following opportunities, take advantage.

• Product reviews. Does your company run regular product review meetings with the executives? If so, that’s a great forum. I’ve always found it helpful in these meetings to 1/ bring them up to speed on your team’s work, 2/ raise difficult questions and get their input. Just remember they are most likely not as close to the problem as you are so don’t follow their input blindly.

• Regular updates. On important initiatives, I’ve found it helpful to send regular updates to your executives and other stakeholders. When I worked on a 0-to-1 product, I sent bi-weekly updates on product performance, customer insights, and roadmap priorities. Got incredible comments and suggestions from senior leaders. It’s a lot of work to write a good update, but it’s worth the time.

• Executive office/ couch hours. At my company, the senior leaders have office/ couch hours where you can book and discuss any topic with them. It’s an awesome mechanism to interact with them in a 1:1 or small group setting. Bring high quality topics/ questions though. Don’t waste their time.

The first question is why would you want to have exposure to the C-Suite?

We often think that getting exposure will help our career, but that's not really true. What will help is making impact, and having this impact being exposed to the C-Suite. This is managers job to make this happen, so if you are a junior PM I would say ask directly your manager to help you manage up the impact you are having.