Would you mentor an aspiring (vs a current) product manager? And how would you want to be approached and asked to mentor them?

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4 Answers

Product Management Career Path

Mike Flouton

Boxford Capital Managing Partner | Formerly Barracuda, SilverSky, Digital Guardian, OpenPages, Cybertrust • 1y

I do mentor and coach a number of folks from different backgrounds and at different stages of their career. I typically prefer to mentor folks who are product managers versus folks who may be aspiring to do something or to not really have kind of a clear path forward in life. There are mentors and coaches who are appropriate for those folks as well. I just really enjoy helping people break through their limitations as a product manager, learn how to play organizational politics, for lack of a be ...Read More

1,074 Views
Mark Meredith

HashiCorp Director of Product Management • 9mo

Yes, of course. Be humble, be curious, and be bold in your request. Simply reach out on LinkedIn and make it clear what you're after - e.g. 30 mins once per quarter for a year or something like that. Share your goals and aspirations and of course be respectful of people's time.

Sometimes mentor relationships last for a whole career, and sometimes they last for a season. Don't be intimidated by rejection or by the idea that you have to find the perfect person right out the gate.

820 Views
Poorvi Shrivastav

Meta Senior Director of Product Management • 1y

Currently, I'm best suited to mentor mid-career product leaders facing challenges I've tackled in the last 5-7 years. For aspiring PMs, I recommend finding mentors with recent experience in entry-level PM roles. They can offer more relevant advice on breaking into the field and building foundational skills. While I focus on mid-career mentorship, I do volunteer with Mentors in Tech for aspiring software engineers. If approached by an aspiring PM, I'd appreciate their initiative, explain my curre ...Read More

751 Views
Rupali Jain

Optimizely Chief Product Officer • 1y

I'll start with the second part first. Be direct about what skills you are hoping to develop or share that you are hoping to break into product management, and let the person you are hoping will mentor you know that. Whether you position as a formal request for mentorship, or simply let the person know you respect them and would love advice, the focus should be on establishing the relationship. For me personally, the word mentor has a higher bar than someone simply asking for advice. If I've nev ...Read More

742 Views