How do you build product marketing emerging talent in your team and make sure you grow your skills?

Building emerging talent is job #1. I start with a clear professional mission and leadership philosophy. On the mission side, my goal is to unlock people’s potential. I care deeply about my teammates and there’s no greater reward for me than helping people develop and grow their careers. In terms of leading, I have high expectations for my teammates (calibrated to where they are in their careers) and I’m a fierce advocate for them. I’ve found that there needs to be an equal balance (expectations and advocacy) in order to achieve results and enable people to stretch themselves as far as they can go. (You can see more about my leadership approach in my readme: https://handbook.gitlab.com/handbook/marketing/readmes/dave-steer/)

I focus the team on experience-based skills development. The newest marketers on the team learn by observing and then, over time, they can take the lead on any given initiative. One of the great things about product marketing is the diversity of areas to build skills, so as people on the team become experienced in one area (say, product launches), they can find opportunities to build skills in other areas.