What team's been the most difficult to influence and how did you overcome that challenge?

For me it has been Product, but it’s been dependent on who my counterpart was. Some PMs and product leaders are better collaborators than others. I’m a big fan of radical candor (coined by Kim Scott). If you don’t think something is working, it’s best to address it directly head-on, but also with care for the other person. I also really love the Level 1-3 conversation framework laid out by Amy Wong in her book Always on Purpose (she’s also an awesome group leadership coach). You can move to a pl ...Read More

Influencing the product team, and the product roadmap in particular, can sometimes be both the most challenging yet most rewarding thing to do. Product leaders are by nature very structured, highly analytical and incredibly focused. If you happen to join an organization at a time where they are already midway through planning or if they already have a clear product strategy and roadmap in place, there can often be limited opportunity for diverging from that plan. That said, coming into a situati ...Read More

This will vary by organization. But in general, the hardest org to influence is the organization who has been most successful. If it's the PM team, and you are product-led organization, determining what motivates PM, and what gaps they are feeling, and seeing how PMM can fill this is important. I've found that content creation, finding cool ways to highlight products that are outside the box, allows you to win the hearts and minds of PM quickly. Also, be conscious of how much you listen more tha ...Read More

There is no universally most difficult team. It changes from company to company. Generally, it's the teams that have the most power. In sales-led organizations, it's sales. In Product-led, it's product or eng. In some companies, it's rigid finance functions. To overcome the challenge, relationship building is very important. Connect with that team's leaders or most influential members. Set up 1:1s and understand what their challenges are and find ways you can help them solve those challenges. Sa ...Read More