What do you do if you're a retired product manager looking to continue making an impact in the industry?

Product Management is a very new function in many companies. Seasoned PMs can play a huge role in mentoring PM practitioners to craft their skills and help them scale for the next role. They can also mentor start-ups for MVP building, Product Strategy , GTM strategy etc. The engagements could be pro-bono, more formalised in an advisory role.

Let me tell you, after years of juggling roadmaps, user needs, and cross-functional teams, retirement can be a sweet relief. But for a product management die-hard like me, the urge to keep making an impact never truly fades. The industry keeps evolving, new challenges pop up, and there's a wealth of experience I still have to offer. So, how does a retired PM stay relevant and keep contributing? Here are a few avenues I'm exploring: Mentorship and Coaching: There's a new generation of PMs out there, brimming with potential. By sharing my experience, the war stories, the successes and failures, I can help them navigate the complexities of the role and hone their skills.

Se eu fosse uma product manager aposentada, certamente eu iria investir na carreira de mentoria. Imagina você poder contribuir para o crescimento de centenas, sen?o milhares, de profissionais na área de gest?o de produtos, tendo toda a bagagem profissional que você tem? Também iria fazer pesquisas e escrever livros sobre a área de atua??o, mostrando minha autoridade no assunto.

Let's face it, product management is in my blood. After years of bringing ideas to life and shaping successful products, retirement wasn't quite the end for this product warrior. Here's what I'm doing to stay involved and keep contributing to the product world: Mentorship Magic: There's a wealth of knowledge floating around in my head, and I'm eager to share it! Mentoring young PMs is incredibly rewarding. Guiding them through the trenches, helping them navigate roadblocks, and celebrating their successes brings immense satisfaction. Advisory Board Bonanza: Startups and established companies alike can benefit from a seasoned perspective.

Use your experience to guide other people in consulting work! Sometimes even the most incredible Product Managers need a view from the outside. You can be this view! And, a plus: you can see lots of different projects and people!

Consulting offers retired product managers a flexible way to stay professionally active. It enables you to apply your skills to diverse projects without the commitment of a full-time role. As a consultant, you can assist companies in refining product development processes, adopting best practices, or addressing specific challenges. This flexibility provides an ideal balance for those seeking ongoing engagement without the constraints of a permanent position.

Transitioning into consulting offers a natural progression to leverage your expertise, experience, and network to continue making a significant impact in the industry. Consulting in the field of product management can be highly rewarding, both professionally and personally, as it allows you to apply your knowledge to help other companies solve complex challenges, improve processes, and drive innovation. One of the key benefits of consulting is the opportunity to work with a diverse range of clients across various industries. Whether it's tech startups, established corporations, or even non-profit organizations, each client brings unique challenges and opportunities. This variety keeps the work dynamic and allows you to continually learn.

Sharing your expertise through writing and blogging is a powerful way to contribute to the product management field. By crafting content about your experiences, insights, and future predictions, you can influence a broad audience. Whether it's through a personal blog, industry publications, or social media, your written contributions can inspire and educate both current and aspiring product managers.

By establishing a blog or contributing to industry publications, you can carve out a niche for yourself as a thought leader in product management. Whether it's exploring emerging technologies, dissecting successful product launches, or discussing the latest industry trends, writing allows you to showcase your expertise and contribute valuable perspectives to the conversation. Moreover, writing offers the opportunity to connect with a global audience of like-minded professionals, sparking conversations, exchanging ideas, and building meaningful relationships within the product management community. Whether you're sharing practical tips for overcoming common challenges or reflecting on lessons learned throughout your career,

Retired product managers should leverage expertise to mentor and advise aspiring product managers. Just as former Google product manager Ken Norton continues to influence the industry through mentorship and writing. They can contribute to industry events, speak at conferences, and write articles to share insights and contribute to the product management community.

You could start a blog, podcast, or YouTube channel where you share your insights about product management. This would help others in the industry & establish you as a thought leader. -Can Invest/Advise in potential startups - Can provide Consultations to Product management beginners, Institutions and industry people. - Form a Seminars and webinars with other subject mater experts and build community to gain real time market trends and challenges and gain diversify product management learnings.

In case you would still want to continue your career as PM, get onto Public Speaking. This will keep you engaged into Product Management Field. With this, you may also feel as though you were working on a project you were truly passionate about as you are still engaging conversations in the Product Management function. Apart from this, there is also a good chance that you get some consulting work while doing Public speaking about Product Management.

Transitioning from product leader to public speaker offers a unique opportunity to share invaluable insights and experiences gained over a successful career. By engaging audiences with compelling narratives and practical wisdom, retired product leaders can inspire the next generation of innovators, empower aspiring product managers with actionable strategies, and contribute to the broader discourse on product management. Through impactful storytelling and thought leadership, they can shape the future of the industry, leaving a lasting legacy of knowledge and inspiration.

Public speaking after a career as a product manager offers a platform to share insights, inspire others, and contribute to industry conversations. By speaking at conferences, workshops, and webinars, you can leverage your expertise to educate, motivate, and connect with professionals in the field. Public speaking allows you to showcase your knowledge, build your personal brand, and expand your network while making a meaningful impact on the next generation of product managers. It's a dynamic way to continue influencing the industry and leaving a lasting impression beyond your corporate role.

: A product manager must also be a great communicator. Not only do they communicate the vision and objectives of the product to the team to keep everyone working in the same direction, they communicate with senior leadership and other stakeholders about the process, objectives, and end goals. They also need to be good storytellers and cast the vision of the product in order to get buy-in and backing.

O trabalho voluntário seria uma ótima maneira de me manter ativa no mercado de trabalho, exercitar meu cérebro, melhorar minha autoestima, e ainda contribuir para projetos incríveis.

Volunteering after retiring as a product manager allows one person to give back to the community while utilising my skills for social good. Whether it's mentoring aspiring product managers, advising startups, or supporting non-profit organizations, volunteering enables me to make a positive impact beyond the corporate realm. By sharing the knowledge, experience, and resources, one can help others succeed while fostering innovation and growth in various sectors. Volunteering is not only fulfilling personally but also a way to leave a lasting legacy by contributing to the development of future leaders and the betterment of society.

Research Companies want to spend time, money, and energy on building something that will bring value to their customers. Part of a product manager's job is to find out what customers actually need, and how their product team can create something new that fills that gap. During this phase, a product manager conducts market research to look at trends in their industry to identify customer interests and needs. They also conduct focus groups of potential customers to learn more about their pain points, and may go out into the community to talk to individuals about what products they would like and which features they want to see. At this stage, the product team may do some early prototyping and testing to get more feedback on their design.

As a retired PM, one would have a vast experience in this field. With this, best would be to get on a Board Position of a company and provide valuable insights/inputs from your past experience where ever suitable in the current scenario. Get into Problem solving and also bring in some new business to the Company using your corporate contacts. Do not get into common PM work, for which the organization would already have well experienced PMs to work