Being a people product manager

In product career spanning the past 8 years, I had the unique opportunity to work with a range of managers of different nationalities, age groups, genders, and experience. At Walmart, I have also been part of a highly matrixed organisation, where I reported to more than one manager. As hard as it was to keep them all on the same page, I often benefitted from their diverse view points and had multiple levers to tug at when the going got tough

Each of my managers had a unique style to them - from being very hands on to highly democratic. Some were visionaries who inspired me to see the big picture, others were transformational enabling me to take on audacious projects, while few others coached me to pave my own path. Being an IC on the other end, I often found myself casually evaluating and critiquing their styles; until the day I ended inheriting a fledgling team of PMs myself!

I was proud of becoming a people manager, but no amount of trainings, reading, or judging my own managers prepared me for the journey ahead. Product Managers by nature are high achieving, strongly opinionated, and love creating a splash! It was like managing a team of hustlers out of Ocean's 11. I often found myself relying, not on one, but a mix of styles mentioned above. Though 2 years is not sufficient to be a seasoned people product manager, here are few personal learnings I wanted to share with those who aspire to be one:

1. There is more to people management than tackling day to day HR issues. It involves deep level of coaching on various aspects of product management. Being a strong IC, who went through the motions of launching (and failing to launch) products helped me steer my team more confidently. I showed them how to fry their own fish, freeing up my bandwidth for unblocking them and working on more strategic aspects of the product that were crucial for growth. On more than one occasion, I also found myself playing an IC role when a member of my team was out of action. This not only ensured business continuity, but also helped me win the trust of my PMs for having their backs.
2. Hiring is a crucial job. With a right team, you will be able to create more leverage and value for your area. With the wrong one, you will find yourself compensating for what's lacking. Keeping a high hiring bar was important for me, but not every candidate was a 10/10. I learned to take bets on people and realised that softer attributes like drive, curiosity, and self-awareness trumped minor deficiencies - which I could coach later. Interviewing was a crucial skill I needed to develop to spot both product & personal traits. Giving interviews occasionally helped me be a better interviewer. On the other hand, my meditation practise made me better at identifying the more human elements.
3. Have enough skin in the game and be invested in the development of each individual. A completely laissez faire style will alienate your team and make them soon realize that you only "talk the talk". One of my primary job descriptions was to enable and facilitate my team to churn out great products. But I also created time to assess their strengths, areas of opportunities, and motivations. Having a personal 1:1 connect with each member of my team helped me gain their trust and know their aspirations better. Armed with this knowledge, I was able to match the right people to the right tasks and craft an effective development plan for them.
4. Having tough conversations is necessary and I was not very good at it in the beginning. I wanted to be a "good manager" for my team and often shied away from sharing tough feedback or pushing them to do more. This led to a few challenges - I found myself constantly tying up loose ends, struggling with appraisals, and underutilising the full potential of my team. By keeping the greater good in mind, I learned to be unbiased and share constructive feedback with concrete examples (and tips on how it could be done better). Most importantly, being vulnerable and sharing my own demons, failures, and learnings made me be more authentic and inspirational. This had the added benefit of pushing the envelop on what some of my team members felt they could achieve.
5. Last but not the least, have your team's back at all times and trust them to do the right thing. In the process of making great products, they will sometimes make the wrong choices, ruffle a few feathers, and fail to achieve the high standards expected off them. This is where I found myself naturally stepping in and protecting my team from the backlash. I fought to give them the ammunition and air cover they needed, celebrated their smallest wins, and owned their failures. There were also occasions when my team mates had to take extended time off to deal with personal challenges. In such moments it is easy to panic and think about the impact on business, but I put the well being of my team ahead of everything. No amount of rewards and recognitions could give a more high performing team than one that feels sufficiently empowered.

People management is not easy and sometimes you can feel "lonely at the top". I was open to seeking help and learning from my team. This is where my mentors and managers also helped me the most. I reached out to them for advise and learned by emulating their strengths. Having a strong peer group to share my agonies was also an effective strategy.

Overall, it was a fulfilling journey and I learned a lot about myself in the process. The product-market fit survey asks the customer one very specific question:?"How would you feel if you could no longer use this product?” Lately when I shared my decision to leave Walmart to pursue other opportunities, I received a plethora of good wishes from my team mates. But my most cherished one was that they were going to miss me as a manager :)