The higher purpose

Recently, I attended the Product Leaders Forum Conference in Bengaluru, that left me awestruck by the extraordinary coordination among the PLF volunteers, the warm hospitality in hosting the guests and speakers, the breadth and depth of the chosen topics, the positive emotions, and laughter created by all speakers, and the ethos of a strong product community.?

What made this event even more special was that my close acquaintances hosted it.

During the conference, I had the privilege of listening to passionate presentations on “Product Challenge” from the participants. The jury members liked the case study I wrote, but I sought more critical feedback from them. I am very thankful to Sandeep Manepalli Gururaj and Arun Raghunathan for giving me this excellent opportunity.

The conference covered a vast range of topics related to product leadership, and some of the key takeaways that I gained from it were:

The New Frontiers of Product Leadership:

·??????Be a custodian of the product, not an owner.

·??????Consider technological trends, customer trends, and geopolitical trends during systems thinking.

·??????Success requires around thirty deep relations.

·??????Effort behind the idea is funded, not the idea itself.

·??????Make a transition from an idea person to an execution person.

·??????Market Experimentation duration varies as industry segment varies.

India at the Forefront of Product Leadership:

·??????Even though Security needs to be shifted left as much on Software Development Life Cycle, the focus should be more on building essential functionality.

·??????Along with Efficiency, Quality and Safety are the top parameters for Product Development.

·??????Way of Employment will change in India. More and more of Gig workers (25%) will fill the gap between consultancies and Permanent Employees.

·??????Constant search for next idea, job etc. will spoil the peace of mind. Clarity and performing for joy, not for need will help in peace of mind.

·??????Digital Rupee will be a game changer in new India.

·??????Microsoft Security Engineering and owasp are great resources for Application Security.

·??????“Be fearless”, “Aatmanirbhar” are key one-word advices to the audience.

·??????Check Indian products before exploring other products.

Transformational Leadership:

·??????Take charge of your state and win the game.

·??????Thriving vs winning is akin to Herd mentality vs bigger purpose

·??????80% of success depends on your attitude.

·??????Next level is to be taken, not to be asked.

·??????Work on yourself every day - Dedicate Time for yourself, on daily basis.

·??????Take charge and win the game.

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Emerging Scope for Product Ownership in India:

·??????Current Era is of Cloud and AI.

·??????Out of Product led growth, Sales led, and Finance led growth, Product led growth is the most sustainable.

·??????Successful Product management is all about Collaboration.

·??????India has the second largest per capita Data usage.

·??????Need to know Why we are building the product? Know your customer very well to understand the purpose of the product.

·??????Fall in love with the problem, not the solution.

·??????Positioning, Pricing, and Differentiation will pave the success of the product. Know well: How are you positioning the product? How are you differentiating the product?

·??????Technical Path-breaking is also important along with understanding customers’ needs.

·??????During the Seed stage, understand how you hit PMF(Product Market Fit).

·??????Conduct Experimentation on customer’s willingness to pay and buy. Try to sell before the product is ready.

·??????Women in leadership have a lot of self-doubt.

·??????“Risk and courage” and “Just do it!” key advices to the audience.

?Building Teams and Overcoming Adversities:

·??????Project Aristotle is Google research on what causes teams to succeed

·??????Factors contributing to the success of a team:

o??Psychological safety

o??Dependability

o??Clarity

o??Impact

·??????Neuroplasticity: Do things on daily basis to reorganize the structure, functions, or connections of the nervous system.

·??????Take tasks, at work, which are more challenging to your current capabilities.

·??????Building a culture of trust requires respect, gratitude, authenticity, and dependability.

·??????Satya Nadella has brought a great Culture change at Microsoft.

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Innovating Business Education & Educating for Innovation:

·??????Anyone can be an Innovation catalyst in the organization.

·??????Hunger for success is more in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities in India.

Innovation:

·??????Need to learn on how to productize a service.

·???????As a leader, step down and demonstrate the skill so that employees follow in your footsteps.

·??????World needs Values and innovation together from India.

·??????As skills, Doing things differently and doing different things, should be inculcated in one person.

·??????Human resources with values and competence will create Intellectual Properties which are Intangible assets.

·??????Follow Mother's leadership and Continue to Thrive.

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To summarize, the conference highlighted the essential qualities of a product leader, such as purpose, storytelling, personalization, being authentic and sharing adversities, and growth.

Overall, the Product Leadership Conference provided valuable insights and learnings that will be useful for anyone looking to improve their product leadership skills.