How to Be a Top 1% PM: 9 Key Traits That Set You Apart

What Separates the Top 1% of Product Managers from the Rest?

As with any other life endeavor, becoming an effective PM doesn’t happen overnight, it takes time. The question is, what do you do with that time? That’s what will explore today.

Having coached and led multiple product managers throughout my career, I can spot an excellent PM in a crowd. They are not hard to pick out if you have spent time sharpening your own PM muscle. You will find they have grit, a bit unconventional, and are rough around the edges, constantly driven by the urge to “just do!”. They possess a high degree of agency.

That said, we will explore 9 key traits I have observed in star PMs, that you can start embodying as well. I have also included self-check questions to help you measure your readiness to adopt these traits.

While the top 10% of PMs excel at a few key areas, the top 1% master most or all of them. Here’s what sets them apart:

1. They Think Big (Really Big)

Think of them as visionaries. They are clear about the future, how usage trends might shift and they align themselves appropriately. The 1% PM rarely let today’s constraints—whether it’s resources, market conditions, or team size—limit their vision and their execution. Some see disruptive opportunities whereas others see roadblocks and craft concrete plans to turn those opportunities into reality. This means they are not “should we” people, they are “can we” personas.

Self Check: Are you thinking about what’s possible in 5 years, or just what’s feasible next quarter?

2. They Communicate with Precision

If you know anything about product management, then you will acknowledge the power of storytelling. Being excellent at crafting and driving narratives is such a critical skill to have. It informs how you influence stakeholders, galvanize teams, appreciate hard-workers, and give feedback to people. Your ability to tell a compelling story in everything you do is non-negotiable. You must know how to make a case that’s impossible to ignore, tapping into logic, emotion, and stakeholder biases to secure resources, headcount, or buy-in.

Self-Check: Do you just care about the numbers but do not investigate the why? Start framing clear narratives as a compelling balance to numerics.

3. They Simplify Ruthlessly

Why spend 100% of the effort to get 100% of the value when you can get 80% of the value with 20% of the effort?

I have discovered that the 1% PM knows how to strip away the fluff and focus on what truly matters, delivering results faster and compounding their impact over time.

Self-Check: What is the simplest most effective version of this feature that delivers 10x value?

4. They Prioritize and Sequence with Mastery

Make no mistake, prioritization is just one part of the puzzle. The ability to sequence effectively is the balancing act required. Yes, you can prioritize but can you balance quick wins with long-term investments, offense (growth) with defense (operations, bug fixes, and technical debt)?

Key insight: Not all projects are created equal. The best PMs know which moves to make now and which to save for later.

5. They have High Intuition and Measure Consciously.

This can be likened to product sense. My opinion of how product sense is built is the act of constant immersion in customer experiences. How often do you think about your craft and see through that lens?

At some point in my career, I began paying closer attention to the user experience on every app I interacted with- what could be better, what I would remove. Then I would leave reviews on the App Store for the product team, and for a while, there was no response. However, one day, I got feedback on one of my reviews. That was all the validation I needed. I doubled down.

What I am saying is that the 1% of PM can usually predict the impact of a project with shocking accuracy, using experience, pattern matching and benchmarks. But they don’t stop there—they measure results post-launch and use those insights to refine future decisions.

Self-Check: Can you estimate the ROI of your next project without asking the engineering team for input?

6. They Execute Like Their Life Depends on It.

When it’s time to ship, the 1% PM does whatever it takes. They recruit, they escalate, they negotiate, drive team rhythm and they even dive into the weeds to get the job done. No task is beneath them if it means delivering results.

Self-Check: Execution isn’t glamorous, but it’s where great PMs separate themselves from the pack. Are you doing this?

7. They Understand Technical Trade-Offs.

You don’t need a computer science degree to be a 1% PM, but you do need to understand the technical complexity of your decisions. They partner with engineers, designers, business and analytics to make smart trade-offs, balancing speed, quality, and impact.

Self-check: Can you considerably explain the technical trade-offs of your next feature without asking an engineer first?

8. They Have High Taste in Design Quality

The 1% PM may not be a designer, but they know great design when they see it. They can articulate what makes a design exceptional and push their team to go from “good enough” to “wow.”

Self-Check: Can you spot the difference between good design and great design—and explain why it matters?

9. They Write Copy That Converts.

Every word matters. The 1% PM knows how to craft concise, compelling copy that drives action. They obsess over button labels, calls-to-action, and navigation text because they understand the power of the right words.

Self-Check: Cut your next piece of copy in half. Does it still get the job done?

In Summary

The truth is, 1% PMs are rare—so rare that you might never meet one. But here is the good news: you do not need to. Rather than searching for the unicorn, focus on becoming a 10% PM who is committed to growing reasonably across these areas.

Which of these skills do you already excel at, and which ones do you need to level up?

I can tell you confidently, the journey from good to great is less about perfection—it’s about progress. The best PMs are the ones who never stop learning, growing, and pushing the boundaries of what’s possible.