What defines a GREAT product manager?

I have been working for more than 20 years in the high-tech sector. In the last 7 years, I have been working as a Product manager in various roles, both inbound and outbound, and in a myriad of sectors, from Mobile to IoT, through DevOps and Cyber.

Lately, many of my contacts asked me what should they invest in, in order to succeed in the Product world. There is no straight foreword or a single definition for a successful product manager. We come in all shapes and sizes, from all avenues of the industry and each of us has its own set of characteristics, soft skills and technical know-how that made us leaders in our professions.

In the coming paragraphs I have tried to outline ten traits, that based on my outlook of my professional life, are the ones I try to invest in the most in order to become the best product manger that I can and bring the best added value that my team deserves.

1. Leadership - Leading as a product manager is one of the most agile and challenging aspects of the role. We need to lead by rallying others to our way of thinking and to adopt our vision (Which is good for someone who likes to hear himself speak as I do ??). We need to be able to keep an open mind to incorporate into our vision, our team members' and our stakeholders' points of view as well. A good product manager leads by listening and convincing.
2. Empathy - A good product manager is the one who can empathize with his customers and stakeholders. Understand their pains and from where they are coming from. We need to be able to disseminate the requirements and requests of our customers in order to dive deep into the meaning behind each statement. A product manager who fails to put himself in his client's or team member's shoes, will not be able to seamlessly provide them with the solution to their request.
3. "Can Do" Attitude - In order to succeed in each of my product roles, I come with an open mind to hear what is asked of me to define and develop. One who cannot maintain an innovative and open mind, will not be able to provide a creative solution to the most difficult and complex product problems. Even when R&D screams at me (Trust me, Product is always to blame ??) that a request is not feasible, I keep in mind that anything is possible, it is only a questions of effort, duration and cost. And this is a business issue, not an issue of feasibility. It is not a question of "Can we do this?" but of "Should we do this?"
4. Team Player - You are part of the team! A key ingredient in the Product pie is collaboration. Be ready to carry the load along the rest of your team members. You should always be available to provide assistance and serviceability to anyone of your team or stakeholders. Whether it is outlining to a developer the business need for a feature he is working on, reviewing the QA's tests in order to make sure that they cover all relevant use cases or assisting your customer re-defining a request in order to get his requirement in while making sure he is not over budget.
5. Prioritization - A product manager is required to hone any skill that can assist him segmenting between the wheat and the chaff (So to speak ??). We carry a big torch of responsibility. We need to understand what features should go into our MVP, first release and so on. A wrong decision prioritizing a customer's need or a UX feature may send our promising product to the abyss.
6. Focal Point - Remember that you are a focal point for any stakeholder involved in the project. Most of the time you are the only interface between those stakeholders. You are tasked with translating a customer's business needs to an R&D technical requirements list. A market research into a full fledged customer journey. You must learn to speak in each stakeholder's vocabulary. You should take the time to learn and respect your contacts. Understand them and their motives in order to provide the best added value your product skills can deliver.
7. Multi-tasker- Product managers are the queens and kings of multitasking. In any given moment of the project, I usually find myself juggling several courses of actions, demands, tasks and discussions. Make sure to find your personal methods to track everything and keep it ordered in your mind (This is heaven for my inner OCD ??) and make sure nothing is lost through the cracks.
8. Out of the box - Always think out of the box. Be creative in your solutions and in the ways you find to rally your team. Learn from other products' experience and knowledge bur make sure to curve your own way of doing thinks. Keep innovating both in your new features and products and in the ways you get things done.
9. Passion - LOVE what you do! In my entire career I have always striven to find what I love in each project I was involved with. Be passionate about the direction you believe the product should take. Rally others around your drive to make the product the best one made.
10. No EGO - An excellent product manager leaves his ego at the door. If you review what I said before, one of the most obvious traits that filters out is patience, humility and cooperation with others. The focus here is the PRODUCT - Not you.

There are many other traits and skills that can push you to be a better product manager. Charisma, Affinity to tech, Creativity, Problem solving and Curiosity are just to name a few.

At the end of the day, your love of the product you are working on, your relationship with your team and your belief in your vision will guide you to be the right product manager for your project.