How Mentorship Works in the World of Product Management
As a someone with a vested interest in Product Management, I want to know how mentorships are developed, in order to succeed in the role now and into the future.
A very small % of people on this planet have any clue what the hell Product Managers do.
To most, the day-to-day of the role appears to be a black box.
Are they writing specs? Are they speaking with clients? Are they planning our software architecture? Conducting Demos?
The job ping-pongs back and forth with varying responsibilities to the point that it becomes difficult to track what its core value.
Even if you land a product job - getting up to speed can be daunting. It’s far from being as simple as Knowing your product, and its users.
You have to learn how your software development teams operate
You need to know how your marketing team rolls out new information to the marketplace
You need to know how your product is sold, who your competitors are, and what are the alternatives to what you’re software offers
This is all in addition to the most critical function of product - owning the roadmap and deciding the right features to build.
Not only is landing your first product role that can feel like an endless uphill battle. The first 6 months in a product position will feel like completely disoriented chaos.
Worry not, however.
This is normal.
Most Get Lost in their First Rodeo
My first serious product management role came at a company with dozens of products and development teams.
They had been in the game for decades and were synonymous with a certain technology in the industry. They had more moving parts than I could possibly keep count of.
Every day for my first 6 months, I felt like a fraud.
Every meeting I sat in words I had never heard before were thrown around like candy.
Functionality to which I did not have any remote idea what they did was reviewed in depth.
Business practices utterly foreign to me are discussed as if I’d be an idiot not to know.
Each day I’d get home and think I was going to be found out for what I was - a phony.
I thought I was smart - but I couldn't even keep track of what was going on day to day.
I started worrying that I wasn’t cut out for this new product management role I had fought so hard to get.
Fortunately for me - I had a lifeline at that time in my career.
Turns out my first product boss … was a BOSS.
Mentorship in Product Management
Everyone likes the idea of a product management mentor, yet nobody knows where to find one. It’s tough.
The best product managers are busy as hell. They do not have, nor want, to take the time to walk someone through the basics of the role. They’re ready to move on to the next story, the next sprint, the next product. Great Product Managers are highly productive people.
When I reflect on my career, there were a few key people who taught me the most about building great software products. I think of the individuals often whenever I decide how to approach a problem. I modeled myself off of them, took their advice to heart, and kept them as an example in my head of “Product Management Done right”.
The key to finding most of these people?
Simple - I worked for them. I put myself in positions where these skilled operators could use me to execute their grunt work.
I provided value to them as a point of leverage. In exchange, they would answer my questions and teach me why they were making the decisions they did.
It’s why my first product management boss, now a tech executive, opened up to me in a way they would not for anyone else at the company.
My success = their success.
In my first month on the job, I shadowed my boss in every meeting. I would scribble down every question I had. During any opportunity presented, I would get all my questions answered. Our weekly 1:1 resembled 20 questions of my speed running everything I could not answer myself.
I started taking on more work on small, controlled portions of the roadmap that fell under their jurisdiction. I did anything and everything I could to just be useful.
Those small stories turned into epics.
The epics became a suite of features.
Those suites of features became a new product launch.
During every step of my growth when I hit a wall, I’d go to that boss of mine to get their perspective on how I could break through.
It was under the guidance of this individual that I was able to launch a completely successful net new product, utilizing 6 dev teams, in just 6 months. In our 1:1’s, I’d bear my soul about the struggles that came with the task - and they would then give me some of the best tactical advice ever received.
Here’s how I would do it. They would say, and suddenly I was getting a lesson that would earn me hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Why did I get these lessons?
Because I proved myself capable and useful.
My success was this boss’ success, and thus I was worth the time to teach the ropes.
Most people will never get this type of education - because you have to give something to get something.
To Get the Big Rewards, You’ve Got to Invest
The instances where I’ve reaped the largest rewards in my career have come when I myself was fully invested in a goal.
People of talent recognize this.
They tend to be more receptive to such an attitude. In the instance above, my boss could see I was serious about being a high performer. They invested in me as a means of matching the commitment, effort, and studiousness I was putting out there.
This is true in all facets of life. Those who leave it all on the field are rewarded for their efforts. There’s a grand Karma to it all.
It’s true with succeeding in product management, and for landing your first product management role.
You need to do everything in your power to learn how Agile methodologies are implemented.
You need to understand the Software Development Cycle in a pragmatic sense.
You need to research intensely every company you interview with.
You need to add any skill you can to make yourself more attractive for a product management role.
You need focus, clarity, and consistency to achieve great things.
Once fully commit yourself, help will come.
That’s why I created this newsletter. I’m here to teach the details of technical product management you simply can’t find on the internet.
I was lucky and befriended a product manager who guided me on how to break into the role.
You may not have such a person in your network who can help you cross the chasm into product management.
Well, you do now in the form of an anonymous belt who has walked that path and continues to do so.
This entire endeavor is to be the resource I wish I had for those truly invested in changing their careers and changing their lives.
It’s why I created P2P services, where I’ve helped dozens of aspiring product managers before work through how they can best approach their careers.
If you are serious about product - you need to invest in yourself.
When you’ve hit a wall - well then, let me be the one to unblock you as my first boss did for me.
I’ll review your resume and give you the tweaks needed to get those recruiters calling.
I’ll meet on a general consult call, and help you construct the long-term game plan of how you can make moves in your career, step by step.
I’ll even conduct a mock product management interview if reps are why you need to finally land that job.
It’s the investment of today that lays the groundwork for success in the future.
You show me you are serious, and I’ll show you the path to more money, remote work, and the opportunity to build the future in product management.