Tags
CEO, collaboration, influence, journey, servant leadership, vision
I have to admit, I took the bait. When I first saw the title for this article … Product Managers – You Are Not the CEO of Anything … I admittedly got a bit perturbed. As a champion for the Product Management role, I have often used this analogy myself (see So … What Do You Do For A Living? as one example). Obviously, arguing to the contrary means you likely don’t understand the full scope of the responsibilities!
But then again, my reaction is likely exactly what the author intended. And by opening the article to read it further, I was gone … hook, line and sinker! And boy am I glad I pursued it. And to use the third cliche in just this opening section, don’t ever judge a book by it’s cover.
After digging in for myself, this article captures many of the thoughts I have around Product Management specifically … and leadership in general, and can be summarized by a quote I’ve previously shared …
“It’s not the title, or the perceived authority that comes with the role, that defines leadership. You are a leader when you start acting like one.”