Best of 2021: Mentoring New Product Managers Through Empathy and Understanding

Today, in the How to Succeed in Product Management Podcast, Jeff and Red welcome our panel of experts on product management to talk about mentoring new product managers. They discuss how domain expertise can help new PMs grow in the field, the qualities one must have to understand and build relationships with customers, improving problem solving skills and building frameworks to tackle problems, and the roles senior PMs play in honing younger leaders.   What to Listen For: 00:00 Intro 00:43 Building empathy and understanding for new Product Managers 02:31 Taking ownership and being proactive early on 04:06 Understand your customers and build relationships 06:52 PM’s must be curious and empathetic 08:40 Spend time to learn your product domain 13:39 Multiple variables affect what you end up focusing on as a PM 16:26 PMs often focus on the solution but don’t spend much time understanding the problem 19:01 The most important skill for new PM’s: actively ask questions 23:00 Promising books new PMs should read 26:40 Tools to help communicate with customers and conduct market research 31:27 How do you make problems and their solutions meaningful to the market? 35:40 Find a good mentor to guide you along the way 36:28 Difference between a mentor and a sponsor 38:14 Help coming from a senior product leader 42:42 Creating a psychologically safe space for new PMs 46:54 Challenges transitioning from B2B to B2C role 50:37 Observe patterns and build frameworks to tackle problems 51:35 Be that go-to person for the team 54:18 Are you spending time listening to your customers?