A leader's journey starts alone.

Leadership needs the courage to push boundaries and challenge norms. It feels great and is fulfilling and, at the same time, isolating.

When driving change, the slow pace of buy-in or lack of immediate support can feel like standing alone. But that solitude is a marker of progress. This is how it should feel at first.

That's when you need patience. You are just creating space for others to join when they are ready. They just need time to process.

Feeling lonely as a leader isn't failure. Every great idea starts with someone bold enough to stand alone until others see the path forward.

Clarity is a PM's superpower. Early in a career, speed feels like the ultimate skill. Later, strategy seems like the key. Over time, it becomes clear - strong communication makes the difference.

Brilliant strategies crumble without understanding. Clear communication creates alignment. Alignment builds trust. A team that trusts your judgement will follow your lead, and leadership confident in your clarity will give you room to excel.

Great PMs don't just build products. They build trust by making the complex simple and the ambiguous clear.

Hesitating to share a weird idea kills creativity. Fear of judgement silences potential brilliance.

Most unconventional ideas won't work. But the rare one that does can change everything. What seems absurd in one moment might solve a problem in another. Creativity thrives on the unexpected and bold ideas are the spark for breakthroughs.

By embracing the bizarre, teams unlock new possibilities. Instead of dismissing “stupid” ideas, explore them. Confidence to share fuels progress and every idea becomes a seed for innovation.

Tell me you got sick without telling me you got sick...

A successful product balances execution and vision. As Melissa Perri highlights, it's not just about delivering but steering in the right direction. Markets shift. Challenges arise. Opportunities emerge. Pivoting with purpose defines lasting success.

A good company strategy should be made up of two parts: the operational framework, or how to keep the day-to-day activities of a company moving; and the strategic framework, or how the company realizes the vision through product and service development in the market.

Bold ideas unlock progress.

When crafting new products or features, it's easy to focus on safe, incremental improvements. These solutions feel achievable and practical but they rarely break new ground.

Adding a bold concept into the mix forces the team to think beyond limitations. Even if the daring idea doesn't make it to launch, it creates a spark. It pushes boundaries, reshapes how problems are viewed and reveals opportunities overlooked in safer designs.

A bold solution isn't just a backup plan. It's a catalyst for better work.

Osaka at night feels alive. The big glowing Running Man sign in Dotonbori lights up the busy streets. Food stalls fill the air with yummy smells.

Good managers know when to step back.

Intervening too often stifles creativity, ownership and morale. Teams thrive when leaders provide clear direction, trust their abilities and give them space to execute. Micromanagement creates bottlenecks, while autonomy pushes innovation and accountability.

The best work happens when leaders empower, not overshadow.

Visited Osaka Castle. The castle has been destroyed and rebuilt multiple times due to wars, lightning strikes and natural disasters. The current structure dates back to 1931.

Quite often you see founders say they want the product off their plate. Sure. But nothing tests it better than the first Head of Product hire, essentially creating a two-headed product leadership for a time. And this can backfire.

The challenge comes from the founders' deep knowledge of the space. They know their customers; they meet them often. They know the weird edge cases and how to get around them. They know why and how certain things were built and why other things never got done.

But as the company grows, the founder gets pulled everywhere, every day. Founders typically deal with a few different things: fundraising, hiring, culture, operations, strategy, customers and board updates. That's enough to give anyone anxiety.

The cracks show up in the work first. That's when the company starts needing product leadership outside the founder's head.

Not to grab the wheel.

The goal is not to turn the company into a corporate machine (even though it might be needed down the road), but the goal is to replicate, per se, the founder's product instincts while making them available to the rest of the company.

When it works, both help the company scale without losing what made it special in the first place.

In Osaka today. Fun fact: Osaka brought the world the sushi train in 1958!

Leaders thrive on connection. Taking time to engage with teams builds trust and fuels collaboration.

The risk lies in misreading commitment. Valuing late nights over outcomes sends the wrong message, tying effectiveness to hours rather than impact.

Great leadership doesn't trade presence for results. It inspires through balance and focus.

One of the smartest things the new CEO did was start an “open door” policy. His version of that was walking around and getting to know people, but also inviting anyone and everyone to stop by his office after 4 p.m. to talk; there was no agenda. He let them know that he would stay as late as necessary if they wanted to chat. Many nights he didn't leave the office until 8 or 9 p.m. David Rohlander, The CEO Code

Japan's mastery of small-space solutions shows in designs like a basket under a cafe chair and an umbrella holder. These simple ideas maximise convenience and keep spaces uncluttered.

A team doesn't always need a dedicated product manager.

In startups, founders often take on this role naturally, using their deep understanding of the market and their vision for the product.

In larger companies, if the team already has a strong handle on strategy, data and market needs, they can absolutely operate without a formal PM. However, someone still needs to take charge of the product function - making prioritisation decisions clear and aligning the team around common goals.

I had a lovely 11km walk (included a nice hill climb) over two hours from the hotel to Fushimi Inari Taisha, one of Japan's most iconic Shinto shrines in Kyoto.

The pathway up Mount Inari is lined with over 10,000 torii gates, each inscribed with the donor's name and the date of their donation.

The shrine itself extends across Mount Inari, with the summit standing at around 233 metres - a great workout!

Scattered throughout the grounds are stone fox statues, which are considered messengers of Inari. Many of these foxes are depicted holding keys in their mouths, symbolising the key to a rice granary.

The fox statues wear bright red scarves as a way to show respect and thanks to the spirit they represent. The red colour is also thought to keep away bad spirits and bring protection.

Visited Kyoto Tower (131 metres tall, completed in 1964, inspired by a candle-like design). While it's undeniably an iconic structure, the observation deck was surprisingly small, with a ceiling so low I could touch it with my hand.

Despite being built to withstand earthquakes and typhoons, the slight movement of the deck was noticeable - which definitely freaked out Em a bit!

Feature prioritisation isn't always about frameworks like ICE (Impact, Confidence, Effort), Kano or MoSCoW.

Sometimes, it's about building momentum - creating buzz, lifting your team's morale, staying ahead of competitors or even strengthening internal relationships.

The challenge is finding the balance between chasing these quick wins and staying true to your long-term vision.

Nijō Castle, built in 1603 as a residence for Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu, is a place best experienced in person. Its cypress-wood architecture and extensive gardens are amazing, far beyond what photos can convey.

I've applied for the Sydney Marathon 2025.

Now that it's a major event, you have to apply and hope for the best to secure an entry. Fingers crossed!