Care is in the Challenge

Trust grows when care takes the form of action.

Teams don't excel in comfort; they grow through accountability. A challenge, a nudge or a push is a signal of shared commitment. Speaking up shows someone values the team enough to stay invested and engaged.

Without trust, feedback sounds like conflict. With trust, it becomes progress.

The Feedback Fix

Our behaviours shape how others perceive us.

Some things we do, we want that to be part of who we are.

Some other actions remain hidden to us until someone tells us about them.

If you notice something inappropriate, a direct and genuine conversation is the best approach.

Try the Situation-Behaviour-Impact framework. It makes these conversations easier and less awkward.

Agility Without Strategy Is Just Noise

The word "agility" has lost its meaning.

The word itself went on a journey from being cool to becoming a buzzword. Teams seem to avoid using the word "agile" because it's no longer considered cool.

The reason for this is that quite often, agility is used as a way to mimic strategy.

It becomes a way to justify changes in direction - simply because you're agile.

The underlying problem, however, is the lack of strategy driving that movement.

Strategy is like a map. With broad strokes, you can outline your obstacles - the mountains, so to speak - that you need to navigate to reach your destination, your vision.

Interestingly, anything close by might appear foggy. You can't see it clearly but you can see the destination.

Sometimes, as you move forward, you encounter obstacles you didn't foresee, things that were hidden. It could be something small, like a lake. So you pause, check out the lake and consider the best way to handle it.

That's your agility - helping you navigate these small obstacles and unforeseen challenges without losing sight of the destination.

Is Agile dead?

The word might be dead but businesses that succeed combine an explicit strategy with a willingness to adapt. These businesses will move much faster than those relying solely on strategy or agility. You need both to succeed.

Clearing Space with No

Saying no is a leadership skill.

It's not about rejecting ideas, it's about protecting focus. When everything feels important, nothing is. Saying no clears space for what truly matters - what drives impact, not just activity.

Yes, it will sting. People will take it personally. But prioritisation isn't about popularity; it's about progress.

Every “no” to distractions is a “yes” to momentum.

Safe to Ask

Asking for help drives progress.

The strongest teams thrive on trust, communication and self-awareness. Silence in struggle delays outcomes and keeps answers out of reach.

Great leaders create environments where asking for help feels safe. Confident individuals know when to lead, when to listen and when to ask.

Confusion Kills Strategy

A strategy document should guide, not confuse.

The purpose of strategy is to align and direct an organisation toward shared goals. When it's overly complicated, it fails its primary mission. Strategy should be simple, clear and actionable.

As a product manager, your role is to create alignment. Work with your team and stakeholders to ensure clarity. If the strategy you're handed is unclear, don't sit with confusion. Simplify it.

Leading Without a Crowd

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.

Alignment Starts with You

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.

Weird Works Wonders

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.

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.

Push the Limits

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.

Step Back to Lead

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.

Scaling with a Head of Product

Trust between a founder and their first Head of Product defines whether a startup scales or stalls.

Founders often start as the Head of Product, driving vision, roadmaps and hiring. But as a company grows, splitting attention across fundraising, culture, operations and strategy leaves product leadership exposed. Bringing in a Head of Product isn't just inevitable - it's essential. The challenge is doing it without breaking the momentum or diluting the founder's vision.

Alignment is the foundation. A great Head of Product doesn't just execute - they embody and challenge the founder's instincts, building scalable systems around them.

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

When Teams Don’t Need a PM

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.

More Than Just ICE

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.

Shared Slipups

Mistakes teach faster than manuals. But only if they're visible. And shared before they sit quietly and start to build up.

When a leader owns a mistake in front of their team, something powerful happens. The room relaxes. People stop pretending everything is perfect. They stop tiptoeing. It sends a message that trying, failing and learning is part of the job - not a threat to it.

Most teams don't freeze from lack of skill. They freeze from fear. Fear of saying the wrong thing. Fear of trying something new. Fear of being the only one who didn't get it right. But when a leader steps up and says, “Here's what I got wrong, here's what I learned and here's what I'm changing,” that fear starts to fade.

Because the next time something goes sideways, there's no hiding. You've already shown how it's done - how to take ownership, how to bounce back.

But don't overdo it. This isn't about dumping your insecurities on your team or confessing every minor wobble. It's not a therapy session. Oversharing makes people uneasy.

So keep it simple. Share what's useful. Wrap it in action. Frame the mistake as a lesson, not a spiral. Make it clear you're learning faster than before - and pulling the team forward with you.

Seth Godin & Lenny

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Strategy Narrative

Strategy is about inspiring others to take action. A helpful way to craft your strategy narrative is by breaking it into five elements: Reflection, Ambition, Jeopardy, Hope and Solution. This structure helps bring clarity. I learned this approach from Strategy Needs Good Words.

Think Like a Farmer

I can't recall where I found this picture, but it's such an interesting analogy. Leadership is like farming - nurture the right conditions and growth will follow.

That said, sometimes you end up with the wrong crops or weeds mistaken for crops and it's just as important to weed those out.