The question lands before you’re ready.

Maybe it’s the CEO, mid-presentation, asking why the roadmap looks the way it does. Maybe it’s a commercial director, arms folded, challenging a call you made three weeks ago. Maybe it’s someone in the room who’s decided today is the day they test you.

And your brain does one of two things. It goes completely blank. Or it floods, every thread, every caveat, every counterargument arriving at once, all of it competing for the exit.

You know you have the answer somewhere. But the pressure to find it right now, to respond without missing a beat, feels enormous. And anything less than instant feels like evidence. Evidence that you might not be quite executive material after all.

Here’s the assumption most people are carrying in that room: the best leaders always have a sharp, fast answer.

They don’t.

What they have is a system for staying composed when conditions aren’t perfect. That’s a completely different thing, and it’s learnable.

Some of us need a breath before we answer. Not because we don’t know, but because we’re actually thinking. Running the threads, checking the edges, making sure what we say is worth saying. That’s not a flaw in the way you’re wired. For a lot of people reading this, it’s probably your greatest asset. It just doesn’t always feel that way when thirty people are staring at you.

The leaders who look calmest under pressure aren’t faster. They’re better prepared for the moments when it gets messy.

Here’s a three-part toolkit that works.

Move one: buy time without looking uncertain

There are phrases that create space without signalling panic. They don’t sound like stalling. They sound like someone who doesn’t rush to fill silence, which, in a room full of people who do, is quietly powerful.

Try: “That’s worth a considered answer, give me a second.” Or: “Good question. I want to make sure I’m answering the right thing. Are you asking about X, or Y?”

Both do the same job. They slow the pace, signal that you’re taking the question seriously, and give your brain the room it actually needs.

Move two: anchor to what you do know

You won’t always have the complete answer in the moment. That’s not a problem, unless you pretend otherwise.

Lead with what you’re confident about. Name what you’ll come back on.

“What I can tell you right now is X. I want to check the details on Y before I give you a firm answer on that part.”

That’s not a gap in your credibility. That is your credibility. It’s far stronger than bluffing your way through, and far stronger than going quiet and hoping no one notices.

Move three: reframe and redirect

Sometimes the question being asked isn’t actually the right question. And if that’s true, the most powerful thing you can do is say so.

“To really answer that, I think we need to look at the question slightly differently...”

Done well, this isn’t evasion. It’s strategic thinking made visible. You’re not dodging, you’re lifting the conversation to where it actually needs to be. That’s not a defensive move. That’s leadership.

What this looks like in practice

We worked with a Head of Product who would either freeze up or over-explain when put on the spot. Pressure sent him in one of two directions: shut down completely, or speed up and say too much. Neither served him.

Once he had two or three holding phrases that felt natural in his voice, not borrowed, not performative, just his, everything shifted. He started buying time with intention. He stopped bluffing and started anchoring. And the room started reading him differently. Not as someone scrambling to keep up, but as someone calm, considered, and worth listening to.

Same thinking. Completely different system.

Your one thing to do before the next meeting

Write down two or three holding phrases that actually sound like you. Then say them out loud, not in your head, out loud. Your brain needs to hear them in your own voice before it can reach for them under pressure.

When the moment comes, you won’t have to think. The words will already be there.

“Won’t people see through it? Won’t it look like I’m stalling?”

Here’s the honest answer: buying time with intention reads as composure. Blurting a half-formed answer because you felt the pressure to fill the silence reads as reactive. The pause isn’t the problem. The pause is the point. It tells the room you take the question seriously. That you don’t just say the first thing that comes to mind.

That’s not stalling. That’s judgment.

You don’t need to have every answer instantly. You need a system that keeps you in the game while you find them.

Buy time with intention. Anchor to what you know. Reframe if the question needs it.

Three moves. That’s it.

Find out where your communication and influence can be strengthened Take the Signal Drift assessment.

If you think differently, you’ll know that loop. The same wiring that lets us go deep is the wiring that lets the rest of the day drift past unnoticed. It’s not a flaw to be fixed. It’s the trade-off of a brain that does the good stuff most others can’t.

Most productivity advice was built for a brain that isn’t yours

Inbox zero. Process every message. Triage in batches. All of it assumes attention you can switch on and off like a light. And it creates a need for a system to remember actions and track everything your messages drove you to do.

For a neurodiverse leader like me, every “quick check” of Slack or email is a tax on focus and a risk of getting distracted. So we either pay the tax all day and burn out, or we skip it and miss what matters. Both options end the same way: we look inconsistent to people who can’t see how our brain actually works.

I’d been trying to fix the wrong problem. I didn’t need more discipline. I needed a tool to help that respected how my attention actually behaves. I needed the equivalent of spellcheck for my spelling difficulties.

So I built one

Signal Inbox is a small Claude Co-work plugin I made for myself. It saves me from scanning three inboxes. It scans, then hands me one file.

It reads my meeting notes. It reads Gmail. It reads Slack. It writes a markdown brief: what’s happened, what needs me, and what can wait. I open it in Obsidian first thing in the morning, and the day already has a shape. (Or send me the brief in Slack)

Three things changed once I started using it daily.

The 2 am wake-ups stopped. Nothing important is sitting unseen, so my brain stops auditing the day at midnight.

I do the first suggested task immediately. There’s a small kick of momentum from ticking something off before the inbox-tab-switching starts, and that kick now sets the tone for the morning.

I stopped hunting through Slack, Gmail, and Granola for that thing I half-remembered from Tuesday. Now I just ask Claude.

/brief --focus "the pricing change" --deliver slack --since "4 hours ago"

It pulls from notes, mail, and Slack at once and pings me with the answer. The point isn’t the search. The point is, I never have to break focus to find it. I delegate this to them every single day.

“I haven’t got time to set up another tool”

Fair. Most of us have been burned by productivity systems that demand more energy than they give back.

This one is different in one specific way. It’s built on the assumption that your attention is a finite resource to be protected, not a faulty resource to be fixed. You don’t change how you work. You move the scanning to the agent and keep the deep thinking for yourself.

It is a Plugin for Claude Cowork or Claude Code. So you will need Claude to use it. This makes the setup point-and-click, which takes about 2 minutes. After that, it stays out of your way, and you get your morning back.

How to install it

You’ll be installing the Signal Inbox plugin in Claude Co-work and connecting Gmail, Slack, and optionally Granola for meeting notes.

Install via Cowork (recommended)

This route makes future updates one click.

1. In the desktop Claude app, click “Cowork”.

2. From the left-hand menu, click “Customize”.

3. Click the “+” next to “Personal plugins”. Hover over “Create plugin”, then click “Add Marketplace”.

4. Paste in the GitHub URL: https://github.com/mrdavemartin/Confidence-In-Free and click Sync.

5. The marketplace browser opens, filtered to “Anthropic & Partners”. Click “Personal” instead. You’ll see the Confidence In marketplace.

6. Click into it, find “Signal Inbox”, and click Add.

7. Choose auto-sync if you want updates handled for you, or leave it manual.

The video below shows the steps in Claude Cowork.

Install from a zip

This option makes it more difficult to get updates, so I recommend the option above.

1. Download the latest version: https://github.com/mrdavemartin/signal-inbox/archive/refs/heads/main.zip

2. In Cowork, click the “+” next to “Personal plugins”. Hover over “Create plugin”, then click “Upload Plugin”.

3. Drag and drop the zip and click upload.

Install via Claude Code

/plugin marketplace add mrdavemartin/Confidence-In-Free
/plugin install signal-inbox@confidence-in-free

Connect the inboxes

Signal Inbox Plugin needs the Claude Gmail and Slack connectors. Granola is optional, but worth it if you take meeting notes there. Maybe if people want it, I will add support for different meeting note tools.

In Cowork, go to Customize, click Connectors, then the “+” to browse and install Gmail, Slack, and (optionally) Granola. Each one will ask for authorisation.

Get your first brief

So you have installed the Plugin, congratulations. Now it is time to check it works and get your first briefing.

1. In Cowork, click New Task.

2. Click “Work in a project” and choose a folder.

3. Type /brief.

By default, it gives the report inline, looks back 24 hours, and writes in a neutral voice. If you would prefer it writes to a file, simply add a “delivery” option.

/brief --delivery file

Open the file. That’s your day.

Make it sound like you

The default voice is fine. Yours is better. To set the tone for the brief and for any suggested replies, start a Cowork session and type:

/signal-inbox:setup

Five short questions, then Claude saves your voice to a voice.md file. From then on, every brief reads how you’d write.

When something’s off

Type /signal-inbox:doctor in Cowork. It checks the connectors and confirms your voice profile is loaded. That’s almost always all that can go wrong.

Advanced options

There is a set of options that gives you more control. To see the latest advanced options, go to Cowork and type:

/brief --help

I want it to run every morning

Once you trust the brief, automate it.

1. In Cowork, click “Scheduled” in the left-hand menu.

2. Click “New Task”.

3. Name it (e.g. “Daily briefing”) and add a one-line summary.

4. Click “Work in a project” and choose your folder.

5. Pick the model. I use Opus.

6. Choose how often it runs.

7. Click Save.

Now the brief is waiting for you before you start the day.

The point

This isn’t really about a plugin. It’s about choosing not to bend your brain to fit a system that wasn’t built for it. The way you think is the reason you’re where you are. Anything that protects that thinking is worth ten minutes to set up.

If you try it, tell me how it goes. Drop a comment, or send me a message. If you’ve got an idea for how to make it better, I want to hear it. If I get time, I will add it.

Find out if you suffer from Signal Drift, and learn about how tools like this and others can help you. Take the Signal Drift assessment.

You’ve been there. The data was solid. The argument was airtight. You’d prepared for every question.

And the room still didn’t move.

No one pushed back. No one said you were wrong. They just, somehow, didn’t buy it. The decision went a different way, or got delayed, or quietly died. And you left wondering what on earth happened.

Here’s what happened: logic got you heard, but it didn’t get you followed.

The belief most neurodiverse leaders carry

There’s an assumption baked into how many neurodiverse tech leaders communicate. It goes something like this: if the reasoning is sound, people will agree.

It’s a reasonable assumption. It’s also wrong.

In exec rooms, decisions aren’t made on logic alone. They’re shaped by emotional resonance, status, identity, and perceived risk. People back ideas that feel safe, protect their credibility, and align with how they want to be seen. The best argument in the room doesn’t automatically win. The most emotionally intelligent one often does.

Most neurodiverse leaders have been told to suppress emotion at work. Keep it professional. Stay rational. But emotion isn’t the problem. Ignoring the emotions in the room is.

What changed for one product leader

A Head of Product was consistently losing buy-in. Not because his ideas were weak, but because his preparation was flawless in the wrong direction.

Every presentation was thorough. Every risk is documented. Every trade-off is analysed. And every time, the CEO drifted towards the commercial director’s simpler, sketchier view of the roadmap.

The shift came when he stopped asking “how do I explain this better?” and started asking “what does each person in this room need to feel in order to say yes?” The keyword here is “feel”.

The CEO feared being exposed to the board on delivery risk. The commercial director wanted to protect his revenue targets. The CTO wanted to avoid another re-platforming conversation.

He reframed the same proposal in light of those concerns. Same idea. Different emotional frame. It was approved in one meeting.

One question that changes everything

Before your next high-stakes conversation, ask yourself two things:

1. What does this person fear losing?

2. What do they want to be seen as?

Frame your message around the answers. Lead with what matters to them. Let the logic and data become the supporting evidence, not the headline.

This isn’t about changing your idea. It’s about translating it into the language the room is already listening to.

“But I don’t want to manipulate people.”

This is the most common objection, and it’s worth taking seriously.

There’s a real difference between manipulation and empathetic influence. Manipulation means deceiving someone into a decision that isn’t in their interest. Empathetic influence means understanding what someone cares about so your message actually connects.

You’re not hiding the truth. You’re framing it in a way that makes it easier for people to say yes to something genuinely good.

That’s not soft. That’s influence. And it’s a learnable skill, not a personality trait you either have or don’t.

The shift worth making

Logic is not the enemy. You still need clear thinking, sound analysis, and well-structured arguments. But logic alone is like having a great product with no marketing. It deserves to be bought, but that doesn’t mean it will be.

The leaders who move rooms consistently are the ones who combine sharp thinking with emotional awareness. They understand what the room needs to feel in order to follow them.

That’s the gap between being right and being influential. And it’s closer than you think.

If you want a practical method for making your thinking land as an influence, the free CALM Leadership Masterclass is designed to help you.

If you’ve heard that feedback and walked away feeling confused, a little stung, and completely unsure what to do next, you’re not alone. And you’re not the problem.

The feedback is broken

Most feedback tells you something useful. “Your slides were too dense.” “You lost the room when you got into the detail.” That’s feedback you can act on. But “be more strategic” doesn't give you anything. It sounds important, it carries weight, and it lands like a verdict, but it’s not a development plan. It’s a signal that the person giving it couldn’t articulate what they actually wanted from you.

That doesn’t make the feedback harmless. It just means the burden of decoding it has been quietly handed to you.

And that’s where things get unfair.

What’s Really Being Said

Here’s what “be more strategic” almost always means, translated:

Not “think differently.” Not “have bigger ideas.” It means: I couldn’t follow your thinking quickly enough to trust it.

That’s a framing problem, not a strategy problem.

Neurodiverse leaders hear this feedback more than most. Often after a meeting where our analysis was sound, our preparation thorough, and our recommendation genuinely right. But the framing didn’t land. The room got lost in the detail. The decision got deferred.

The thinking was there. The translation wasn’t.

The Leader Who Cracked It

A product director we worked with, let’s call her Priya, had received this feedback multiple times. She was given it while in the same role, but from two different managers, with the same verdict: not strategic enough.

She was one of the most rigorous thinkers in her organisation. She could hold more variables in her head than anyone in the room. She was almost always right.

But in senior meetings, she led with her workings. She showed the analysis before the answer. She walked people through every consideration before landing on a recommendation. To her, that was thoroughness; to the room, it felt like uncertainty.

One shift changed everything. She started leading with the decision, not the journey. She’d open with: “I’m recommending we do X. Here’s the trade-off you need to know, and here’s what I need from you today.” The detail was still there, ready if challenged. But the room got what it needed first.

Within six months, the feedback had positively flipped. Same thinker. Different framing.

The Practical Shift

Stop presenting information. Start presenting choices.

Every update, every meeting, every slide deck, ask yourself: what decision am I making easier for this room?

If you can’t answer that, you’re not ready to present yet.

Frame it like this: “We have two options. Option A gets us to market faster but carries this risk. Option B is safer but slower. I’m recommending A, and here’s why.” That’s strategic communication. Not because it sounds more executive, but because it reduces the cognitive load on those making the decision.

The Objection Worth Naming

You might be thinking: Why should I have to change? My thinking is solid. The logic holds. Why is it on me to simplify something that genuinely is complex?

That’s a fair question. And the honest answer is: being right and being understood are two different skills. Both matter. But only one of them gets you promoted.

The goal isn’t to dumb down your thinking. It’s to make it legible without losing the depth. That’s not a compromise on your intelligence. It’s the most advanced communication skill there is. It is far harder to say less and be clearly concise.

What to Take Away

“Be more strategic” is a symptom, not a diagnosis. It usually means your thinking isn’t translating into the room fast enough for people to trust it.

The gap isn’t in your strategy. It’s between how you think and how you’re being received. And that gap is completely closable.

You don’t need to think differently. You need a system for translating what’s already in your head into language that moves rooms, earns buy-in, and builds the kind of influence that sticks.

Ready to Build That System?

The CALM Masterclass is built for leaders who think deeply and want their ideas to land with the authority they deserve. If you’re ready to turn your thinking into influence, without performing a version of yourself that isn’t real, this is where that starts.

The meeting is over, and you’re back at your desk. You make a coffee, sit down, and stare at the wall for a moment.

And then it happens.

The perfect response arrives. Fully formed and effortlessly clear. The sharp reframe you could have offered when the CEO raised that concern. The question that would have shifted the whole direction of the conversation. The way to land the idea that somehow got tangled up in the detail and lost in the noise.

It’s obvious now. Completely, frustratingly obvious.

But it’s two hours too late, and the decision has already been made.

It’s not a confidence problem

If this sounds all too familiar, here’s the first thing to know: this is not a confidence problem.

It’s not nerves. It’s not a sign you’re not cut out for high-stakes rooms. It’s not something that will magically fix itself if you just believe in yourself a bit more.

It’s a processing problem. If you’re the kind of leader who thinks in patterns, who connects ideas across different contexts, who needs a moment to organise your thoughts before you speak, it’s almost inevitable. It’s not a flaw. It’s just how your mind works. The difference is whether you have a system that works with it.

What’s actually happening in the room

So, let’s see what’s actually happening inside that meeting room.

You walk in with your subject knowledge fully loaded. You know this topic better than anyone. But without a communication design, you’re asking your brain to do too many things at once. Process what’s being said, track the shifting dynamics in the room, manage how you’re coming across, and simultaneously decide what to say, how to say it, and in what order.

That’s a lot to hold. It’s called cognitive overload, and under that kind of pressure, the thinking that would genuinely impress the room stays locked inside, while a less considered version of you fills the silence.

No wonder the best answer arrives two hours later.

The three things no one teaches you to decide beforehand

The meeting replay almost always happens because three things weren’t decided before you walked in, and for many of us, this is the part no one ever explicitly teaches.

1. What the room needs to feel, not just know. Safe. Aligned. Confident in the direction. When our brains are busy tracking every reaction and managing every input in real time, it helps to have already answered this question before you’re in it. What emotional state does the room need to be in to say yes, and what’s your part in creating that?

2. The one thing you need them to leave believing. Not five things. Not ten. One. Everything else is context, colour, supporting evidence. If you can’t name that one thing before you walk in, it becomes very hard to land it once you’re in the room and the conversation starts pulling in different directions.

3. How will you stay grounded if you get challenged? Do not reconstruct the whole argument under pressure; just know your anchor. That one clear belief you came in with. When things get messy or someone pushes back hard, you don’t need to have every answer. You just need to find your way back to that.

When the preparation changed, everything changed

I remember coaching a VP of Engineering who had this experience after every steering committee meeting. He’s a brilliant thinker with deep expertise. But in the room, he came across as muddled, over-detailed, and reactive. At his desk afterwards, replaying the meeting, he was completely clear on exactly what he should have said and exactly how he should have said it.

The gap wasn’t intelligence. It was preparation of the wrong kind.

Once he started designing his communication before going in, not just his content, everything changed. The replay stopped. Not because he got faster on his feet. Because he got clearer before he walked through the door. The thinking was always there. He just stopped leaving its translation to chance.

One shift to make before your next meeting

So here’s the one shift to make before your next high-stakes meeting.

Write down one sentence: “The one thing I need this room to leave believing is...”

Complete it. Mean it. Then build everything else back from it. The data, the context, the caveats, all of it becomes supporting evidence for that one sentence. Lead with it, return to it when you get challenged and let it be the thing that stays in the room long after you’ve left.

This isn’t scripting. It’s anchoring.

And if part of you is thinking, “but I need to respond to what actually comes up, I can’t script everything,” I hear that.

You’re right. And this isn’t scripting. It’s anchoring. When the conversation goes off track, when someone challenges you, or the room shifts direction, you don’t need to rebuild from scratch. You just need to know what you’re trying to get back to. That’s the difference between feeling lost in a meeting and feeling grounded in one. Between the version of you in the room, and the version of you two hours later who had all the answers.

The meeting replay isn’t a confidence problem. It’s a preparation problem. The thinking is already there. What’s missing is the structure to get it out under pressure. One sentence before you walk in changes more than you’d expect.

If you want a practical method for turning your thinking into influence before, during, and after high-stakes conversations, the free CALM Leadership Masterclass is designed for exactly this.

It’s not luck. And it’s not charisma.
It’s how they package their choices.

Most people bring chaos. The best bring clarity.

If you pause and reflect, most of us have been taught the wrong formula for influence.

We think:
Influence = long meetings + persuasive storytelling + endless debate.

But in reality?
Influence = making decisions feel easy.

If you ignore upward influence, here’s what happens:

• Decisions stall.

• Pivots happen too late.

• Teams turn into feature factories.

The truth about influence

Influence isn’t showmanship. It’s framing choices that enable your executives to say yes, quickly and confidently.

You’re not trying to “sell” your idea. You’re making it safe to approve.

Executives don’t want more data. They want clarity and consequence.
They want to know:

• What outcome are we buying?

• What’s the risk if we don’t act?

• How does this align with the company’s goals or current pressure (ROI, runway, or retention)?

Right now, capital is tight. Everyone’s scanning for return. And with AI shrinking build times, the new bottleneck isn’t delivery, it’s decision quality.

Leaders who can guide decisions clearly, quickly, and confidently become indispensable.

A mini case study: Influence without the drama

The Situation:
Emma, Head of Product at a SaaS scale-up, felt invisible. Her ideas rarely landed. Exec meetings dragged on. By the time decisions were made, the team had already burned weeks, and morale was tanking.

She started questioning if she even belonged in the role.

The Shift:
Emma stopped pitching features. Instead, she packaged choices around outcomes.

She went into her next exec meeting with:

• A clear goal: Reduce churn by 10%.

• Three paths to get there, each with ROI and risk.

• One strong recommendation.

• A binary decision: yes/no + resources.

The Result:
The CEO made a call in minutes. The team moved fast. Churn dropped 8% that quarter. And more importantly, her confidence (and the team’s) skyrocketed.

No charm required. Just clarity.

The 3-step habit of quiet influence

1. Lead with outcomes, not effort.
   Execs don’t buy story points, they buy impact.

2. Frame three options, one recommendation.
   Choice = autonomy.
   Recommendation = leadership.

3. Ask for a binary decision + resource.
   No “let’s revisit next sprint.”
   No ambiguity. Just momentum.

You’re not dictating. You’re creating guardrails.
They set the runway. You land the plane.

The mindset shift: De-risk, don’t dominate

When the stakes are high, break big bets into smaller parts. Propose a small slice, deliver it, review it, and then expand. You’re not just making the decision easy, you’re making it safe.

Options = freedom. Guardrails = safety.

The ripple effect

When you lead with empathy, lower the threat level, and package decisions clearly, you get:

• Faster approvals.

• Fewer reversals.

• A calmer, more confident team.

That’s what real influence looks like, not loud, not political, but quietly powerful.

PS: If you’re ready to build that kind of influence, the kind that earns trust without drama, check out The Confidence In You program. It’s designed to help you move from managing features to leading strategy.

Let’s not sugarcoat it: product leadership in tech has never been more demanding.

Over the last six years, I have held six fractional CPO positions and helped over 1,000 product leaders. From what I can see, the role has become broader, the pressure higher, and the support smaller. Not the ideal scenario.

Even the most capable leaders tell me they feel like they’re constantly juggling chaos. They see shifting priorities, emotionally stoked stakeholder demands, tired teams struggling, and a gnawing sense that whatever they’re doing still isn’t quite enough.

If any of this sounds familiar, then worry not, you’re not alone. It’s not a personal failing.

Let’s step back and examine what is happening here. The environment and expectations have changed. The importance of purposeful leadership has grown.

So, what’s Changed

Over the last decade, I have witnessed six massive shifts that have reshaped the workplace, mainly for the better. When I started my career (in the 90s), the common culture inside companies was very different. Typically, the mindset was command and control. There was more focus on punctuality and hours worked than meaningful outcomes created. To put it bluntly, there was all management, not leadership.

Each of the following six changes has placed greater demands on leaders to lead, rather than manage. Unfortunately, many product leaders have not been given the support to master leadership. Very few product leaders have been taught how to lead; it is just expected to be learned through osmosis. Leading, not managing, is critical in fast-paced, high-stakes tech environments.

Leaders I coach tell me that being aware of the changes and refocusing their efforts has been a game-changer. They feel less stress and experience fewer stakeholder demands, and their team’s performance has improved. I hope this can help you too.

1. Remote & Distributed Teams

Global teams are now the norm. It is unusual to find a business where all the talent is in one city. Remote or distributed work is expected, which stretches leadership capabilities.

Building stakeholder and team trust requires more effort with less in-person communication. Ad hoc hallway conversations rarely occur. The over-reliance on Slack or MS Teams makes it very difficult to foster empathy between individuals.

Leaders are accountable for creating congruence or alignment across teams and stakeholders. It is your job to ensure people are paddling in the same direction. They must overcommunicate in remote environments because interactions are less intense and distractions are at their highest. For some leaders, it can be tempting to embrace the asynchronous communication methods and avoid repetitive conversations or meetings. It can feel like a productivity gain for the leader, but the quality of communication plummets; remember, communication is a two-way process. This leads to sharing only key information in a Notion or Google Doc, placing the responsibility on staff to have read and understood it. While writing things down to share is vital, it is not a replacement for discussing a message and being able to react in real time to respond and provide feedback.

Influence skills rely on communication and empathy. Roughly 80% of communication is nonverbal; a short Slack message does not convey the rolling of eyes, a deep breath, or a look of worry. Even video calls lose a significant level of non-verbal communication, but not as much as text-only. Leaders must put extra effort into influencing when in remote or distributed environments.

2. Demand for Emotional Intelligence & Psychological Safety

It might sound crazy, but caring more about the people in a business was not as popular just 15 years ago as it rightly is now. The 2012 Google Aristotle Project played a significant role in creating awareness among tech organisations of the importance of psychological safety. Leaders must make deliberate decisions to improve staff wellbeing and demonstrate EQ, not just IQ.

This is far more involved than simply managing outputs and measuring performance. Leaders must demonstrate cognitive empathy and invest time in understanding their staff’s emotions and needs. This doubles the value of receiving feedback and forces more attention when giving feedback.

Leaders I have worked with often shared that they feel like walking a tightrope when balancing performance and well-being. It should not be this way. Clear feedback can be given while also being considerate. The difficult conversations must still take place; don’t find excuses to avoid them.

3. Increased Uncertainty

Global political and economic changes, technological advancements (including AI), as well as the long-term effects of COVID-19, have increased the volume of layoffs, AI disruption, and economic instability.

This has created increased pressure at all levels; senior stakeholders want answers faster. Teams crave clarity and predictability. As a product leader, all parties have a stake in your work.

This makes it more critical than ever to share a clear product vision and strategy, thereby creating certainty in the area you can control. Sure, the roadmap might flex, but the vision needs to stay in focus. Your ability to align people and exploit the power of storytelling is vital. Many leaders I have interviewed for this newsletter have discussed the need to influence without formal authority. You can deliberately improve the situation and provide some level of stability in this wibbly wobbly world.

4. Inclusive, Non-Hierarchical Leadership

Over the last decade, the organisation chart and team structure have been completely turned on their heads. Many companies have recognised the enormous potential in diverse, cross-functional teams with shared power.

As a leader, this can feel harder, but it really is easier. Authority is earned, not given, which always leads to a better outcome. Success depends on the facilitation of the wonderful people in your organisation, not the command of them.

Your superpower is learning to distinguish between perspective and perception, enabling you to make faster and better decisions. Empathising with individuals' situations and managing their perception not only improves motivation but also allows you to influence teams positively.

5. Pressure to Prove Value

The pressure to prove value has gone full circle over time. We find ourselves in a place where return on investment (ROI) and profit are the focus of growth. It will change in time, and revenue or MAUs will become the most essential currency again, but right now it’s cold, hard cash.

The focus on profit can make it more difficult for product leaders to justify investment. Long-term strategic bets are under more scrutiny and require more convincing of those who manage the purse strings, typically the board of directors. This needs product leaders to frame discovery evidence as due diligence and tightly link it to the five-year business plan. The number of long-term bets funded is likely to decrease, so more care is needed in selecting those that have a better chance of success and offer larger prizes. This places a greater emphasis on strong product management, not less.

The shift in value measurement to ROI increases the focus on delivery efficiency. I coach many product leaders who face pressure to build the product, with the responsibility landing entirely on their shoulders, rather than being shared in a partnership with the technology leaders. This is politics, and needs to be unravelled as shipping new products is a team sport.

The product leader faces a new challenge in a world driven by rapid profits. You must protect space for creativity. If embryonic ideas are not given time to grow, your innovation will die. If your company is genuinely a product business, then innovation equals growth, and the reverse is also true. No innovation equals decline.

6. Identity Crisis in Product Leadership

The product manager and product leader roles have been evolving and changing shape nonstop throughout my 20+ year career. I love this, it means we are not standing still, instead we are continuously improving. However, there is a dark side; many leaders I coach have expressed an identity crisis. They feel their role has shifted from product flag bearer to team integrator.

My observation is that the product has always filled the white space between functions in order to improve the outcome for customers and achieve business goals. The white space in many organisations today is knitting the parts together to make a better whole.

The challenges include unclear authority, inconsistent expectations across functions within your organisation, and often being expected to lead without being given the necessary space. Partnering with stakeholders effectively is more critical than ever.

The leaders in Confidence In You, my flagship leadership development program, often have a breakthrough moment when we focus on leadership identity. Too frequently, your leadership identity or leadership signature has been given to you over the years of your career. Extraordinary leaders don’t accept this; they deliberately decide what they want their identity to be.

So… What Can You Do?

These shifts are fundamental and will not go away. However, you can lead effectively, sustainably, and with confidence if you evolve your leadership approach.

That’s where the CALM Leadership Method is practical. It’s not just a mindset. It’s a modern leadership model built for the modern environment.

Leading With CALM

When the pressure’s on, it’s tempting to default to control, speed, or noise. However, extraordinary product leaders understand that influence originates from a different place. That’s why the CALM method is a robust foundation: Clarity, Authority, Learning, and Momentum. These four pillars shift you from firefighting to leading with confidence. Clarity cuts through uncertainty by aligning your team on what matters most. Authority is about guiding through trust rather than micromanagement. Learning keeps you curious and connected, unlocking better decisions. Momentum helps you drive sustainable progress without burning yourself or your team out.

Think of it this way: Clarity gives direction. Authority earns trust. Learning builds insight. Momentum sustains progress. Together, they form a leadership approach that fosters calm even in the most chaotic environments. When you show up this way, people feel supported, confident, and focused. If you adopt CALM Leadership, you create the space to lead strategically rather than constantly reacting.

Final Thought

If you’re exhausted, you’re not broken; you’re leading in a broken system.
But there is a better way.

When you shift from reacting to leading with CALM, you reduce stress, improve team trust, and regain your sense of purpose.

PS: Want help putting CALM into practice? Join me at the upcoming Masterclass. You’ll leave with fundamental tools, renewed clarity, and an action plan to move forward.

Most leaders think harmony equals health. If everyone’s smiling, nodding, and moving fast, the team must be strong, right? But here’s the uncomfortable truth: constant agreement doesn’t mean unity; it means silence. It means people are holding back, avoiding friction, or playing it safe.

That “peaceful” meeting you’re proud of? It’s often the graveyard of good ideas. When no one pushes back, challenges the logic, or asks the hard questions, the team isn’t aligned; it’s asleep.

The truth is, high-performing teams don’t avoid disagreement; they embrace it. Intel’s Andy Grove once said,

“If everybody’s thinking alike, then somebody isn’t thinking.”

He knew that real progress requires diverse perspectives, and those perspectives only surface when people feel safe to disagree.

Netflix took this principle to heart by institutionalising dissent. They made disagreement a responsibility, not an act of rebellion. In one strategy meeting, CEO Reed Hastings proposed a new profit product, which seemed to have gone down well, with no challenges raised, and everyone nodding along silently, possibly because they didn't want to disagree with the CEO. Most leaders would have called it a win.

Instead, rumours say, Reed stopped the discussion and stated: “If you disagree and you’re not speaking up you are harming the company.”

He stopped the meeting and rescheduled it. Next time, people raised concerns, surfaced risks, and uncovered blind spots that would have derailed the plan down the road.

“We now say that it is disloyal to Netflix when you disagree with an idea and do not express that disagreement. By withholding your opinion, you are implicitly choosing to not help the company.” - Reed Hastings, from No Rules Rules: Netflix and the culture of reinvention.

That moment of tension didn’t weaken the team’s trust; it strengthened it. Agreement feels comfortable, but it’s a healthy debate that sharpens thinking and builds resilience. This culture will drive innovation and growth.

So how can you create that kind of culture in your team?

1. Make disagreement a responsibility. Everyone owns the job of poking holes in ideas.

2. Create space for debate. Don’t rush to the “easy yes.” Make room for the hard “what if.”

3. Disagree, then commit. Debate hard in the room, but once a decision is made, move forward as one.

4. Leaders go last. If you speak first, you shape the conversation. Hold back and let your team test the thinking before you weigh in.

The aim is the sweet spot between supporting and challenging.

At this point, you might worry that encouraging disagreement will slow things down or damage morale. The truth is, it does the opposite. Debate can feel messy in the moment, but it prevents wasted months chasing strategies that should have been killed early. And when handled well, disagreement doesn’t fracture relationships; it strengthens them.

Why? Because people feel respected when their perspective is heard, even if it doesn’t win. Silence erodes trust; healthy dissent builds it. The most dangerous thing for a team isn’t conflict. It’s fake harmony.

So here’s the bottom line: if your team never disagrees, you’re not aligned, you’re asleep. The strongest teams argue, debate, and challenge each other… then step out of the room fully committed to the path ahead.

Harmony doesn’t create growth. Tension does.

Is your team too agreeable?

Let’s fix that. Drop me an email or ping me on LinkedIn, and I’ll share a practical framework to build healthy dissent into your next meeting.

You’re not alone.

I coach product leaders every day, and here's what I hear all the time:

“I wake up stressed.”
“I can’t think straight in meetings.”
“I feel like I’m reacting, not leading.”
“I’ve lost the joy in my work.”

If any of that rings true, you’re likely missing one crucial thing: a moment to reset.

The power of 5 calm minutes

I coach professionals to become calm leaders with presence—the kind of leader who stays centred under pressure, leads with clarity, and inspires others without burning themselves or their teams out.

One tool I come back to again and again is what I call the 5-Minute Leaders Reset.

I used it when I was a full-time Chief Product Officer. I teach it to my clients.
And I’ll be honest, as a fractional CPO, things unravel fast when I forget to follow the daily 5-minute leaders reset.

A few months ago, during a particularly chaotic period in a fractional CPO role, I let the habit slide. The result?

I became reactive, defensive, and stressed. I felt isolated and overwhelmed. My motivation dipped, and I dreaded the workday.

I was doing all the tasks… but wasn’t being the leader I wanted to be.

Within a week of resuming this 5-minute practice, I felt like myself again: calm, confident, and in control. My leadership had presence, not panic.

Why it works

This isn’t magic, it’s neuroscience and behavioural habit-building.

The reset:

• Calms your nervous system with box breathing

• Reclaims your time, energy and emotional clarity

• Shifts your mindset to a place of progress and possibility

• Anchors your attention on what matters

• Breaks the stress-react loop before it spirals

This is your leadership armour to prepare you for a meaningful day.
It is your reset button.
And it’s only a 5-minute leadership investment.

Let’s walk through it now:

🕔 The 5-Minute Leaders Reset

Each step takes no more than 1 minute. Do it at your desk, or on your commute (not while driving!).

1. Clear Your Mind
Use box breathing to reset your nervous system. Inhale through your nose for 3 seconds. Hold your breath in for 3 seconds. Slowly exhale through your mouth for 3 seconds. Hold with empty lungs for 3 seconds. That is it, simple.

Try to do this four times. Your thoughts will settle.

2. Recognise Wins
Could you write down three small wins from yesterday?
Big or small, it doesn’t matter.
Mine today:
– I honestly chatted with a team member and reset boundaries (it wasn’t as difficult as I had feared).
– I read an article on enterprise AI agents
– I took a proper lunch break and ate away from my desk.

This rewires your brain to notice progress and keep celebrating the small wins.

3. Declutter Tasks
Look at your to-do list. What can you delete or delegate?
The aim is to let go of just one task that’s no longer serving you, or empower someone else (even an AI agent) to take it. Only one, as you only have 1 minute to do this.

This frees up time and builds trust.

Today, I was going to complete a task called 'preparing for a client meeting in three days,' but I realised I didn’t need to attend. Instead, I delegated the task to one of my team members for the meeting. I just added two hours back to my schedule. 🎉

4. One Intention
Set your intention for the day:

“What’s one thing I want to influence today?”

Pick that one thing, and then label it. Keep it simple.

Today, mine is: Influence pricing strategy towards a consumption model.
Label: Consumption Gold
That’s it—no planning, we only have one minute. Just create presence and agency.

5. Question Pressure
Take today’s biggest stress that is plaguing you and flip it into a question. Use the following prompts to help…

“How can we ….?”
or
“What would need to be true for …. to go well?”

This simple shift turns pressure perception into perspective.
You don’t need all the answers; you need better conversations.

The hard part? Making it stick.

The practice is simple. But building the habit? That’s where most leaders fall off.

Here’s my challenge to you:

• Do it daily for 1 week.

• Then do it on Monday after the weekend; now keep it going for three more weeks.

• By week 4, it will feel like a regular part of your daily routine.

To help, I’ve created a video that walks you through the 5-minute daily leader reset, along with a simple worksheet you can download, and the option of four short email reminders to keep you on track.

👉 Click here to get your copy.

Bonus: Join the retreat

If this resonates with you and you’re ready to become a calm leader with presence, join me at the Product Leader Retreat 2025.

We will discuss everything you need to lead without burnout. Be calm. Have confidence. Make your mark.

🎟 Limited to 20 tickets only, see full details here.

Sandy Huang, former VP of Product at GoodRx and veteran of Amazon, Shutterfly, and various industries from e-commerce to healthcare, reminds us that your team can’t thrive if they don’t feel understood — and that understanding comes from experience. We’ll explore why empathy is more than emotional intelligence, how to build it, and how it creates stronger, more resilient teams.

The Challenge: Leading Without Understanding

Too many product leaders step into management and forget what it was like to be a product manager. Some have come from a different path and haven’t spent much time being a product manager. They trade roadmaps for strategy decks, sprint planning for leadership meetings — and slowly, they lose touch. The result? Teams that feel unsupported, misunderstood, and burned out.

You can’t build trust from a distance or without understanding.

“How well can you lead your team if you haven’t been in the trenches?”

That’s the straight-talking challenge Sandy Huang throws down. Empathy isn’t a checkbox; it takes deliberate effort, and if you don’t have shared experience, that effort will be significantly larger.

Empathy can be forged through experience.

“I firmly believe successful product leaders have to be in the trenches. When people haven’t had a long history in product yet they are product leaders, I wonder, how well can you lead a team without that empathy?”

She’s not talking about cognitive empathy. She’s talking about earned empathy — the kind that comes from being an individual contributor (IC) long enough to have navigated a variety of challenges and build real perspective.

“Product managers are in a weird position — when things go wrong, they’re accountable. When things go right, the credit typically goes to engineering or design. There are a lot of dynamics to figure out and manage. Empathy from having done the job yourself makes you that much stronger of a leader.”

The Solution: Empathy Built Through Doing

Sandy didn’t just transition smoothly from IC to leader—she bounced back and forth between the two for years, not because she couldn’t let go, but because she valued what she gained each time she returned to the coalface.

“I went in and out of management because I just loved the IC work. But eventually, I realised I could make more impact as a leader — and the empathy I built through years of IC work is what made that possible.”

She’s clear: The more time you’ve spent navigating product chaos, the better you’ll be at helping your team through it.

“Your team is still deep in those challenges. You’re not anymore - at least not at the same level. But you were. That shared experience matters. That’s what lets you say: I know this is hard — and here’s how we’ll get through it.”

5 Ways to Lead with Empathy

Want to build stronger relationships with your team and be the kind of leader they actually trust? Start here:

1. Spend time in the trenches
   You don’t need to be writing tickets, but stay close enough to understand what’s hard — and why.

2. Recognise invisible effort
   Not all wins are shippable. Praise the stakeholder alignment, the difficult conversations, and the things that quietly made everything else possible.

3. Use your experience wisely
   Don’t lecture. Relate. Share your own past struggles to normalise the hard stuff and help your team navigate.

4. Pull insights, don’t push fixes
   Ask: “What’s been tough this sprint?” or “What trade-offs are you making?” Let your team members bring their world into your view.

5. Coach for self-recognition
   Especially for quieter team members, help them see and share their own impact — and teach them it’s not bragging, it’s visibility.

Mistakes to Avoid

• Skipping the IC phase: Fast-tracking into leadership without time as a product or related IC leaves you shallow. Your team will notice.

• Confusing empathy with being soft: Being empathetic doesn’t mean lowering the bar — it means understanding the struggle and helping your team rise to it.

• Empathise only when things go wrong. Build connections continuously, not just in a crisis. It’s not damage control—it’s daily practice.

Final Thoughts: Empathy is a Leadership Multiplier

You can’t lead through slides. You can’t connect through strategy docs. You lead through people. People respond to leaders who get it.

Sandy put it best when describing the kind of leader she admired:

“Her superpower was connection. Her level of empathy, the way she developed each person, gave feedback — it created a loyalty I’d never seen before. That’s what inspires me.”

Empathy doesn’t mean hugging your team. It means having their back because you understand what they’re carrying.

So here’s the real test of your leadership: Do your people feel seen? Do they feel understood? If not, it might be time to work more closely alongside them on a project to remember what it’s like.

Confident product leaders don’t just lead from the front — they remember what it was like to be in the mud. And they never forget how it felt.

“What am I doing wrong, and what do I have to do to get to the next level?” is a common question asked by senior product managers and early-stage leaders such as the group product manager or product director. The people who ask me this question are hard-working, passionate about product, and ambitious. But for one reason or another, they feel they have hit a career ceiling.

It can be so frustrating for individuals trying their best. I hear people who are highly capable and have loads of potential question if product management is the right career for them. This is not because they don’t enjoy it, but because they can’t break into the leadership level they desire.

Many product professionals aspire to become VPS or CPOS, but the path is rarely straightforward. Unlike fields with clear hierarchies or legally required certifications, product management leadership emerges from a mix of skills, experiences, and, often, unexpected opportunities.

Through research, firsthand insights from experienced leaders, and my own experience coaching or training hundreds of product leaders, this article outlines advice to help you journey from individual contributor to product executive.

So, How Long Does It Take to Become a Product Leader?

The journey to product leadership varies widely, as do the role sizes, even with the same job title. A CPO might have fewer staff or budget control in an early-stage company than a group product manager in a larger firm. The accountability and risk impact is typically far more significant with the CPO, where getting it wrong could mean the end of the business.

Researching LinkedIn profiles and job adverts shows that most product managers take 10 years or more to reach senior leadership roles, but there is quite a variance, with some making it to the top in just 5 years. Factors influencing this timeline include company size, industry, access to mentorship, and the ability to build strategic influence.

The following shows a typical career progression, although the number of years is far less important than what you are actually doing in that time:

• 0-3 years: Associate or Junior Product Manager

• 3-5 years: Product Manager

• 5-8 years: Senior Product Manager

• 8-12 years: Director of Product (often requiring 8-12 years of experience)

• 12+ years: VP of Product or Chief Product Officer (typically requiring 12+ years of experience)

Some leaders accelerate this timeline through entrepreneurial ventures, working in high-growth environments, or stepping into leadership roles earlier in startups. Research from LinkedIn, Glassdoor, and product management career reports supports these timeframes as industry norms.

Common Paths to Product Leadership

Based on interviews with product leaders and experts, several themes emerged about how they reached leadership roles. Here are some of the most common trajectories:

1. Learning from example

Chris Jones (SVPG) described his journey into product as "really accidental." He started in software development but soon realised he wasn’t suited for it. After running his own consultancy, he was hired into his first product management role at a startup. "That was when the switch really turned on for me," he said. He credits great mentors with reshaping his understanding of leadership: "Until you're actually shown by somebody what it looks like in action...you only think you're leading.”

2. Caring enough to take the lead

In multiple conversations with seasoned VP Product and CPOs, they have shared that their career boost was down to caring enough to do something about a problem. In a few cases, as senior product managers, they allowed their passion to overtake any doubt they had in self-confidence (and all of them had this doubt), resulting in proactively leading initiatives to drive an impact. They were not appointed, nor did they ask permission.

3. Strategic initiative experience

Berit Hoffmann started in enterprise technology and worked across startups and large corporations, gradually taking on leadership roles in increasingly strategic projects. She explains how she learned influence without authority as a product manager, which won her the opportunity to be involved in more strategic initiatives. She highlighted the importance of broadening her influence: “I found myself in more strategic positions over time, which naturally led to leadership.”

4. Entrepreneurship as a Gateway

Jane Austin’s first leadership experience came from necessity: "The company went spectacularly bankrupt... so I phoned clients and said, ‘Do you have anyone looking after your account?’ And they said no. And I said, ‘Well, I’ve got a business.’" While the new venture was eventually acquired, running it early in her career gave her invaluable business acumen to carry into a product leadership role.

5. Moving from a Related Field

Many product leaders didn’t start as product managers. Analysing the career history of CPOs on LinkedIn shows a significant number migrated into product after learning management and early stage leadership in a different field. Other fields were typically customer-focused, including marketing and customer success.

Key Strategies for Moving into Product Leadership

While no two paths are identical, common strategies stand out among product leaders:

1. Mastering Stakeholder Influence

Product leadership isn’t just about making product decisions—it’s about influencing others. Jane Austin emphasised learning to navigate difficult personalities and team dynamics: "I used to really worry about people liking me. And then I had this epiphany: I don’t like them, so why does it matter if they like me? I just need to be respected.”

2. Developing Commercial Acumen

Understanding the financial side of a product is critical. Multiple leaders I interviewed emphasised the importance of basic business understanding. They talked about understanding the business model; some used the business model canvas to summarise it. Across the board, everyone agrees you must understand basic financial concepts; the language of business is finance.

3. Finding a Mentor (or Several)

Many product leaders credit their growth to mentorship. Chris Jones learned leadership by watching his own manager at Vontu: "They not only taught me, but they modeled it... they showed me hiring, developing people—this was not something you do in the cracks. This was the job."

4. Taking Ownership Beyond Job Titles

Elana Jacobs emphasised stepping up before being given an official leadership role: "My leadership journey began early, even when I wasn’t officially managing people." She took responsibility for major projects, which made leadership a natural next step.

5. Balancing Vision with Execution

Auriga Martin, now a fractional CEO, described leadership as bridging big-picture vision with execution: "I love to push teams out of their comfort zone, but I always hire pragmatists to balance me out." She stressed that great leaders must both inspire and enable their teams.

Conclusion: Charting Your Own Course

While product leadership isn’t a one-size-fits-all journey, the common threads are clear: seek out strategic influence, develop business acumen, learn from mentors, and step up before you’re asked. Whether you get there through entrepreneurship, climbing the corporate ladder, or making a lateral move, the key is to continuously and deliberately expand your ability to lead others and drive meaningful outcomes.

For senior product managers or new product leaders looking to advance, the message is simple: Leadership isn’t a promotion—it’s a mindset shift. Start leading where you are, and the role will follow.

We’ve all seen it: a visionary leader with groundbreaking ideas but no grounded path to get there. The result? Missed deadlines, frustrated teams, and "vaporware" rather than tangible results. The tension between dreaming big and getting things done is real—and it can derail even the most talented product leaders.

As Auriga puts it:
"The North Star might be an amazing dream, but the road to get there can be brutal if you don’t have the right balance."

So, how do you prevent visionary ambition from becoming chaos? By pairing big thinkers with pragmatic doers.

A Real-World Example

Auriga Martin shares her experience as a high-energy leader managing teams in fast-moving environments.

"I hire pragmatists everywhere I go—structured, black-and-white thinkers who thrive on grounding lofty visions. It’s why I often find myself in sectors like financial services, where ideas must work in a spreadsheet to be real."

Her teams don’t just execute; they challenge her to step outside her comfort zone, creating a healthy push-and-pull dynamic. This balance helps them achieve ambitious goals without losing sight of practical constraints.

Balance Through Complementary Strengths

Auriga highlights the importance of hiring for polarity—building teams with diverse skills and temperaments to create “healthy tension.” Visionaries push boundaries, while pragmatists ensure the path forward is grounded in reality.

"Healthy tension fosters robust thought and debate. Without it, you risk either stagnation or chaos," she explains.

This balance isn’t just about hiring; it’s about fostering an environment where differences are respected and leveraged. Product leaders need to act as bridges, narrating the journey and ensuring everyone feels safe and aligned.

Key Steps to Achieve This Balance

1. Hire for Complementarity
   Look for team members who bring skills you lack. For visionaries, this means finding pragmatic thinkers who love execution.

   • Example: Structured project managers or detail-oriented engineers.

2. Encourage Healthy Debate
   Create a culture where ideas are challenged, not personalities. Promote a "safe-to-fail" environment for testing and refining bold ideas.

3. Narrate Progress
   To maintain morale and alignment, regularly remind teams of their progress. As Auriga says, "Be the company historian—it keeps the team grounded and motivated."

4. Invest in Resilience
   Recognise that tension can create stress. Equip your team with the tools and support needed to thrive in challenging situations.

Mistakes to Avoid

• Too Many Visionaries, Not Enough Doers
  A team of dreamers will struggle to deliver. Balance is key.

• Stifling Debate
  Avoid environments where disagreement is discouraged. Innovation thrives on constructive conflict.

• Ignoring Pragmatists’ Input
  If grounded thinkers feel dismissed, their motivation and trust will erode quickly.

Conclusion

Building a team that balances vision and execution isn’t just a nice to have; it’s essential for sustainable success. Whether you’re a growing product leader aspiring to refine your leadership style or an emerging product leader stepping into your first team management role, understanding the value of complementary skills will set you apart.

Auriga Martin sums it up best:
"No one person is more powerful than the whole. True leadership is about designing for balance and bringing out the best in others."

How do you balance vision and execution on your team? Share your thoughts, and let’s keep the conversation going!

Many product leaders struggle to balance team autonomy and organisational cohesion. Too much independence risks chaos, while too much control stifles innovation. How can leaders foster teams that effectively self-govern, stay aligned with broader goals, and adapt like nature itself?

Biomimicry: Nature’s Blueprint for Leadership

Auriga Martin introduced a game-changing concept: biomimicry in team design. Nature, she explained, thrives on systems that are self-sustaining, resilient, and adaptive. Think of a tree. It monitors its health as a whole, yet individual branches and leaves function semi-independently.

“The strongest design on our planet comes from nature,” Auriga noted. “A self-governing team is like a robust ecosystem—balanced, self-monitoring, and capable of surviving shocks without falling apart.”

She shared her own experiments in blending visionary leadership with structured team autonomy, emphasising how biomimicry offers a practical model for modern organisations.

The Solution

To create self-governing teams, Auriga advocated for designing teams as systems, where every part contributes to the whole but is empowered to act independently. Key to this approach is cultivating balance:

1. Complementarity: Hire pragmatists to counterbalance visionaries, ensuring that big ideas are paired with actionable execution.

2. Shared Purpose: Establish a unifying "North Star" that aligns everyone’s efforts, much like the role of the root system in supporting a tree.

3. Resilience over Redundancy: Build redundancy in the team’s capabilities. If one person or function falters, others can adapt and step in.

Auriga called this “self-governing, not anarchy,” stressing that autonomy needs direction and boundaries to thrive.

Key Steps to Create a Self-Governing Team

1. Analyze Team Dynamics: Use frameworks like personality profiling to balance team composition and address communication gaps.

2. Model Nature’s Resilience: Design processes that allow for recovery and adaptability without relying on one critical piece.

3. Be the Narrator: As a leader, narrate progress and keep the team’s focus on shared goals. Celebrate milestones to reinforce unity.

4. Embed Psychological Safety: Build trust by recognizing and addressing workplace micro-traumas, fostering camaraderie in the process.

Mistakes to Avoid

1. Confusing Autonomy with Isolation: Teams need guidance and a shared direction, not free rein to act independently without coordination.

2. Over-relying on Visionaries: A visionary without grounding pragmatists can destabilize a team.

3. Ignoring Balance: Too much control breeds rigidity; too little invites chaos. Strike a balance.

Conclusion

Nature holds the secret to sustainable, adaptable teams. Biomimicry offers a fresh lens for product leaders to design self-governing teams that thrive in complex environments. As Auriga put it, “No one person is more powerful than the whole.” Embrace this principle, and you’ll not only grow as a leader but also inspire teams to flourish together.

Fear of Risk and its Impact on Leadership

Risk is often synonymous with fear—fear of failure, rejection, or criticism. For product leaders, this fear can manifest as hesitance to advocate for bold ideas or challenge decisions. Whether you're a seasoned leader or just stepping into management, this avoidance of risk can prevent you from being seen as a true change-maker.

Elana Jacobs reflected on her early career:
"I stayed quiet when I heard something that didn’t sit right... I was too timid. I largely implemented other people's ideas."

Does this sound familiar? Many leaders, particularly those still finding their footing, fall into the trap of playing it safe, waiting for validation rather than seizing opportunities.

Taking Risks to be Heard

Elana’s breakthrough came when she decided to trust her instincts. At Crisis Text Line, she began challenging the status quo and advocating for innovative ideas—even when the task seemed daunting.

"I started becoming less timid and spoke up and shared new ideas or new directions", she explained. "Sometimes, that meant telling the CEO, 'I don’t think this is a good idea.' Respectfully, of course."

The result? Her confidence grew, and she gained recognition as a leader invested in advancing the company’s mission.

Building Confidence Through Calculated Risks

Confidence isn’t something you’re born with—it’s built. And taking calculated risks is one of the most effective ways to build it. Elana emphasises the importance of being bold while staying rooted in respect, data, and clear communication:

"Approach disagreement or a different direction from a place of respect with whatever data or information you have at hand. The worst that can happen is they say no."

By sticking her neck out, she didn’t just contribute to better decisions. She also solidified her role as a trusted leader.

Key Steps for Leaders

For Growing Product Leaders (Directors, Heads of Product, VP Product):

1. Advocate for Bold Ideas: When you see an opportunity, speak up. Use data and insights to strengthen your case.

2. Challenge Respectfully: It’s okay to push back—senior leaders value those who think critically about the business’s direction.

3. Model Courage: Your team watches how you act. Show them that risks are opportunities, not threats.

For Emerging Product Leaders (Senior/Principal PMs):

1. Start Small: Test the waters with smaller risks, such as proposing a new feature or process improvement.

2. Lean on Data: Build confidence by grounding your ideas in evidence.

3. Embrace Discomfort: Speaking up is nerve-wracking, but every attempt makes the next one easier.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

1. Being Reckless: Risk-taking doesn’t mean charging ahead without preparation. Always evaluate potential outcomes.

2. Equating Boldness with Aggression: Confidence isn’t about being loud—it’s about being thoughtful and intentional.

3. Ignoring Feedback: Risk-taking includes listening and adapting based on what others share.

Confidence Grows with Every Risk

As Elana wisely pointed out, confidence comes from action. The more you step into discomfort and challenge norms, the more natural it will feel. Whether you’re advocating for a bold vision or respectfully challenging a decision, each risk you take strengthens your leadership muscle.

Remember, risk isn’t about recklessness—it’s about thoughtful, courageous action. So, take that leap. Your future confident self will thank you.

Diversifying Without Burning Out

Leadership can feel like an endless tightrope walk: balancing competing priorities, scaling teams, and ensuring personal growth. For the growing product leader, the challenge is to sustain energy while leading at scale. For the emerging product leader, it’s about crafting a career trajectory that blends passion and growth. The key, as Auriga puts it, is treating your career as a “portfolio of pursuits”.

Creating a Portfolio of Purpose

Auriga embodies the portfolio mindset. She thrives on purpose-based initiatives, bridging public and private sectors, coaching founders, and fostering female leadership. “I love to catalyse and disrupt in a positive way,” she shares. “When you find purpose and align with groups of humans, you will always find profit.”

For her, the secret to managing multiple pursuits lies in surrounding herself with balanced teams. “I hire pragmatists everywhere I go... It keeps us grounded while we push boundaries,” she explains.

Structuring Your Portfolio

A portfolio-driven career isn’t about doing everything; it’s about aligning your work with what energises you. Auriga’s approach includes:

• Purpose-first Alignment: Ensure every role or project aligns with your values. As Auriga says, “Sustainable business models stand on their own two feet when they align with purpose.”

• Balancing Teams: Complement your energy with team members who bring structure and pragmatism.

• Building Resilience: Reflect on failures and celebrate progress to stay grounded.

For emerging leaders, she emphasises the importance of building a backup plan—always investing in “Plan B and C” to hedge against setbacks.

Key Steps

1. Map Your Interests: Identify roles or projects that energise and excite you.

2. Audit Your Network: Cultivate a “personal board” of mentors and peers to keep you accountable and inspired.

3. Celebrate Wins: Document and reflect on milestones to sustain momentum.

4. Balance Your Team: Hire and collaborate with individuals who complement your style and bring stability.

Mistakes to Avoid

1. Taking On Too Much: Avoid being the whirlwind that breeds chaos. Instead, focus on structured growth.

2. Neglecting Team Dynamics: A portfolio leader isn’t a lone ranger. Ensure your team is equally aligned and engaged.

3. Chasing Vaporware: Align your North Star with achievable outcomes, avoiding overpromised ambitions.

Conclusion

Balancing diverse pursuits isn’t just about adding more to your plate—it’s about crafting a career that energises and sustains you while delivering real impact. As Auriga puts it, “Find people smarter than you and stick to them like glue. Build a portfolio of interests and always invest in your growth.”

Are you ready to craft your portfolio of pursuits? Start by aligning your ambitions with your purpose, and watch your leadership thrive.

Product leaders often face decisions where the right path isn’t clear, and the stakes feel immense. Elana puts it succinctly: “In high-impact contexts, the first thing is to do no harm.” Balancing user needs, business objectives, and ethical considerations is never straightforward. Leaders must navigate ambiguity, limited data, and the risk of unintended consequences.

It’s no wonder that some product leaders get stuck in analysis paralysis or, worse, make decisions that erode trust with their teams or users.

When the Stakes Are Lives

Elana faced a particularly daunting challenge at Crisis Text Line, a service providing text-based crisis intervention. Initially, users were served in the order they reached out. But with issues ranging from homework anxiety to immediate risk of self-harm, it became clear that a triage system was needed.

“We wanted to prioritize those in imminent danger,” she explains. “But introducing a triage system using a language-learning model wasn’t risk-free. What if the system missed critical cues or misunderstood cultural nuances in how people express crises?”

The team approached this cautiously. They started with dummy data, tested the model on low-risk populations, and incrementally scaled its implementation. This deliberate approach ensured the system didn’t compromise anyone’s safety.

A Framework for Decision-Making

Elana’s approach offers a replicable framework for making high-stakes decisions:

1. Do No Harm: This principle guided every step at Crisis Text Line. Before moving forward, evaluate whether the decision could lead to unintended negative consequences.

2. Prioritise Clarity Over Certainty: “You’ll rarely have all the data you want,” says Elana. “But clarity about your goals and values can guide you in the right direction.”

3. Start Small and Iterate: Break down big decisions into smaller milestones. Early testing and adjustments provide quick feedback without massive risks.

4. Evaluate the Door: Is it a one-way or two-way decision? Elana advises spending more time on irreversible choices while being quicker with reversible ones.

Key Steps

For the Growing Product Leader:

• Build a decision-making framework that prioritises clarity and organisational values.

• Evaluate if your decisions align with your company’s North Star metrics or mission.

• Involve your team in the process to encourage diverse perspectives.

For the Emerging Product Leader:

• Focus on clarity and risk assessment before executing decisions.

• Practice breaking decisions into milestones to test and adapt incrementally.

• Learn to identify whether a decision is reversible to avoid overanalysing.

Mistakes to Avoid

1. Chasing Certainty: Don’t wait for perfect data—it rarely exists. Instead, work with what you have and prioritise clarity.

2. Overlooking Values: A decision that achieves short-term goals but compromises organisational ethics can have long-term repercussions.

3. Skipping the Small Steps: Rushing big decisions without smaller tests can lead to unintended outcomes.

4. Ignoring Team Input: Decisions made in isolation often miss critical perspectives, leading to blind spots.

Conclusion

Leadership isn’t about having all the answers. As Elana says, “You can always change course if you have to, as long as you keep the higher-level principles and values in mind.” Whether you’re deciding how to scale your product or how to respond to a crisis, clarity, caution, and iteration are your best allies.

The next time you face a high-stakes decision, remember: it’s not about being perfect—it’s about being principled, clear, and courageous.

As a product leader, you’re constantly navigating complex stakeholder relationships while building great products. But when it comes to influencing upwards, the stakes are higher. Your ability to align with senior leadership can make or break your initiatives. In this issue, we unpack the “No Surprises” rule with seasoned product leader Nico Posner, who shares practical frameworks and battle-tested advice for managing expectations and fostering trust at the top.

Winning Trust and Keeping It

Influencing upwards isn’t just about presenting great ideas—it’s about building and maintaining trust. According to Nico, “One of the fastest ways to reduce leadership credibility is surprise problems that should have been identified earlier and communicated earlier.” Leadership needs to trust that you’ve got a handle on your domain and that you’ll keep them informed before problems escalate.

The stakes are especially high for product leaders because surprises often have a ripple effect: missed milestones, budget overruns, or shaken confidence in their decision-making.

Progress, Problems, and Plans (PPP) Framework

Nico champions a straightforward yet powerful approach to prevent surprises: the PPP framework. Every week, he updates stakeholders on:

1. Progress: What’s been achieved since the last update?

2. Problems: Key challenges, distinguishing between issues under control (awareness problems) and those requiring help (escalation problems).

3. Plans: Upcoming priorities and next steps.

This consistent communication creates a transparent environment where leadership knows what to expect. Nico explains: “It helps build confidence that even if they don’t have the time to check in with you one-on-one, they can go to your weekly report, spend five minutes, and be up to date on the key points.”

Make PPP Your Default Communication Tool

Using the PPP framework ensures stakeholders are never blindsided by last-minute escalations. It also helps product leaders document progress over time, making performance reviews and team assessments more data-driven. By adopting this habit, you cultivate a reputation for clarity, foresight, and reliability.

Key Steps to Implement the 'No Surprises' Rule

1. Adopt a Weekly Cadence: Send your PPP updates weekly, even if you’re not explicitly asked for them. Leadership values consistency.

2. Be Concise but Comprehensive: Focus on key highlights. Nico notes, “The goal is not to make a laundry list but to summarise the key aspects.”

3. Differentiate Problem Types: Clearly state whether a problem is under control or requires help. This nuance shows you’re on top of things while giving leadership the chance to step in when needed.

4. Roll It Up Across Teams: Have your direct reports use the same framework. This ensures alignment across your entire area of responsibility.

Mistakes to Avoid

1. Skipping the Update: Consistency is key. Sporadic updates can lead to a loss of trust.

2. Drowning in Details: Leadership wants clarity, not every small detail. Distill your points into actionable insights.

3. Ignoring Escalation: Downplaying issues that require help will backfire. Always flag problems before they spiral.

Build Trust, Influence Effectively

For growing product leaders, the “No Surprises” rule is the secret weapon for fostering trust with senior stakeholders and aligning their work with organisational goals. For emerging product leaders, the PPP framework is a pragmatic first step to mastering clear, effective communication with leadership.

Whether you’re navigating tight deadlines, tough decisions, or just trying to get that next big idea funded, remember this: clarity and trust are your greatest tools. As Nico aptly puts it, “Clear communication is really the essence of influencing upwards.”

Now, it’s your turn. Start practising the PPP framework this week, and watch how it transforms your ability to lead and influence.

Over the next few months, expect fresh perspectives from experts like Auriga Martin, Nico Posner, Elana Jacobs, Pratick Bhadra, Sandy Huang, and Michael Scully. We’ll explore the strategies, trends, and challenges shaping the future of product leadership.

Keep your eyes peeled for these upcoming issues:

🚀 Want to Earn Leadership’s Trust? - coming out 5th February

Nothing erodes trust faster than last-minute problems. The best product leaders keep leadership aligned before issues escalate—and in this issue of The Confident Product Leader, we will share a battle-tested ‘No Surprises’ rule for managing up.

🧠 From Crisis to Clarity - coming out 12th February

Product leaders make tough calls daily, often with limited data and massive consequences. In this issue of The Confident Product Leader, we will show how to navigate ambiguity, avoid analysis paralysis, and make sound decisions that balance impact and risk.

⚡ Scaling Leadership Without Burning Out - coming out 19th February

Leadership isn’t about doing more; it’s about doing what energises you. By treating leadership as a portfolio of pursuits, in this issue of The Confident Product Leader, we will reveal how to craft a purpose-driven career.

🔥 Step Up, Take Risks, Lead with Confidence - coming out 26th February

Playing it safe will not get you noticed or make an impact. In this issue of The Confident Product Leader, we will discuss how stepping up, speaking out, and challenging the status quo (respectfully!) can skyrocket your confidence and influence.

🌱 The Secret to Self-Governing Teams? Look to Nature - coming out 5th March

Too much control stifles innovation, and too much autonomy creates chaos. The best product leaders design teams like ecosystems—resilient, self-sustaining, and adaptable. In this article, we will explore a game-changing concept: biomimicry in leadership. We will discover how nature’s most powerful systems—trees, ecosystems, and resilience patterns—can transform how you build and scale self-governing teams.

🚀 Building Teams That Balance Vision and Execution - coming out 12th March

We’ve all seen it: big ideas with failed execution, frustrated teams, and innovation that never materialises. In this issue, we will explore the secret to making visionary leadership work: pairing bold thinkers with pragmatic doers.

Please contact us if you have a topic you want us to cover, or if you would like to nominate a product leader we should interview.

Influence Without Titles

For both emerging and growing product leaders, wielding influence across an organisation is an uphill battle. You lack direct control over most functions, yet your success hinges on aligning diverse teams. How do you steer teams toward a shared vision when they don’t officially report to you? Without authority, how do you secure the trust, buy-in, and cooperation needed to deliver impactful products?

Nico Posner distilled decades of experience into one golden rule: Start building relationships before you need them.

“In order to be most effective, those relationships you build cross-functionally are essential for minimising mistakes and achieving your objectives,” Nico explained. “This isn’t something you can start when you have a specific ask. It needs to be ongoing—from day one.”

Network Strategically and Empathise Deeply

1. Build a Cross-Functional Network: Nico emphasised the importance of "concentric rings of relationships" within an organisation. Focus first on peers who influence your work, then expand to their peers and teams. This network becomes your leverage in moments of challenge.

2. Understand Motivators: Dive into what drives other teams. Nico shared, “Understanding the goals of your stakeholders allows you to align your work with their success.” It’s about connecting the dots between their wins and your objectives.

3. Make It Bidirectional: True influence stems from reciprocity. Show how your efforts help others achieve their goals, and they’ll do the same for you. It’s not about asking for help; it’s about mutual empowerment.

Five Key Steps to Build Influence

1. Start Immediately: As Nico suggested, don’t wait until you need help. Begin relationship-building on your first day in a role.

2. Learn Stakeholders’ Goals: Schedule one-on-one meetings to understand their priorities and challenges.

3. Be a Listener: Prioritise active listening over speaking. Understanding others is the foundation of trust.

4. Communicate Clearly: Share regular updates using frameworks like Nico’s “3Ps”—Progress, Problems, and Plans. Consistency builds confidence.

5. Seek Alignment: Identify mutual objectives. Frame your requests in terms of shared success.

Mistakes to Avoid

• Waiting Too Long: Starting relationships only when you need something risks being perceived as opportunistic.

• One-Way Communication: Avoid focusing solely on your needs without considering how you can add value to others.

• Assuming Authority Equals Influence: Even if you have a title, lasting influence is earned, not granted.

Influence is a Journey

As Nico highlighted, influence without authority is a skill developed over time with intentionality and empathy. By nurturing relationships, understanding motivators, and aligning goals, you don’t just influence; you lead.

For the growing product leader, this means creating leverage through aligned, cross-functional relationships that streamline processes. For the emerging leader, it’s a chance to cultivate a network that will support your future rise to leadership.

Start building your influence today—because tomorrow’s success depends on it.

It’s a new year, a great opportunity to pause to reflect and consider the potential for tomorrow. Last year was pretty tough for a lot of people. In the UK and USA, we suffered the pain of electing new government leaders. The economy was slow. Tech funding was slow. Companies put off projects and delayed buying decisions. There were more layoffs in companies of all sizes. Looking back, it feels like a year of risk reduction - yuck, that is not fun.

Sensational headlines or social media bubbles fed clicks a few times based on the idea that product management was dying. Multiple high-profile tech leaders scrutinized product management. Despite this, the fact remains the same: Tech is invested in solving real-world problems that people will encounter in a transaction to overcome. Someone has to decide which problems to solve and ensure the solution works for the customer! And no, GenAI cannot do this for you.

So, 2025 is here. I expect product management to become more critical in the changing tech scene than ever.

Uncertainty about how to harness GenAI

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella claimed that “SaaS is dead” and referred to business logic moving into the AI layer. Thanks to GenAI, this logic must no longer be tightly coupled to specific data stores and schemas. Through the agents' framework, the logic will become agnostic to the data. What does this mean for the large majority of SaaS products that trade on being a system of record or workflow tool?

GenAI has opened up non-deterministic workflows which could throw out our carefully crafted web forms and user journeys. In this “open world” application style, how do we know if what we are building is solving the real problems? How do we know if version 2 is better than version 1? Will it deliver good results 10% or 90% of the time? How do we differentiate our products, and how will customers trust they are getting value? So much stuff to figure out sits firmly inside the product scope.

OpenAI launched a $200 Pro subscription and has enjoyed a strong uptake. However, it is not making a profit running Pro because users consume too much AI. So, we have a commercial viability question routed deeply across GenAI: Can we profit from it?

As developers increase productivity using AI co-pilots and other technical roles start to figure it out, we have to ask what the ideal product manager co-pilot is. How can we embrace this technology to understand our customers better and make better decisions? Just asking an openAI ChatGPT what your customers want will not find the value proposition that will differentiate you from your competitor.

I can speculate what might happen, but the real fun in 2025 will be working all this stuff out!

Ethical Product Development

I suspect that AI ethics will become a much bigger topic as we progress through our AI journey. Concerns and a focus on data privacy are already on the rise, but as consumers recognise that AI is using their data more, we will have new problems to navigate. I am not talking just about copyright; I am talking about using data to make decisions that impact people. The governing laws are forming around this topic, but we have not yet seen them tested.

A straightforward example of AI not working as intended 100% of the time embarrasses the BBC and Apple. Over Christmas, Apple Intelligence summarised news articles, accidentally crafting a headline announcing the death of an individual, which was entirely false. For more information, read this BBC article. 

Sustainability will continue to be a concern impacting product decisions. AI's carbon footprint is significant. If product feature differentiation reduces, perhaps new differentiations will revolve around green credentials.

Emergence of specialised PM roles

Towards the end of 2024, the concept of an AI product manager became more popular. This is a technical product manager with a deep understanding of AI, and this role is commanding higher salaries. I suspect we will see more specialism within the product roles, coupling product more closely to the technology. Personally, I think it is a mistake if we blend architects and product managers together - we will only end up with a compromise and sub-optimal decisions. However, while the AI playbook is unclear, referring to the earlier challenges, this blended role will be needed to figure things out.

Increased focus on resilience

There will be fear as technology changes, such as GenAI, ripple through the markets and impact organisational design and product categories. Investment in product development that delivers a return must consider resilience to market, technological, and operational disruptions.

Enhance the use of analytics

With the new GenAI-powered analytical tools, we should see increased data decisions in both qualitative and quantitative data. I hope we can enjoy behavioural segmentation and real-time analytics so businesses can make more decisive decisions. GenAI can help make data accessible to everyone in the organisation.

2025 Tour

Before signing off, I want to share some news. I will tour UK Product Tank meetups starting January 15th in Exeter (UK). I will be doing a talk on the revolution of GenAI, giving away some books and recording some interviews for this newsletter.

I hope to see you in one of the following cities on the tour: Exeter, Bristol, Newcastle, Birmingham, Cardiff, Reading, London, Brighton, or Manchester.