Published 7 February 2024

· 4 min read

Loneliness in the C-Suite: A closer look at the CPO landscape

Over half of CPOs feel isolated in their leadership roles. We take a closer look at what the research says and offer solutions to solve this common issue in product leadership positions.

A study from digital product agency Planes has found that 44% of product leaders feel inadequately empowered to fulfil their roles. Almost two-thirds (60%) of CPOs cite loneliness as a prevalent aspect of their jobs.

Planes conducted qualitative interviews with over 50 product decision-makers in leading UK businesses to unravel the challenges of Chief Product Officers (CPOs).

Low confidence and loneliness in the C-suite

The study also found that almost half (42.6%) of product leaders need more confidence in understanding their role within the C-suite. Jennifer Rose, Digital Product General Manager at New Look, was interviewed for the study and emphasises the significant time spent bridging the comprehension gap.  “When people don’t understand what product is in a bigger organisation, you spend time bringing people on the journey. It’s why you end up having this divide,” she notes.

The presence of a product leader at the C-suite level remains a novel concept for many large organisations. This often leads to friction between product leaders and executives, the study found. “Even though Product has a seat at the C-suite table, they all too often have less influence over other C-suite counterparts,” says CJ Daniel-Nield, Co-Founder at Planes. The average tenure of a CPO stands at 2.6 years, contrasting with the average CEO tenure of 3.9 years and the average CTO tenure of 4.6 years.

Battling isolation in the C-suite

To ensure that product leaders don’t feel isolated in their roles, organisations must ensure that product roles are well-defined and widely understood. This can maximise tenure and help leaders thrive with a product-led approach. Additionally, Ben Elliot, Co-Founder of recruitment agency Found by Few, adds: “Companies need to enable their CPOs with a good team, buy into the product, and create realistic expectations for the role.”

Remy Becher, CPTO at Stepathon, adds that storytelling is the key to effective collaboration with C-suite-level executives. “Successful product leaders define a narrative or strategy and use this to start each meeting,” Remy says. It’s also important to articulate a definitive north star metric. This leads to better collaboration and alignment.

Prioritising self-care in challenging times

With loneliness, isolation, and a lack of confidence rife in product leadership roles, we thought it would be helpful to look at how some established product leaders approach their day. Kate Leto, product leadership coach, stresses the importance of communicating your limits as a product leader, “create boundaries and feel comfortable and competent doing that. A lot of product leaders feel as though they don’t have the right to say no. It is important to understand where that is coming from.”

In addition, Dave Wascha, former CPTO at Zoopla, and advisor at Kindred Capital VC says it’s important to foster the mindset of an athlete: “As senior product people, we need to approach work the way a professional athlete does. Be  intentional about where and when you deploy effort and where and when you recover mentally, emotionally and physically.”

When going through a challenging time as a product leader, Navya Rehani Gupta, CPO at Peek, tends to rely on her product network for support and advice. She says: “I have a big network, and I continue to invest in it. By being active in the product community, whether it’s doing podcasts or writing blogs. That’s been the most effective way for me to get to know other thought leaders because I read their content, they read my content, and people are willing to help.”

CPOs can wield a pivotal influence on organisational change and success, if they can get the rest of the organisation onside. The ability to instil a product-led approach and establish strategic goals is paramount for product leaders to thrive within the demanding challenges of leading product in the C-suite.

Access the full report here to gather more insights on product leadership and innovation.