Published 20 February 2024

· 9 min read

Product management: Outdated? The inevitable rise of the product leader

In this article, Yohay Etsion, a product management executive and coach, explores the transformative shift from traditional product management to the dynamic role of a product leader.

Introduction

As the modern business landscape evolves, traditional roles and practices are challenged. This disruption is evident in the product domain, with the transition from product management to product leadership taking center stage. This post aims to explore the evolution of product organizations, reveal why traditional product management is only part of these evolved organizations, and why we see product leaders acquiring a new set of skills, from a multitude of product proficiencies. This allows those product leaders to take wider business and product ownership.

The evolution of the product organization

Traditionally, product organizations focused primarily on product management, a practice dominated by product managers and VP/directors. However, this conventional model has evolved into a holistic “product organization” that encompasses all product-related functions.

The traditional model of product management has been steadily undergoing an evolution. The contemporary product organization now includes a diverse set of roles that extend beyond product management and product development. Notably, product marketing, business operations, and competitive intelligence roles have grown significantly in their influence. Departments like product design (56%), product operations (34%), technical writing (17%) frequently report to product leadership, and in some surprising cases, so does customer success (15.7%). Moreover, a whopping “98% of respondents already have or plan to have a designated employee in a product ops role within the next year,” cementing the fact that this role has become a vital cog in the organization. [ProductPlan, State of Product Management Annual Report, 2023].

This new product organization comprises various interconnected practices such as product marketing, business development, business operations, product operations, competitive intelligence, and value realization. The transformation has been driven by the need for a more comprehensive approach, one that caters to the trifecta of business, market, and customers.

Why are traditional product management skills not enough for the product leader?

Over the last 15 years, my career has spanned technological leadership in the Israeli Airforce to various positions in product and solution management, product marketing, business development, business operations, and eventually leadership roles including VP Product and GM. I believe this journey has given me a comprehensive view of the evolving nature of Product.

Throughout my career, I’ve seen how critical it is for product leaders to not just manage products, but to lead them. This requires expertise and proficiency in a range of activities that extend beyond the typical product manager’s toolkit and deliver value across three main pillars: strategy formulation, strategy articulation, and strategy enablement.

Strategic formulation is about building the vision, business plan, marketing plan. It’s about seeing the big picture and defining a product’s purpose, scope, and competitive advantage. Meanwhile, strategy articulation involves communicating these strategic decisions effectively. It’s about constructing roadmaps, defining product requirements, and crafting marketing collaterals. Lastly, strategy enablement is the operational component, the implementation of these strategies through product operations, competitive intelligence, UX, and more.

According to Product School’s Future of Product Management Report, 2023 , building out the product strategy and roadmap (33%), collecting customer feedback (26%), and launching new products and features to market (21%) are the most challenging activities to track and measure success. Communicating the product’s strategic direction also continues to be a significant challenge for many product organizations (14%). This points to an inherent gap in the traditional product management role: the need for a more comprehensive understanding of the business, market, and customers.

How did this wider perspective transform the role of the product leader?

The limitations of traditional product management bring us to the inevitable rise of the product leader. This role evolves beyond basic product management, bringing value across multiple product proficiency directions. Product leaders are focused on understanding the trifecta of business-market-customers, delivering value within the realms of strategy formulation, strategy articulation, and strategy enablement.

Strategy formulation: Delivers the highest value offered by a product leader and is where the grand vision for a product is born. Product leaders must align the company’s objectives with the identified market needs, competitive landscape, and technological trends to craft a compelling and differentiating product strategy.

The core product practices related to this level include competitive intelligence, market research, and product strategy. Business goals and objectives are the driving force of product strategy for 46% of companies, according to Product School’s Future of Product Management Report, 2023, emphasizing the importance of solid strategy formulation.

Strategy articulation: Positioned in the middle of the value hierarchy, this aspect underscores the product leader’s role in effectively converting high-level strategy into concrete plans and objectives for the entire organization to understand and act upon. This involves crafting comprehensive product roadmaps, defining product specifications, and articulating the product’s value proposition to both internal and external stakeholders.

Key practices in this stage include product management, product marketing, technical writing, and UX design. It’s at this juncture where the product’s features, user experience, and unique selling propositions are explicitly laid out and communicated. Data from Product School’s Future of Product Management Report, 2023 reveals that aiding in planning and prioritization (28%), conveying product strategy (27%), and detailing milestones and release dates (25%) stand as the primary objectives of product roadmaps, underscoring the critical nature of effective strategy articulation.

Strategy enablement: Situated at the base of the value hierarchy, this phase is where strategies and plans are actualized. It encompasses marshaling resources, coordinating teams, defining processes, and measuring performance to ensure the successful execution of the product strategy. This stage is pivotal in turning plans into tangible outcomes.

Key practices in strategy enablement include business operations, product operations, and business development. According to Product School, 33% of product executives report that tracking and measuring the execution of product strategy, roadmap, and go-to-market strategies is their most challenging task. This statistic underscores that effective strategy enablement presents a considerable challenge for many product organizations.

These categories describe different areas in which a product leader delivers value. They demonstrate a product leader’s diverse role in not just creating strategy but also in communicating it effectively and making sure it comes to life in the organization’s operations.

Thus, the product leader is an evolved professional, taking a holistic approach that encompasses the trifecta of business, market, and customers .

Macroscopic perspective: Product leaders prioritize a comprehensive, top-down view of the business, market, and customers. This means they focus on the bigger picture, using a strategic lens to understand the whole system rather than becoming absorbed in minute details. They base their decision-making and prioritization on a broad understanding of the organizational landscape, though they can also delve into specifics to substantiate their strategies.

Optimal timing: Product leaders understand the importance of timing in achieving strategic goals. They ensure actions and decisions happen at the right moment, rather than rushing to get things done as soon as possible. This ‘just-in-time’ philosophy extends to product launches, strategic decisions, and more, ensuring alignment with market trends, customer needs, and organizational readiness.

Adaptive fluidity: Product leaders are aware that the business environment is in constant flux. They promote resilience and adaptability, preparing their teams to effectively navigate changes in market conditions, customer demands, macroeconomic factors, and internal processes. They view strategic documents such as vision statements, roadmaps, and business plans as flexible guides that can and should be adjusted as needed.

Decision making: Product leaders are primarily responsible for defining ‘what’ needs to be done, ‘why’, and in what priority. They leave the ‘how’ up to execution-focused roles (e.g., sales, R&D, QA). This division of responsibilities ensures that product leaders can focus on the strategic side of the business, leaving tactical execution to those best suited to the task.

Communication diversity: Product leaders understand the importance of tailoring communication to different audiences. They adjust their messaging depending on whether they’re communicating with executive management, R&D, sales, customers, competitors, partners, analysts, or other managers. This principle recognizes the varied expectations and information needs of different stakeholder groups.

Representative mindset: Product leaders adopt a stance that represents the best interests of the business, market, and customers, based on quantitative and qualitative data. They act and communicate based on this data-driven representation, not their personal opinions or biases. This mindset ensures decisions and actions are grounded in facts and the broader strategic context.

Strategic decomposition: Product leaders have the ability to break down complex problems into smaller, manageable challenges. They categorize and prioritize these challenges, focusing on defining ‘what’ needs to be solved rather than ‘how’ to solve it. This approach enables more effective problem management and prioritization, ensuring the most critical issues are addressed first.

These principles underpin the approach that product leaders take to their role. They highlight the importance of strategic thinking, data-driven decision-making, adaptability, and effective communication, all of which are key to leading product practices in today’s dynamic business environment.

These principles highlight the importance of strategic thinking, data-driven decision-making, adaptability, and effective communication in today’s dynamic business environment.

Conclusion

In business, roles must adapt to stay relevant and deliver the best value. The evolution of product organizations has necessitated the transition from traditional product management to a broader, more strategic role: the product leader. This role is characterized by a macroscopic perspective, an understanding of optimal timing, adaptive fluidity, decision-making prowess, communication diversity, a representative mindset, and the ability to decompose problems strategically..

The evolution of the product leader signals a shift in the product management paradigm and calls for an upgrade in skills, perspectives, and practices. It is an invitation for aspiring product managers, challenged with their career trajectory, to evolve into a role that promises more strategic engagement, more influence, and ultimately, more value to the organizations they serve.