Management Excellence Audio Interview: The CEO Perspective on Product Management

August 26, 2009 By 1 Comment

Notes from Art: I recently mentioned that I would be kicking off the Management Excellence Audio Interview Series, and I’m thrilled to be doing it today with Mike Mulcahy, a technology industry executive that has served as a CEO, a Founder of his own start-up and a Business Unit Leader inside one of the world’s largest organizations.  Oh, and Mike just happens to be one of the best sales professionals that I’ve had the privilege of knowing.

Mike is also one of those all-too-rare top executives that consistently champions the cause of product management inside his organizations. I know this first-hand, because it was Mike that provided me with an early opportunity to build a product management organization from the ground up.

We recently reconnected and Mike highlighted his on-going challenges in supporting the development of great product management and great product managers on his teams. I invited him to share his thoughts and perspectives with the community in this inaugural interview program, and he graciously agreed.

A few last comments and then on to the interview.

  • The audio recording tools that I used are new to me and there are some sound quality issues. Bear with me as I improve those in future interviews.  Fortunately, the issues in this one are that Mike is very audible, and I’m a bit quieter.  At least we got that part right!
  • I took the opportunity to poll the very active pm community out on twitter (#prodmgmt) and asked what they wanted to hear from the CEO. I received some phenomenal questions and based on the volume was only able to tackle a few here during the interview. I’ve included the full listing of the questions below…and encourage all interested parties to share their thoughts on these important issues. They are great content for future posts and interviews as well.
  • Last and not least, Mike has graciously volunteered to field specific questions about the audio interview here on the blog via the comments. Ask away.

With no further adieu, here’s Mike Mulcahy for 17 minutes offering his very experienced perspectives on product management.

The CEO's Perspective on Product Management [ 17:18 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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Summary List of Questions from Product Managers for “the CEO” Via Twitter (#prodmgmt)

Note: some great content for comments, questions and follow-on posts.  Thanks!

  • What is the most compelling problem the CEO faces that he believe a pm can help solve?
  • How does the ceo believe he best connects with the pm team?
  • Does the CEO see prod mgmt becoming commoditized?
  • What metrics does he use to determine if PM is performing well?
  • Does he trust PM to stop development on a dead product?
  • His view on relationships between pm and company/depts.
  • What are the driving metrics he seeks from product mgmt?
  • How does he encourage continuous learning from product management?
  • What is product management’ss role w. development if the company is using agile?
  • Do you view product management as product focused or more product marketing?
  • Is product management really the Voice of the Customer?
  • Does product management have a seat at the leadership table?
  • I am interested to know how he feels about compensation based on product revenue.
  • What innovation initiatives/practices do they have in place?  What is the role of PM in them?
  • How important is domain vs functional pm expertise?
  • How has he positioned the PM function in his org?  i.e. VP level, stand-alone or within marketing or development?
  • Does PM own the product /line of business at a P& L level?

Filed Under: Career, Leadership, Marketing Yourself, Product Management, Surviving Lousy Leaders Tagged With: , , , ,

Leadership Caffeine: Resistance and the Leader

August 3, 2009 By 5 Comments

Author, Steven Pressfield does a masterful job in The War of Art, defining and then describing how to combat Resistance, a powerful and vexing force of human nature that we might most often label as procrastination.

This book should be mandatory once a year reading for anyone over the age of 10!

Resistance is defined as, “…that destructive force inside human nature that rises whenever we consider a tough, long-term course of action that might do for us or others something that’s actually good.”

Resistance shows up in many forms in our daily lives. It’s what keeps us from eating properly, working out regularly, taking that leap into a new job that we’ve been dreaming about for years, and pushes off to some unknown point in the future, the writing of the book that nearly everyone says that they have in them. If none of those examples fit, think of something in your life that you know you should do, but haven’t found the time or had the discipline to do it. That’s resistance.

Resistance shows up in leadership settings and in the workplace in many forms:

-Avoiding tough performance discussions. “They’re uncomfortable and maybe if we ignore them, they’ll go away.”

-Focusing on the fire drills. “We’re swamped. I don’t have time to think about the future.”

-Allowing the environment to govern your energy level and attitude. “This place drains the life out of you. If they don’t care, why should I?”

-Silencing voices. “I know we can do better, but no one will listen to me.”

-Resisting change. “That’s not the way we do it here. Every time someone suggests something different, they get shot down.”

-Bowing to bureaucracy. “I just follow the company policy.”

-Not actively supporting the development of others. “HR doesn’t offer the training that we need.”

Excuses, and poor ones at that.

Of course, we’re all human, and in my experience, even the most conscientious of leaders are capable of occasionally succumbing to the tyranny of resistance. I’ve observed good leaders grow a bit too comfortable with their teams and performance and almost unknowingly, they ratchet down their energy and intensity.

Those that are perceived as the strongest sometimes struggle very deeply with their own resistance. A retired CEO described to me that his biggest regret was never having the courage to conduct the tough discussions with his executives. He wondered how much his inaction in this area might have costs his companies over his career.

Ideas for Overcoming the Resistance of the Leader:

  • Go back to basics. Revisit the core definition of your role as a leader. If your priorities aren’t about creating an effective working environment, supporting others to achieve their objectives and supporting others to grow and develop in their careers, you need to redefine your role.
  • Assess: what keeps you from acting on your core priorities? Is it like a diet, where you rationalize that it’s OK to cheat, because you’ll run an extra lap later? Or do you genuinely need some help, mentoring, training or guidance to develop the skill needed to execute on your priority?
  • Analyze your calendar. Eliminate as many “status update” meetings on your calendar and see if anyone notices. Fill that time with one on one and in group discussions about topics that involve improving, growing, developing, innovating or doing anything other than talking about the darned status.
  • Give yourself structure. If you are project oriented, define your own personal improvement project, and measure and track your performance on doing the things you’ve historically avoided. This is a powerful approach for those that benefit from measures and rigor. I’m happy to offer suggestions on creating one of these if anyone is interested. You can e-mail me and I promise to get back quickly.
  • Add more structure.  Develop a routine that helps push resistance out of time and space. I write my posts at a certain time every day and I force myself to ignore phone calls, e-mails, tweets and fire alarms until the post is completed. Dedicate lunches to talking with your team members or block out calendar time to do nothing other than focus on development and coaching.
  • Find some healthy peer pressure. Find a similarly motivated peer and hold each other accountable. I do this with a colleague of mine and we push each other. Just the knowledge that I would have to listen to him give me grief if I drop the ball on something that I’ve committed to, is enough to help me overcome my own resistance.

The Bottom Line:

Call it resistance or procrastination or just plain laziness, the symptoms and outcomes are the same. Nothing.

Overcoming resistance requires more than a slogan and a sports drink. If you are conscientious enough to be reading my posts, you are capable of identifying and defeating your sources of resistance.

You might start with reading Pressfield’s book as a source of inspiration. That is if you can overcome the resistance that so often keeps us from cracking the cover and results in a stack of things that you plan on reading someday.

Have a great week and recognize the enemy of your progress and start taking action. Resistance hates action, and once in motion, action wins every time.

Filed Under: "To Do" List, Career, Leadership, Leadership Caffeine, Leading Change, Performance, Professional Growth Tagged With: , , , , ,

Leadership Caffeine for the Week: Too Much Time with the Wrong People

July 13, 2009 By 19 Comments

My biggest mistakes as a leader occurred as a result of spending way too much time attempting to change two people. I was young, new to the formal leadership scene and convinced that with my help and guidance, these two talented individuals would certainly shed their dysfunctional and toxic behaviors.

Wow, was I wrong!

After a lot of time, money, coaching, counseling and training, one lawsuit and one person storming out never to be seen again, along with untold amounts of collateral damage to the team and my own credibility as a leader, I had learned my lesson. People do not fundamentally change their nature.

I’ve been accused of sounding cynical and jaded as a result of my own early misfires, and perhaps I am. Nonetheless, I learned in a painful way why I needed to hire slowly and fire fast and have been well served incorporating this approach since learning those painful lessons.

In workshop settings, I present appropriately sanitized versions of those now two-decade old cases and it is fascinating to watch people make my same mistakes over and over again. Without getting into too much detail, both cases include talented individuals that wreak havoc on teams through their approaches. They are toxic, but they are both so freaking talented at their jobs, that it is easy for people and their manager to excuse their behaviors. “That’s just Bob,” or “That’s just Suzy.” In essence, the manager and those around them become their enablers and excusers.

After reviewing the case and debating “what to do” in small groups, I invariably get these responses:

-Create a new position

-Put him/her in a different role

-More coaching

Almost no one suggests firing the individuals until I play the annoying devil’s advocate on the above suggestions.

The unfortunate reality is that many managers are unprepared to deal with the “brilliant problem-child” character and they fall victim to the same fate as the erstwhile frog in the “Parable of the Scorpion and the Frog.”

Sidebar: In case you haven’t heard it: Scorpion needs a ride across a pond and asks the frog to carry him over on his back.  Frog at first says, “No, you’ll sting me and we’ll both die and what purpose would that serve?  Scorpion says, “No I won’t, I’ve changed.”  Frog thinks about it for a while, says, “OK, jump on.”  The frog starts swimming across the pond, gets halfway, the scorpion stings him and as he’s going down, he asks, “Why did you do that?”  The Scorpion responds, “I can’t help it, it’s my nature.”

The Bottom Line for Now:

You cannot change people. They have to want to change and unfortunately, deep, lasting and significant change is rare indeed. Like the scorpion above, people don’t change their nature.

You are in danger of spending too much time with the wrong people. Cut it out. Focus on those that are striving to learn and grow.

Hire very, very slowly and fire fast. You’ll make fewer critical mistakes this way.

Filed Under: "To Do" List, Career, Decision-Making, Leadership, Leadership Caffeine, Leading Change, Performance, Values Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Effective Leadership: How Do You Know When You Are Getting It Right?

July 10, 2009 By 5 Comments

If you’ve spent time in a leadership role, you know that it is remarkably difficult to get good quality feedback on how you are doing and for that matter, how everyone else is doing under your leadership.

If you haven’t wondered about this, you are either naïve or you are caught up in all of the nice things that people say in your presence. Newsflash: almost no one tells the boss he stinks, when he’s in the room.

Some of the worst leaders that I’ve had the displeasure to cross paths with, plied their evil practices with glee, protected by the cheering throngs around them. Behind their backs however, conversations sounded a lot like a planning session for a greeting party for Caesar during March. If I’m not mistaken, I heard the sound of knives being sharpened.

Alternatively, some of the best leaders and managers that I’ve encountered struggled a great deal with this issue. They heard the same cheers but were curious and concerned enough to wonder whether the cheering was for the title or the person and practices.

Some organizations attempt to remedy this by the use of assessments of various types, and these absolutely can be helpful. Nonetheless, I find assessments a lot like wondering what the temperature is outside on a sunny day by turning on the television.  It’s a lot more real if you stick your head out the door and feel it for yourself.

I write and talk and mentor from the perspective that a primary task of a leader is to create the effective working environment. While the pace and energy of the environment may vary depending upon business or cultural circumstances, it is always up to the leader to infuse the environment with the values and practices that support accountability, results, innovation, fair-play and even creativity and innovation, to name a few.

Taking this a step further, I encourage leaders to look for signs in the environment that their leadership practices are working. While this approach lacks the rigor that some HR professionals like about formal assessments, an astute leader can learn to stick her head out the door and get a pretty good feel for the temperature of her leadership practices.

The Seven Indicators of the Effective Work Environment

  1. Individuals and teams display a great deal of pride, collaboration and cooperation to meet and exceed objectives.
  2. Failure to meet or exceed objectives is met with healthy frustration that quickly is channeled into lessons-learned and “what we’ll do better” discussions.
  3. Regardless of individual roles, teams spontaneously assemble to meet specific challenges and then dissolve once the challenges have been met.
  4. The group becomes self-policing on quality, timeliness and conduct.
  5. The drive to innovate and create value comes from within the team not from management.
  6. The teams learn how to fight and to play together.
  7. Output tangibly supports strategic objectives and improves the ability of the organization to meet customer needs.

While there is a great deal of subjectivity in judging the Seven Indicators, I’m OK with you’ll know it when you see and feel it or when you don’t. The weatherman can give you all of the meteorological reasons behind the sunny day you see through the window, but until you step outside of your Chicago office in February and feel your nose hairs freeze on your first breath, you don’t truly know what it’s like out there. (OK, metaphors aren’t my strong suit!)

The Bottom-Line for Now:

The best leaders are critically aware of their role and power in shaping the environment on their teams and inside their organizations. They are also aware that almost no one will ever provide the boss honest, actionable feedback on performance. I encourage leaders to develop an extreme awareness of what is going on around them as the best indicator of their effectiveness. Pay attention, look, listen and then ask questions and take actions that help people solve problems. Do this enough and that sunny day might just feel a whole lot warmer.

Filed Under: "To Do" List, Leadership, Performance Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Collaboration and the Leader

June 25, 2009 By 13 Comments

Many leaders are lousy collaborators.

It doesn’t seem to matter that they spend a great deal of time encouraging, coaching and facilitating collaboration between their team members and across functional boundaries. When it comes time for Leader A to work with Leader B on something other than getting other people to do things, the dynamics get interesting and the output is often disappointing.

I’ve had somewhere between five and ten great, collaborative experiences with other peers during my two plus decades of leading teams. I’ve had considerably more experiences where the efforts ultimately ground to a halt.

While I have to factor in the very real possibility that I might just suck at collaborating, I look at those that worked as some of the most formative and enjoyable experiences of my career. They also resulted in remarkable value creation for our firms in the form of business and market strategies, talent development, organizational design and development and new venture planning.

My unscientific observations on why leaders often fail to collaborate effectively with other leaders are as follows:

  • We forget how to work or, at least we forget how to do work that results in output other than talking. I observe this a great deal during strategic planning activities, where senior leaders have a seat at the table, but when push comes to shove on tangibly contributing, you can feel the breeze from the speed that they delegate the work. I noticed this myself as I moved out of the corporate and team environment into the life of a soloist. “What do you mean I have to write all my own web copy?”
  • We irrationally view collaboration as weakness. Many leaders are inherently uncomfortable relying on someone else to supply input. While not an admirable trait, it is a common one. Leaders incorrectly believe that they are in their positions because they know the answers. Working with someone and task sharing or accepting the ideas of others as better than their own is a challenge to their overly inflated egos.
  • The CEO does not create a culture that requires and promotes collaboration at all levels. Often, the CEO works with his/her subordinates one on one rather than as a team. The subordinates become conditioned to working directly with the decision maker and are out of their element when asked to do something as unconventional as work with a peer to create and to solve problems.
  • It’s a power thing. Back to the weakness topic, but with a twist. One interaction that I had with a smart individual (peer) failed to materialize in spite of several years of genuine attempts on my part to find common ground. At the end of the day, it was clear that he viewed any joint work that impacted his functional area as a threat to his power. It didn’t help that he had one of his key lieutenants that saw this as well and fed his paranoia.

What’s a Leader to Do?

  • Get over yourself! It’s a lean, mean world right now, and the better you are able to find ways to participate in value-creating activities with the leaders around you, the better off your firm will be.
  • CEO, build in accountability for collaboration. We do what we are paid to do and what we are measured against. Create appropriate shared performance indicators and objectives, and put some teeth in them. While the initial efforts might look like compliance, some successes will breed increasing cooperation.
  • Focus on creating collaborative activities around items that impact customers directly or at least impact a firm’s ability to serve customers in a tangible way. Instead of two leaders charged with fixing what’s broken about their departments, focus on getting the leaders to create something that is all about the customer. The internal fix-it activities will start to occur in support of the broader and more noble and neutral initiative.
  • Re-learn how to work. Pick a solo project that doesn’t immediately require you to delegate and execute on it. Develop and deliver a keynote, write an article, volunteer for a webinar or focus on improving relationships with your counterparts at your customers and partners. Don’t step on your team members toes and don’t making them crazy with your personal initiatives, but definitely do something that requires you to generate output. You’ll be better prepared to do the same when it comes time to collaborate with a peer.

The Bottom-Line for Now:

In my own experience and as an observer in client firms, the situations where the collaborative efforts between leaders worked, produced great results. Problems were solved, the working environment for everyone improved and value was created in the process. CEOs and senior leaders would be well served to look around the table and find a reason to start working together more effectively.

Filed Under: "To Do" List, Leadership, Leading Change, Management Innovation, Performance Tagged With: , , , , ,
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