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Lessons in product leadership and AI strategy from Glean, Google, Amazon, and Slack | Tamar Yehoshua (Product at Glean, ex-Google and Slack)

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Sep 26, 2024

Guest

Tamar Yehoshua

Tamar Yehoshua, the President of Product and Technology at Glean, brings her wealth of experience from Slack, Google, and Amazon to discuss essential lessons in product leadership. She shares insights on building strong cross-functional relationships, emphasizing collaboration with engineers for effective product development. Tamar delves into the transformative role of AI in tech, advocating for embracing new tools for enhanced productivity. She also reflects on leadership principles from industry giants like Jeff Bezos while encouraging flexibility in career growth in today's fast-paced landscape.

01:17:24

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Episode notes

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ADVICE

Prioritize Current Role

Excel in your current role before aiming for the next.
Master technical skills, product knowledge, and metrics, which are essential for tech roles.

insights

INSIGHT

Understand Motivations

Understanding people's motivations is crucial for product and team building.
Ask questions, observe reactions, and consider their goals.

volunteer_activism

ADVICE

Balancing Metrics and Intuition

Don't over-rely on metrics; develop product intuition by understanding customers deeply.
Earn placement prominence; not all features deserve immediate user attention.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

Keys to Career Advancement and Product Mastery

02:02 • 2min

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Understanding People and Motivation in Product Leadership

03:40 • 4min

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Navigating User-Centric Product Development and Career Growth

07:59 • 18min

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Insights on Leadership from Tech Titans

26:17 • 6min

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Navigating the Challenges of Prototyping in Product Development

32:02 • 4min

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AI in Product Development and Team Dynamics

35:39 • 14min

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Embracing AI in Product Management

49:13 • 20min

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Engaging Insights on Leadership and Recommendations

01:08:52 • 2min

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Tech and Treats: A Blend of Interests

01:11:00 • 6min

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This book is a multiple biography centered on Abraham Lincoln's mastery of men and how it shaped the most significant presidency in the nation's history. It explores how Lincoln, despite being a one-term congressman and prairie lawyer, rose to become president by incorporating his rivals—William H. Seward, Salmon P. Chase, and Edward Bates—into his cabinet. The book details Lincoln's extraordinary ability to understand and empathize with others, which enabled him to create an unusual but effective cabinet. It also delves into the challenges Lincoln faced, including incompetent generals, hostile congressmen, and the internal dynamics of his cabinet, highlighting his political genius and managerial skills.

Tamar Yehoshua is the president of product and technology at Glean. Prior to joining Glean, Tamar was chief product officer at Slack, where she led product, design, and research as the company scaled, including a 10x increase in revenue, its public listing, and an acquisition by Salesforce. She also led product and engineering teams at Google, working on search, identity, and privacy, and at A9.com, an Amazon company. Tamar has served on the board of directors for RetailMeNot, ServiceNow, Snyk, and Yext. In our conversation, we discuss:

• Why you don’t need to be a well-run company to win

• The impact of AI on product management and the future of work

• How to build strong cross-functional relationships, especially with engineers

• Lessons learned from working with leaders like Jeff Bezos and Stewart Butterfield

• Strategies for staying ahead in a rapidly evolving tech landscape

• Much more

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Brought to you by:

• Explo—Embed customer-facing analytics in your product

• Sprig⁠⁠—Build products for people, not data points

• Sidebar—Accelerate your career by surrounding yourself with extraordinary peers

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Find the transcript and show notes at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/you-dont-need-to-be-a-well-run-company-to-win-tamar-yehoshua

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Where to find Tamar Yehoshua:

• X: https://x.com/TYehoshua

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tamar-yehoshua-886217/

• Newsletter: https://tamaryehoshua.substack.com/

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Where to find Lenny:

• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com

• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/

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In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Tamar’s background

(02:09) Key advice for career success

(06:54) Understanding people and motivations

(09:33) The importance of impact

(11:20) Navigating company chaos

(18:40) Career planning: a different perspective

(26:22) Lessons from industry leaders

(37:59) Building stronger cross-functional relationships

(42:00) Streamlining OKR reviews with async methods

(45:26) Why you shouldn’t worry so much about making users unhappy

(47:50) The power of listening in leadership

(52:34) How to leverage AI so you don’t fall behind

(01:06:39) Closing thoughts and lightning round

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Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.

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Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

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