Practical strategies for building influence and confidence from a Product VP coach

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TLDR

In this episode, I talk with Rebecca Arora, founder of Access Alignment, executive coach, and author of Somatic Intelligence, about making the transition from successful product manager or director to VP of Product and beyond. Rebecca shares practical strategies for this professional transition, including the need to shift from domain expertise to people leadership, the importance of relationship mapping, communication skills, and strategic thinking. She offers advice on handling stress, leveraging self-awareness, and using coaching techniques to empower teams. We also explore how to set yourself up for success in the first 90 days of a new leadership role.

Introduction

Let’s say you’re a product manager, you have done outstanding work, and you’re getting promoted to Product VP. Congratulations! The excitement lasts about 24 hours before reality hits. Suddenly you’re responsible for product strategy, team leadership, board presentations, and influencing executives. The skills that made you successful as an individual contributor won’t be enough to make you successful as a Product VP. How do you make this transition?

Many of the Product VPs I have talked with use a professional coach to help them move from doing product management work to leading the people who do the work. Our guest today is one of those coaches who has helped several Product VPs. From this episode, you’ll learn practical steps to take for making a similar transition from individual contributor to leader, setting yourself up for long-term success. 

Our guest is Rebecca Arora, founder of Access Alignment and author of Somatic Intelligence. Rebecca has a unique background – she was a Co-Founder and the first Product Leader at Mode Media, which scaled to become the #1 lifestyle digital media company. She also contributed to product strategy at Oracle. For the past 16 years, she’s been coaching C-suite leaders and top execs in all functions (including Product). Rebecca’s clients work at exceptional companies such as Google, Salesforce, IDEO, Pinterest, Blue Shield of California, Accenture, and many more. Her book, Somatic Intelligence, helps leaders align head, heart, and body to lead with awareness, confidence, and clarity. 

Summary of Concepts Discussed for Product Managers

Transitioning from Individual Contributor to Leader:
Rebecca describes the challenges facing newly promoted Product VPs, noting the skills that made you a great product manager may not be sufficient as a senior leader. The key leap is shifting your mindset from being an expert to becoming more of a coach and empowering others.

The Company as Your Product:
As you move up, your sphere of influence expands. Rebecca encourages leaders to think of the company and entire industry as their “product,” applying product management skills to relationships, organizations, and strategy, not just the features you build.

Overcoming the Expert Trap:
Product leaders can struggle with letting go of being the domain expert and instead fostering empowerment and growth in others. Rebecca advises asking open-ended coaching questions and making space for your team to experiment—even if they do things differently from how you would.

Relationship Mapping and Communication:
Building new relationships is a priority. Rebecca suggests creating a relationship map to identify stakeholders and potential influencers, addressing conflicts, and strengthening weak connections. Top product leaders may leverage communication coaching to refine their tone and message delivery.

Self-Awareness and Blind Spots:
While developing your own self-awareness, simultaneously encourage self-awareness from your team. Rebecca advocates for collecting feedback, self-assessment, and being aware of personality differences within a team. She highlights the value of recognizing your blind spots and understanding that not everyone is motivated or learns the same way you do. You cannot always guide people the way you want to be guided.

360-degree Feedback:
Product leaders can get 360-degree feedback by interviewing their boss, direct reports, peers, and other stakeholders and ask them, “What are my strengths?” and “What could I improve upon?”

First 90 Days in a Product Leadership Role:
Rebecca’s advice is to go on a listening tour—ask lots of questions and be curious. Apply user research principles to understanding the organization. Prioritize relationship-building at all levels. Hone your strategic, long-range industry viewpoint.

Managing Stress and Personal Growth:
The transition to senior leadership is stressful and can feel isolating. Rebecca shares practical tips: slow down (“Slow is smooth. Smooth is fast.”), lean back to get perspective on challenges, smile more, and use humor to reset your mindset. Rebecca recommends that during a stressful time, product leaders can draw on somatic intelligence by engaging their body and not just their mind.

Useful Links

• Connect with Rebecca on LinkedIn
• Check out Rebecca’s YouTube channel, Access Alignment
• Learn more about Access Alignment
• Check out Rebecca’s book, Somatic Intelligence

Innovation Quote

“What got you here won’t get you there.” – Marshall Goldsmith

Application Questions

1. How would you apply the idea of viewing your organization as a “product” to your current product management approach?
2. What have been your biggest challenges (or observed challenges) in moving into a leadership role, and how did you address them?
3. Which stakeholders or relationships in your organization could benefit from deliberate mapping and attention, and how would you prioritize them?
4. How do you currently gather feedback on your blind spots? Whom could you interview for 360-degree feedback?
5. What techniques or habits help you manage stress and uncertainty?

Bio

Rebecca is a former tech co-founder (and Product Manager) who coaches CEOs and executive leaders. She’s a confidential sounding board, seer of blind spots, and leadership expert who enables senior leaders to scale effectively, build strong teams, and lead strategically. Rebecca’s clients work at exceptional companies such as Google, Salesforce, IDEO, Pinterest, Blue Shield of California, and Accenture. 

Her book, Somatic Intelligence, helps leaders align head, heart, and body to lead with awareness, confidence, and clarity. 

Rebecca experienced a career detour due to burnout and a quarter-life crisis. During that time, she discovered various healing resources foundational to her work as a coach. 

Thanks!

Thank you for taking the journey to product mastery and learning with me from the successes and failures of product innovators, managers, and developers. If you enjoyed the discussion, help out a fellow product manager by sharing it using the social media buttons you see below.

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