Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | Career

How to be the best coach to product people | Petra Wille (Strong Product People)

Nov 27, 2022

Petra Wille, an independent product leadership coach and author of "Strong Product People," shares her insights on coaching product managers. She discusses the critical importance of effective storytelling and public speaking in career advancement. Petra explores the impact of mentoring on product managers and emphasizes the need for communities in fostering growth. She also introduces the PM Wheel framework designed to enhance coaching and develop essential product management skills.

01:12:17

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Episode guests

Petra Wille

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Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Developing storytelling skills and public speaking abilities is essential for product managers to effectively communicate their ideas and motivate their teams.

To be a better coach for product managers, focus on developing a clear definition of what a good product person looks like, setting a vision for future growth, ensuring alignment, creating development plans, and providing regular guidance and support.

Joining a community of product managers can lead to personal and professional growth, providing opportunities for learning, sharing experiences, seeking advice, and creating a fun and supportive environment for growth.

Deep dives

The Importance of Storytelling and Public Speaking for Career Development

Being able to tell stories and rally a team behind a shared goal is crucial for career growth, especially in product management. Good storytelling techniques and public speaking skills can compensate to some extent for product leaders who may not excel in these areas. However, not reaching a decent level of storytelling and public speaking can be considered a career hindrance. Developing these skills is essential for product managers to effectively communicate their ideas, motivate their teams, and progress in their careers.

The Next Biggest Challenge

03:55

The PM Wheel

01:29

Are You Reading Everything All the Time?

00:40

Recommended Books and Podcasts

01:04

Intro

2min

The Importance of Effective Onboarding and Data Analytics

2min

Exploring the Impact of Product Leadership Coaching

2min

Cultivating Effective Product Leadership

24min

Navigating Knowledge as a PM

4min

The Art and Effort of Storytelling in Leadership

3min

The Art of Storytelling in Product Management

17min

The Power of Community for Product Managers

6min

The Power of Product Communities: Engagement and Growth

4min

10.

Community Dynamics in Product Development

9min

Petra Wille is an independent product leadership coach who’s been helping product teams expand their skill sets since 2013. She’s also the author of Strong Product People, which she published in 2021. Alongside her freelance work, Petra curates and co-organizes Mind The Product Engage Hamburg. She started her career as a software developer and in 2008 went to work at Xing, a German social media site, where she learned from two incredible product leaders: Marty Cagan and Jason Goldberg. In today’s podcast, we talk about Petra’s book, and how to help your team grow as a product leader. Petra also shares how to improve your storytelling skills, get better at public speaking, and why community is so important for product managers.

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Find the full transcript here: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-to-be-the-best-coach-to-product

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Where to find Petra Wille:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/loomista

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/petra-wille-b8b1329/?originalSubdomain=de

• Website: https://www.petra-wille.com/

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Where to find Lenny:

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

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/lennysan

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

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Thank you to our wonderful sponsors for making this episode possible:

• Flatfile: https://www.flatfile.com/lenny

• Mixpanel: https://mixpanel.com/startups

• AssemblyAI: https://www.assemblyai.com/?utm_source=lennyspodcast&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=nov27

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Referenced:

• PMwheel framework: https://www.strongproductpeople.com/pmwheel

• Marty Cagan’s assessment: https://www.svpg.com/coaching-tools-the-assessment/

• PM Daisy: https://pmdaisy.com/

• The Eisenhower matrix for prioritization: https://www.productplan.com/glossary/eisenhower-matrix/

• Continuous Discovery Habits: Discover Products that Create Customer Value and Business Value: https://www.amazon.com/Continuous-Discovery-Habits-Discover-Products/dp/1736633309

• Mochary Method Curriculum: https://docs.google.com/document/d/18FiJbYn53fTtPmphfdCKT2TMWH-8Y2L-MLqDk-MFV4s/edit

• Matt Mochary on Lenny’s podcast: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/videos/how-to-fire-people-with-grace-work-through-fear-and-nurture-innovation-matt-mochary/

• Hans Rosling’s Ted talks: https://www.ted.com/speakers/hans_rosling

• Sarah Kay: If I should have a daughter: https://www.ted.com/talks/sarah_kay_if_i_should_have_a_daughter?

• Nobody Wants to Read Your Sh*t: Why That is and What You Can Do About It: https://www.amazon.com/Nobody-Wants-Read-Your-Sh-ebook/dp/B01GZ1TJBI

• Selling the Dream: https://www.amazon.com/Selling-Dream-Guy-Kawasaki/dp/0887306004

• Nancy Duarte’s website: https://www.duarte.com/

• The 72 Rules of Storytelling: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/72-rules-commercial-storytelling-jeremy-waite/

• The Art of Thinking Clearly:https://www.amazon.com/Art-Thinking-Clearly-Rolf-Dobelli/dp/0062219693

• Outcomes Over Output: https://www.amazon.com/Outcomes-Over-Output-customer-behavior/dp/1091173265

• Martin Erickson’s Decision Stack: https://martineriksson.com/the-decision-stack

• Present Yourself Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/womentalkdesign/present-yourself-a-public-speaking-book

• The Product Experience podcast: https://www.mindtheproduct.com/the-product-experience/

• Product podcast in German: https://www.produktmenschen.de/

• Watch New Amsterdam on Peacock: https://www.peacocktv.com/stream-tv/new-amsterdam

• Harvest bookkeeping and time tracking: https://www.getharvest.com/

• Qanto: https://qonto.com/en

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In this episode, we cover:

(03:35) Petra’s background

(05:51) The things leaders of product teams don’t always understand

(09:33) Why Petra wrote the book Strong Product People to help managers of product teams

(11:21) The five ingredient coaching method

(17:00) Why Petra usually recommends starting coaching with a development plan

(19:31) Why weekly time should be carved out for ‘people development’

(21:16) How to define a competent PM in your organization and tools to help you

(24:06) Petra’s PM Wheel and how she developed it

(27:36) Other info product leads will find useful in Petra’s book

(30:46) Tips for coaching your team

(35:17) How to improve your storytelling

(40:56) How to get better at public speaking

(44:45) Why it’s important to develop good storytelling and public speaking skills

(53:36) The importance of a community of practice for product people

(56:14) Why people tend to stick around when they are supported and growing in a community

(57:53) What to look for in a community

(1:06:48) 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's Podcast: Product | Growth | Career

How to be the best coach to product people | Petra Wille (Strong Product People)

Episode guests

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Deep dives

The Importance of Storytelling and Public Speaking for Career Development

Becoming a Better Coach for Product Managers

The Power of Community for Product Managers

Coaching Tips for PMs

Becoming a Better Storyteller

The Next Biggest Challenge

The PM Wheel

Are You Reading Everything All the Time?

Recommended Books and Podcasts

Remember Everything You Learn from Podcasts