#132 Modern API Integration Strategies, The Art of Influence, & Balancing Strategic Vision with Day-to-Day Leadership w/ Anuj Jhunjhunwala Director of Product at Merge.

Hey Listener,In this interview with Anuj Jhunjhunwala, Director of Product at Merge, we discussed how it’s easier than ever to develop API integrations between dozens of enterprise systems and how you can create a better API strategy for your products.

Connect with Anuj on Linkedin.

Listen now on Apple and Spotify.

Modern API strategies for enterprise SAAS

It's easier to take the time and money to make something custom to your business.

But this isn't always cost-effective for repeatable tasks like integrating with CRMs, HR systems, and other business-critical processes that have established solutions.

From Anuj's perspective, interpersonal skills and good team stewardship are the starting points of a good API roadmap. These skills play a significant role in bringing out the best in people to execute something as tricky as API integration development.

Product managers, engineering leaders, and even designers must be aware of services like Merge to drive scalable and quick-to-market API integrations to HR systems and CRMs your customers need to use your product effectively. Coding and integration into Salesforce from scratch is a problem that has already been solved and could easily be a buy solution for your product.

Making the switch to Product Management

In past episodes, I’ve been critical of the product management job family, which made me very reluctant to follow mentorship feedback that I should switch from design to product management.

He provided some perspectives on my critique that evoked empathy regarding the role of product management. So, Anuj, if you are reading this, Thank you for your patience and gracefulness in addressing my concerns about this career move; this conversation was pivotal in finally making the switch earlier last year.

Actionable Takeaways

* The Power of Hospitality in Unblocking Success. The Virtue of Consideration.

* Influence Without Authority: The One Thing Most PM’s Fail To Do—and Why

* Balancing Professional and Personal Growth. How “Getting a Life” is a Growth Hack.

The power of hospitality in unblocking success.

"As PMs, in many ways, we are in the hospitality industry. There are different customers we serve."

– Anuj Jhunjhunwala

Action Tip: What does putting yourself in other people's shoes mean?

It first requires you to understand your perspective. Understand why you feel a certain way about a direction.Only then can you put yourself in someone else's shoes and see how their perspective has led them to a different conclusion than yours. Finally, asking clarifying questions to reconcile your perspective and their perspective is what empathy is.

Influence Without Authority: The One Thing Most PM’s Fail to Do.

Every company needs someone who is talking to customers and understanding their pain points and translating that into something actionable."

– Anuj Jhunjhunwala

Action Tip: Work on building trust and relationships. Trust is the only currency product managers can effectively deploy in a position where they cannot exercise direct authority over business operations.Influence through inspiration rather than assertion, and create a collaborative environment where ideas can thrive.In your role as a product manager, you may not always have formal authority, yet you possess the potential to guide your team. Anuj reminded me that influence comes from inspiring and convincing others, skills he honed at work and home as a parent.

Balancing Professional and Personal Growth

"Paradoxically, having less time means I need to be more intentional and productive with the time I have."

– Anuj Jhunjhunwala

Action Tip: Balancing a high-demand role with a personal life and family can be daunting. It's led to many people delaying things like family and hobbies to build their careers.

Paradoxically, not broadening your perspectives through things like having children, getting involved in the arts, and having a non-work hobby can make you less effective over the course of your career through Parkinson's law. More time leads to less urgency. Less urgency leads to lazy thinking. Having too much time leads to you filling it with work—effort that might not have needed to happen if you had some health constraints to prevent it from happening. Anuj's experiences as a young parent show the paradoxical benefit of having people outside of work who rely on him to be present and with them.

It forces you to prioritize what matters most and establish clear boundaries.

Now that you have a fixed amount of time to complete work, you will be forced to understand the true meaning of prioritization. You will do only the one thing that makes the most sense right now and de-prioritize everything else.

Cheers!

Caden Damiano

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