Mastering Product Leadership: Stephanie Leue's Insights for Navigating Challenges and Building Trust

In this episode, we have the pleasure of speaking with Stephanie Leue, a seasoned product management leader with over 23 years of experience. As the Group Product Manager at Ringier AG, Stephanie brings a wealth of knowledge and fresh perspectives on building successful teams, especially in the face of setbacks. Her insights will help you elevate your product management game and navigate the complexities of leading teams in challenging times.

Key Takeaways:

1. Building and Maintaining Trust Within Teams

• Understand that building trust is a process that takes time and investment
• Embrace the challenges your team faces and listen to their concerns
• Provide transparent communication and back up your decisions with data and strategy
• Believe in the long-term payoff of your decisions, even if they are initially unpopular

1. Measuring Success in Rebuilding Trust

• Introduce metrics like NPS (Net Promoter Score) and CES (Customer Effort Score) to track progress
• Use CES to identify challenges customers face and prioritize improvements accordingly
• Monitor manager NPS to gauge your effectiveness as a leader and identify areas for personal growth

1. Empowering Product Managers to Conduct Research

• Assume good intentions when PMs struggle with customer research or product usage
• Identify and address the barriers holding PMs back, such as lack of time, support, or tools
• Provide the necessary resources and methodologies to enable PMs to gather valuable insights

1. Financial Literacy for Product Managers

• Recognize the importance of financial knowledge, especially as you advance in your career
• Seek out a mentor or ally in your organization who can make financial data accessible and engaging
• Start learning about business acumen and financial metrics early in your career to set yourself up for success

1. Managing Up and Advancing Your Career

• Focus on making your manager's life easier by being a proactive problem-solver
• Understand your company's and manager's biggest challenges and find ways to contribute to their success
• Leverage your strengths, whether introverted or extroverted, to effectively communicate and manage up
• Cultivate patience and calmness in the face of stress and chaos to steer situations more effectively

By applying these insights to your own product management journey, you'll be better equipped to build trust, navigate challenges, and advance your career. Stephanie's wisdom will help you become a more effective leader and drive success for your team and organization.