How to unlock your product leadership skills | Ken Norton, Ex-Google
This episode features Ken Norton, a former Google product leader and executive coach, discussing the creative vs. reactive mindset in leadership, overcoming imposter syndrome, and common blind spots for product managers. He also shares insights on finding and evaluating an executive coach.
Deep Dive Analysis
15 Topic Outline
Introduction to Ken Norton and Executive Coaching
The 'Bring the Donuts' Metaphor for Leadership
Ken's Career Path and Transition to Coaching
Insights from Ken's Own Executive Coaching
Driving Metaphor for Leadership Development
Understanding Creative vs. Reactive Leadership
Impact of Underlying Beliefs on Leadership Style
Authenticity and Internal Goal Setting in Leadership
Self-Coaching and Accessible Leadership Resources
Common Blind Spots for Product Leaders
The Importance of 'Soft Skills' in Product
Strategies for Addressing Imposter Phenomenon
How to Find and Evaluate an Executive Coach
The 10x vs. 10% Thinking for Innovation
Key Advice for Hiring Product Managers
5 Key Concepts
Executive Coaching
Executive coaching is a creative partnership focused on helping clients achieve their self-defined goals and potential. It involves deep listening, curiosity, intuition, and challenging perspectives to help individuals grow and transform, rather than providing direct advice.
Creative vs. Reactive Leadership
This fundamental concept distinguishes leadership styles based on how one responds to the world. Creative leadership operates from a place of openness, possibility, curiosity, passion, growth, and purpose, while reactive leadership stems from fear, seeing problems and threats, and being defensive or self-protective.
Reactive Leadership Postures
These are three common ways leaders operate from a place of fear. The 'complying' posture seeks approval and acceptance, the 'protecting' posture emphasizes needing to be right and defending one's own ideas, and the 'controlling' posture focuses on dominance, winning, and autocratic decision-making.
Imposter Phenomenon
This refers to moments when individuals doubt their abilities or feel like a fraud, despite evidence of their competence. It is particularly common in cross-functional roles like product management due to the ill-defined nature of the job, but it's crucial to acknowledge external biases and systemic issues that may contribute to these feelings.
10x vs. 10% Thinking
This framework encourages aiming for massive, breakthrough innovation rather than incremental improvements. It involves a mindset and culture that supports taking big risks, being willing to fail, and pursuing ideas with the potential for substantial, transformative impact, even if success is not guaranteed.
6 Questions Answered
An executive coach partners with clients to help them achieve their goals and potential, focusing on their definition of success. They use tools like listening, curiosity, and intuition to challenge perspectives and facilitate internal growth, rather than giving direct advice.
Leaders operating reactively often respond from a place of fear, anxiety, or seeing problems and threats. This can manifest as wanting approval (complying), needing to be right (protecting), or wanting control (controlling).
Product leaders should recognize that 'soft skills' like communication, collaboration, and managing difficult conversations are just as important as technical skills. They should invest in training for these areas, practice them intentionally, and value them as core to their role.
Acknowledge that it's a common experience and understand that it can sometimes be reinforced by external biases or systemic issues. Internally, recognize it as an 'inner critic' or 'inner voice,' and practice self-distancing or befriending these parts to regain control and redefine underlying beliefs about leadership.
Look for a coach with whom you feel a sense of trust and authenticity, as fit is crucial. Ask them to describe their coaching approach (e.g., structured vs. pure coaching). Resources include the International Coaching Federation, matchmaking services like BetterUp or Torch, and recommendations from admired leaders. Most coaches offer a free introductory session.
Focus on the intangibles beyond technical skills and structured interview questions. Assess if the candidate can inspire and work effectively with engineers and designers, if they have the right mindset for the job, and if there's clear agreement on what their role will entail, especially for smaller companies.
29 Actionable Insights
1. Adopt Creative Leadership Mindset
Strive to shift your leadership mindset from reactive (fear, problems, threats, defensiveness) to creative (openness, possibility, curiosity, purpose). Research shows creative leadership is positively correlated with success.
2. Define Success Internally
Shift from defining your career goals based on external metrics (e.g., promotions, titles) to internal motivations like creativity, challenge, and purpose. This internal alignment leads to more fulfilling and authentic career navigation.
3. Challenge Leadership Archetypes
Challenge your preconceived notions and underlying beliefs about what an effective leader ‘should’ be, and redefine leadership authentically for yourself, embracing your unique strengths rather than trying to fit a mold.
4. Redefine Long-Term Admiration
If you tend to be a people-pleaser, redefine your goal from immediate likeability to earning long-term admiration and respect. This allows you to lead with purpose and decisiveness while still valuing connection.
5. Manage Inner Critic
When experiencing imposter syndrome, recognize it as an ‘inner critic’ or ‘saboteur’ trying to protect you. Gaining awareness and self-distancing from this voice can help you regain power and perspective.
6. Reassign Inner Critic’s Role
Practice ‘parts work’ by personifying your inner critic (e.g., giving it a name) and consciously reassigning its role. Recognize it as a part of you, not the whole, allowing you to take control and prevent it from dominating your decisions.
7. Identify Your Reactive Tendency
Reflect on which reactive posture you most often fall into: seeking approval, needing to be right, or being controlling. Recognizing your default tendency is the first step to shifting towards a more creative approach.
8. Embrace 10X Thinking
Cultivate a mindset and environment that encourages ‘10X’ thinking, aiming for massive breakthrough innovations rather than just incremental ‘10%’ improvements. Be willing to take big swings and accept potential failure for significant payoff.
9. Prioritize People Skills
Recognize that as you advance in product leadership, ‘people skills’ (communication, collaboration, persuasion, vision-setting) become paramount. Invest in developing these ‘soft skills’ as much as technical ones.
10. Tackle Hard, Squishy Problems
View hard, ‘squishy’ problems without clear-cut solutions as opportunities for growth and impact. These challenges often require adapting your internal complexity management system and are highly valuable to tackle.
11. Practice Self-Coaching & Values
Engage in self-coaching by exploring your core values and what truly matters to you, fostering inner curiosity about your purpose. This internal reflection can be done at any career stage, with or without a formal coach.
12. Ask Yourself Coach Questions
Learn to ask yourself ‘coach questions’ when experiencing emotions or facing challenges. This practice, developed through coaching, helps you gain self-awareness and navigate situations more effectively.
13. Seek Coaching at Milestones
Consider seeking a coach when you’re at a significant career milestone or crossroads, especially if you feel ‘what got me here, isn’t going to get me there.’ This is often when internal transformation is most needed for the next level.
14. Embrace Day-One PM Leadership
Recognize product management as a leadership role from day one, even without formal authority. This helps you embrace the leadership responsibilities inherent in the role.
15. Beware Advice’s Limitations
Be aware that receiving or giving advice often provides a temporary ‘sugar high’ but rarely leads to lasting change or addresses underlying issues. True growth comes from internal discovery, not just external directives.
16. Train Soft Skills
Actively seek training for ‘soft skills’ like having difficult conversations or storytelling, just as you would for technical skills. These are crucial for effective leadership and impact.
17. Dismantle Systemic Bias
As a leader, acknowledge that imposter syndrome can stem from systemic issues like bias and microaggressions, not just individual shortcomings. Take responsibility to identify and dismantle environmental factors that contribute to it for your team.
18. Allocate Innovation Space
Dedicate specific, even small, pockets of resources or time within your team for innovative ‘10X’ bets, separate from core business and incremental work. This fosters a culture of experimentation without betting the entire company.
19. Prioritize Coach Fit
When seeking a coach, prioritize personal fit, trust, and authenticity over specific credentials or experience in your field. Most coaches offer free introductory sessions, so take advantage to gauge compatibility.
20. Broaden Coach Search
Expand your search for a coach beyond those with direct experience in your industry or role. A coach who hasn’t ‘done the job before’ can offer unbiased, pure coaching without defaulting to an advisory role.
21. Evaluate Coach’s Approach
When evaluating a coach, ask them to describe their coaching philosophy and approach (e.g., structured vs. client-led). This helps you determine if their style aligns with your preferences and needs.
22. Use Coach Finding Resources
Utilize resources like the International Coaching Federation, matchmaking services (BetterUp, Torch, Prismatico), or curated lists (e.g., Scale’s list of top PM coaches) to find potential coaches.
23. Ask for Coach Referrals
Seek coach recommendations from leaders whose styles you admire, as they can often suggest coaches aligned with specific developmental needs or coaching philosophies.
24. Hire for PM Intangibles
When hiring product managers, look beyond structured interview questions and technical skills to assess intangible qualities like their ability to inspire, collaborate, and lead cross-functional teams. Ensure they have the right mindset for the role’s demands.
25. Ask About Product Team
As a candidate, ask prospective employers ‘How does the company define a product team?’ This question reveals crucial insights into the company’s culture, collaboration norms, decision-making processes, and the actual role of product management.
26. Inquire About Product Genesis
As a candidate, ask the interviewer to describe how a recently shipped product came to be. This reveals insights into the company’s product development process, empowerment levels, and overall product culture.
27. Leverage Mentors as Coaches
Seek out mentors and managers who adopt a coaching approach, asking curious questions and challenging your perspective rather than just giving advice. Encourage your managers to explicitly switch to a ‘coach hat’ when discussing your growth.
28. Read Key Leadership Books
Explore recommended books like ‘Dare to Lead,’ ‘The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership,’ ‘Mastering Leadership,’ and ‘Immunity to Change.’ These resources offer frameworks and insights for personal and leadership development.
29. Decentralized Team Treats
In a remote world, consider sending DoorDash codes for local treats to team members’ homes. This acts as a decentralized, thoughtful gesture, similar to the ‘bringing the donuts’ metaphor for servant leadership.
6 Key Quotes
You are a leader from day one in product management, right? You don't have any formal authority, but you're a leader. You're expected to lead.
Ken Norton
Advice is not as powerful as you might think it is. Like it's a, it's a little bit like cotton candy. Doesn't have a lot of nutrition and you get a nice sugar high. You feel great. Both sides feel happy. But then a couple of weeks later, a couple of months later, nothing's really changed.
Ken Norton
The most frightening part about it is you look around and everyone is looking at you like you're the designer of the game and you thought you were playing.
Ken Norton
The thing that is hard is probably the thing you should be doing. It's like a compass pointing you to the thing you should do.
Lenny Rachitsky
Rather than I want to leave this room with everyone liking me, I started to realize I want to be the type of leader where a decade later, people say, I would work with that guy again in a heartbeat.
Ken Norton
It's really easy to overlook all these sort of systemic issues that are leading to that imposter syndrome.
Ken Norton