Coaching Product Managers
Coaching product managers is the primary responsibility of product leaders at top companies. Rather than managing through process or deliverables, great product leaders develop their PMs through deliberate coaching - diagnosing skill gaps, creating development plans, and providing ongoing feedback. This is the only effective way to scale a product organization.
The Guide
3 key steps synthesized from 3 experts.
Define what 'good' looks like in your context
Before you can develop PMs, you need a clear definition of what a successful PM looks like in your specific organization. This isn't a generic job description - it's a detailed competency model that reflects your company's stage, market, and culture. Without this foundation, coaching becomes arbitrary.
Featured guest perspectives
"Step number one is really having a solid definition of what a good product person looks like in your context."— Petra Wille
Use frameworks to diagnose skill levels
Apply educational frameworks like Bloom's Taxonomy to understand where each PM is in their development. Are they at the knowledge level, just learning concepts? Comprehension, where they understand why? Or higher levels like application, analysis, and synthesis? This diagnosis guides your coaching approach.
Featured guest perspectives
"Bloom Taxonomy describes what's the different levels or order of critical thinking you need in order to be a master of something... knowledge, and then it's comprehension, and then application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation."— Bangaly Kaba
Make coaching your primary job
The best product leaders at companies like Google, Apple, and Microsoft treat coaching as their number one responsibility - not strategy, not execution, but developing their people. This is how you scale a product organization: by creating more great PMs rather than trying to do everything yourself.
Featured guest perspectives
"Sundar at Google has been saying that the number one thing they look for in their leaders is a good coach."— Marty Cagan
Common Mistakes
- Managing through process and deliverables instead of developing people
- Applying a one-size-fits-all approach without assessing individual skill levels
- Defining 'good PM' generically rather than contextually for your organization
- Treating coaching as something you do when you have time, rather than your primary job
Signs You're Doing It Well
- Your PMs are growing faster than the industry average and getting promoted
- You can articulate exactly where each PM is in their development and what they need next
- PMs seek you out for coaching rather than avoiding difficult feedback conversations
- Your team's output scales as you hire, rather than bottlenecking on your personal capacity
All Guest Perspectives
Deep dive into what all 3 guests shared about coaching product managers.
Bangaly Kaba
"Bloom Taxonomy describes what's the different levels or order of critical thinking you need in order to be a master of something... knowledge, and then it's comprehension, and then application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation."
Marty Cagan
"Sundar at Google has been saying that the number one thing they look for in their leaders is a good coach."
Petra Wille
"Step number one is really having a solid definition of what a good product person looks like in your context."
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