How is product leadership changing? - Christian Idiodi (SVPG)

Christian Idiodi, partner at Silicon Valley Product Group, returns to The Product Experience to challenge long-held assumptions about product leadership, culture, and strategy.

Chapters

• 00:00 — The environment, not the people
• 02:00 — Building product leadership in Africa
• 06:00 — Stories of impact
• 10:00 — What real leadership means
• 14:00 — Managing minds, not hands
• 19:00 — The “first team” mindset
• 23:00 — Focus, not prioritisation
• 25:00 — Scaling and the myth of process
• 29:00 — AI and the redefinition of excellence
• 35:00 — Creating space for practice
• 40:00 — Product crits and leadership feedback
• 41:30 — Inspire Africa Conference

Key Takeaways

• Better outcomes start with better environments. Leadership is about designing the conditions for people to do their best work — not managing their output.
• Africa is building for Africa, by Africans. The Inspire Africa Conference is catalysing coaching, capital, and community to accelerate meaningful innovation.
• Strategy defines focus. If prioritisation is hard, the strategy probably isn’t real.
• Leadership is a different sport. Managing people’s minds, not hands, requires context, clarity, and trust — not control.
• AI won’t replace good leaders. But it might replace bad leadership. Judgment, product sense, and curiosity are the new differentiators.
• Create practice space. Growth requires safety to make mistakes, experiment, and learn — at every level of the organisation.
• Critique is culture. Teams that coach and critique together develop sharper thinking and stronger product judgment.

Featured Links