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Mind the Product

Product Management

Sunday Rewind: Metrics don’t have all the answers: a human-centered approach to business strategy by Samihah Azim

An Anthropic report on Claude misuse, Intel restructuring and layoffs: This week’s news round-up

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Why great product managers think like therapists

When your product is not THE product by Emily Tate at #mtpcon London 2025

Spotify invests in non-English audiobooks, new product chief at Trainline: This week’s news round-up

What AI can’t—and shouldn’t—do for product managers

How and when to sunset features – Roni Ben Aharon (CPO, Craft.io, Booking.com, Wix)

Andres is a freelance writer and digital marketer with a background in engineering and a keen interest in the latest technology advancements. He currently helps tech companies and startups tell their stories by turning their complex ideas into easy to understand material. You can reach out to him on LinkedIn

Andres Phillips

<p>In this ProductTank London talk, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/saenea" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Aeneas McDonnell</a>, Director of Product at <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Times and Sunday Times</a> shares with us some guidelines on how we as product people can be leaders without having clear authority. His key points include:</p>
<ul>
<li>Anyone can be a leader</li>
<li>Positioning to lead</li>
<li>Skills</li>
<li>Leading through levels</li>
</ul>
<p>Watch the video to see Aeneas’s talk in full. Or read on for an overview of his key points.</p>
<h2>Anyone can be a Leader</h2>
<p>In this world, it’s indicated that you generally need to be in a position of authority in order to lead. However, Aeneas argues that anyone can be a leader. Leadership, he says, is a choice you make rather than a place where you sit. You simply need to give people a reason to believe in your vision and the work you are doing. Also, despite people in positions of authority being the ones that lead, authority doesn’t always lead to good outcomes. Product people can often find themselves in situations where there is chaos. To lead from such positions, it requires putting structures in place to be able to influence.</p>
<h2>Positioning to Lead</h2>
<p>Aeneas describes himself as a reluctant leader. Many persons in a team may find themselves in this exact situation. Instead of being driven to lead, he is instead driven to make sure that good decisions are being made. When positioning to lead, you need to have an intuition about the context of the problem you are trying to solve and be able to adapt.</p>
<h2>Skills</h2>
<p>Leadership is an art rather than a science, but you still need skills to be able to lead properly. Aeneas recommends focusing on the problem rather than the solution. Understand the problem in its entirety and then work on finding the best solution rather than trying too many solutions too quickly. Leaders need to have a perspective of the different members of their team and also be aware of different parts of the organization.</p>
<h2>Leading Through Levels</h2>
<p>Product people need to be aware of their circles of influence and their stakeholders so that they can lead across the organization. The key takeaways from this talk are that influence and not authority is the key to success as a leader. You need to find the right people to help you as a product person and you need to embrace the journey.</p>

core/freeform

A year with ChatGPT and product innovation: Navigating the AI landscape

Mastering perspective – zoom in, zoom out as a product leader by Navya Rehani Gupta

Modern-day leadership by Janice Fraser

Master the art of leading through influence by Shyvee Shi

Is your innovation project on track? by Tendayi Viki

Finding your frosting as a product leader by Jeff Birkeland

Learnings from London: The secret sauce to hiring great product people by Kate Leto

Incomplete by design – Matt LeMay at MTP Engage Hamburg 2022

Learnings from London: Going from Meh to Awesome by Shiva Rajaraman

The art of product management with Ken Norton

Leadership Without Authority By Aeneas McDonnell

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