Rich Mironov was right: Most CPOs are managing when they should be leading.
You were probably promoted for your product management skills — customer discovery, prioritizing, and executing roadmaps. But leading at the CPO level requires different skills entirely.
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Leading is translating your product strategy into executive buy-in. It’s shielding your teams from whiplash while being responsive to needs across your org. It’s helping the business make smart bets and protecting it from terrible ones.
Not sexy. Not always visible to everyone. But essential.
As Rich says: “You’re the semipermeable membrane between good product work and the chaos outside. You don’t get to win by being right. You win by getting the right things built.”
If you’re stuck in management mode, the shift to leadership is hard — especially if no one taught you how to make it. If this is you, learn more at CPO.studio.
Speak
I gave a talk at Productized in Lisbon on Setting clear product vision when the future is unclear.
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