“The CPO’s unique role is to align the executive team on strategy and objectives.”

My challenge to you this week: Be the connector for your organization.

New Years resolutions suck. They are usually either vague (“I’m going to get fit”) or overly specific (“I’ll go to the gym every day”) — and both tend to fail.

What if we OKR’d this?

When customers get grinchy about your price, it’s rarely about the price.

It’s usually because they don’t need half the features you’re bundling in. Strip those out and suddenly the same customer says, “Yes! That’s exactly what I want.” The lesson? Product leaders don’t win by piling on features. They win by focusing the offer so customers can actually see the value.

If you want your roadmap approved, don’t ask for approval.
Just plant a seed.
Then wait.
Like a patient, manipulative gardener.

The minute somebody dangles a $3M deal, everyone forgets everything we told them in the last year. To prevent this one-off deal from derailing your entire roadmap, you need to pre-sell your roadmap before the deal hits the table.

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.

Executive teams often seem set up for conflict. How to deal: name the tension, acknowledge the reality openly, and work together to navigate it.

Are you tracking the right metrics? Most product leaders don’t track metrics often enough. The magic is when you track leading and lagging indicators together so you can learn what drives what.

Your job isn’t just to define strategy — it’s to lead the strategy process. A strategy everyone owns is how you win.

When you join an executive team, your first job is to identify a need and fill it. It’s like joining a band: they already have a drummer, a bassist, and a guitarist. Your job is to find the gap and play where you can make the whole band sound better.