Distinguishing Traits of a Product Manager

 ISPMA LinkedIn Post: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/ispma-india_productmanagers-productmanagement-pmskills-activity-6691160793968451584-kVuA

One of the early seminal work around the #productmanagers skills was an essay by Ben Horowitz, and it was titled- "Good Product Manager/Bad Product Manager". (Can be read at: https://lnkd.in/gMJ9axN)

A lot of the aspects around PM skills that Ben shared are still applicable today like:

Good product managers:
- know the market, the product, the product line and the competition extremely well
- don't get all of their time sucked up by the various organizations that must work together to deliver right product right time.
- create leveragable collateral, FAQs, presentations, white papers.
- think about the story they want written by the press.
- err on the side of clarity vs. explaining the obvious.

While the fundamentals around PM job haven't changed much but with a lot of advancements happening in technology, business models and overall business landscape, the new skills have emerged.

In this video, Lokesha Channaveeraiah from Shell shares his perspectives on the personality traits needed by the PMs-

1. Good listening skills.
2. Excellent business acumen.
3. Transparency.
4. Collaboration and teamwork.

What do you think are some of the important traits for a Product Manager ? Please share.