Navigating the transition to a leadership role

A product leader recounts their unexpected transition into a leadership role, initially stepping in due to a manager's maternity leave, which soon escalated into managing a significantly larger team amidst organizational changes. This experience underscored the complexity and challenges of product leadership, including providing strategic direction, managing budgets and talent, and fostering team growth. The narrative emphasizes common challenges new leaders face, such as handling uncertainty, balancing leadership with empowerment, and coping with personal stressors like impostor syndrome. To better prepare aspiring product leaders, the article offers insights into understanding organizational dynamics, engaging in hiring processes, and developing coaching skills. The author argues that preparing for leadership is a joint effort between aspiring leaders and their current managers, advocating for exposure, delegation, and training to build the necessary toolkit for effective leadership.