Success Mantra for Product Managers

Job of a product manager is strategic in nature where quality is of paramount importance and at the same time it (quality) is difficult judge on shorter duration. Product Managers run marathon and not sprint, it is important for him/ her to be focused for longer duration and deliver quality output consistently, a challenge I guess many struggle to deal with. That's where you see these Jumping Jack product managers who habitually stays for less than 18 to 24 months on a job (2 or more jobs)  or who have never experienced a complete life cycle of the product.

Is it that difficult to stay for 24 months, or experience a complete product life cycle. Wait and see what happened to the decisions that you made last year or in initial stages of product development. What happened to those critical decisions you made in growth phase of your product and how long did your product stayed in maturity stage. Product Managers who do not stay long, would never ever be able to experience these situations.

So what drives you most at work? What keeps you ahead of others and inspires you to deliver beyond your perceived limits. Limits of motivation are overcome by self-determination (quote from product mantra) strength of which is determined by 3 crucial factors, Purpose, Passion and Pride.

Purpose: You agree and show confidence in the purpose of the product you handle. You are convinced that the you are solving a real challenge and your users / customers definitely see value in your offering. Eliminate doubts about product / solution or feature, if you still have some, get it resolved.

Passion: You are excited about your product, and your work.  You genuinely enjoy your profession and are motivated by the fact that you are doing something you disparately wanted to do. You are more satisfied with your work and bother less about other factors at typical organization.

Pride: You see pride in what you do. You proudly present your product / solution profile to listeners both at formal gathering and in personal event. You consider yourself blessed with the opportunity. You become a self-directed individual who cannot be derailed from his / her purpose by any amount of distraction.

Once you start believing in purpose of your work, have passion in your work and see pride in your work, you will take a big leap ahead of many others. Your source of motivation will be within you and quality of your work with talk for you.

@mathurabhay