Why a Product Manager Should Think Like a CEO?

Operations and mode of operations of a functional organisation have diversified because of a series of changes in industry and market environment. The roles and scope of contribution that an employee can make in an organisation has also undergone sea-change. It is not just the leadership of a single person that brings success to the company but a perfect business analysis and allocation of optimum human resource to projects. So let’s take a look at the factors on which depends the fate of a company. 

Technology is the oxygen in a business environment. With greater IT Education and Training coupled with increasing research on architectural technology, systems have started influencing processes and the core product is a technology itself.

Importance of a Product Manager

As the core of the matter, the product is heavy-weight element which can decide the fate of an organisation. Ensuring that their design and application is consumer-friendly ensures that your organisation gains and there is no limit to this success. Hence Product Managers have come to play the key role in earning revenue for a company.

Correspondingly, it can be said that product managers never get bored with their job. This is so because it’s never a typical day in the office for them. They always come across new challenges by working across different vertices of an organisation, and also get the chance to use their diverse skillset to solve various problems. 

Moreover, they are mini-CEOs, since the product responsibility lies completely with them. So whether it is product strategy, innovation or delivery, all the communication and ideas run through them.

Product Managers bear the core responsibility for earning profit for the organisation by chalking out an effective strategy for the concerned firm, its roadmap and features definition for the concerned product or product line. Others, in the organisation, follow the laid path. Thus, the onus lies on Product Manager(s). He or she is practically the ultimate authority for the products. Hence, a Product Manager is expected to and should think like the CEO of the company. Let’s discuss the reasons in detail. 

• Central Leadership: It is the product managers who decide the core strategy which is followed by others in the organisation. They understand requirements of the market, define and then prioritize products and designs with different teams for reaching the ultimate goal. Many corporate training programs are now structured to groom managers for the authorities and responsibilities of leadership.
• Consumerisation of IT: This has opened a floodgate of opportunity for organisations to earn the most. Product managers have an in-depth understanding of which technology or group of technologies to apply for relevant products and services. Their knowledge and expertise helps in making the correct decisions and boosting efficiency.
• Complexity of business ecosystem: The business ecosystem has grown more complex with time by the inclusion of elements like technology, evolution of economies around the world, localisation and globalisation, industries mergers for certain products and services which brings in more elements and further increase the complexity of the prevailing ecosystem. It is where a Product Manager steps in to simplify the work with categorisation, simplification and effective leadership. These are far more than the prescribed roles for the job.  

A Product Manager offers central leadership and his role is directly linked to the operations of an organisation and profits. Hence, it is imperative that a Product Manager thinks like the CEO. It is time that more faculties look into Product Management Training for freshers.

Written By

Arijit Banerjee