We sat down with Maggie Crowley, Director of Product Management at Drift, ahead of her session at the Product-Led Festival.
Here's a bite-size teaser of what product-related insights we can expect from her full talk on June 3rd.
What is your favorite aspect of product leadership?
"I actually have two. The first is the fact that you get to work on product strategy in a way that is a little hard to do when you are an individual contributor. Because when you are working on an individual product team, you're really focused on that one problem and that one use case and you don't have as much time to look across."
"But, being a product lead I'm able to look further afield and wider than you do as a product manager and I love that. I love seeing patterns and thinking about what's happening in the market and where we are going."
"The other part I really enjoy is getting to work with other Product Managers. As a Product Marketer you're working (or should be) on an autonomous team, so when you become a manager of PMs then you get the opportunity to work with the team more. I've learned a lot about different ways to think about products from getting to work with the team that I have."
If you could go back to the start of your product career, knowing what you know now, what advice would you give yourself?
"I would tell myself 'focus on results. Not process.' My first product job was in a bigger company, and I think it's really easy to get caught up in dotting your i's and crossing your t's of the system that you're in and losing sight of the thing that really matters - which is making your customer successful. That's a lesson I've learned at Drift, and I think I could have had more impact faster if I learned that sooner."
If, hypothetically, your work hours were chopped in half, where would you spend your time?
"I see the key parts of product leadership as understanding the strategy and charting the course for the product that you're working on, coaching the PMs that are on your team, unblocking them and helping them do their jobs, and then evangelizing the product internally and externally. All of those things are incredibly important. But, if I had to, I would give up the internal marketing because there are other team members who could do that. Instead I would focus more on the coaching aspect and making the PMs successful."
Can you give us 1 key takeaway from your session?
"During my session you'll learn a lot, but specifically how to set up your product team to ship the right thing, on time. Also, how product launches shape marketing campaigns, sales activity, and, ultimately, revenue. Finally, we'll cover how to partner with your customers to build the best product possible."
Grab your tickets to the online Product-Led Festival to hear Maggie take to the virtual stage alongside speakers from Hubspot, Intercom and many more!
