Two seasoned executive coaches, Carolyn Dolezal and Kate Leto, share candid insights on the realities of executive leadership and how to truly earn the trust and confidence of your team and stakeholders. They debunk common myths and explore how personal agendas can undermine leadership effectiveness, while offering practical advice for building influence even when the odds aren’t in your favor.

The conversation also covers how to recover from early leadership missteps and develop the skills needed to lead authentically at the highest levels. Whether you’re already in the C-suite or aspiring to get there, their expert guidance will transform your approach to leadership starting today.

Resources from this episode:

• Subscribe to The Product Manager newsletter
• Connect with Carolyn and Kate on LinkedIn
• Check out ASUG and Kate’s website

Becoming a parent profoundly changes how you approach product leadership, blending personal and professional challenges in unexpected ways. Anuj Jhunjhunwala, Director of Product at Merge, shares how parenting teaches lessons in influence without authority, clear communication, and time management that directly apply to leading products.

Anuj offers candid insights on how managing toddlers parallels managing stakeholders, why career growth feels more like navigating a mountain than climbing a ladder, and the paradoxes that trip up many product managers today. This conversation reveals the surprising overlaps between parenting and product leadership, offering fresh perspectives for anyone balancing both worlds.

Resources from this episode:

• Subscribe to The Product Manager newsletter
• Connect with Anuj on LinkedIn
• Check out Merge

As we navigate the AI revolution, we’re collectively creating a new reality that’s far from utopian, and both leaders and individual contributors are struggling to find their way through the uncertainty. Questions around workplace ethics, output quality, and long-term impacts are top of mind for many, but this presents an opportunity to learn from each other’s breakthroughs and shape the future we want to see.

Andrew Saxe, VP of Product at Smartling, shares his experience leading a company that has evolved from manual translation services to integrating AI-driven workflows. He discusses how to distinguish real AI value from hype, the ethical considerations leaders must consider, and the rapid shift in the skills that are in highest demand in today’s AI-driven landscape.

Resources from this episode:

• Subscribe to The Product Manager newsletter
• Connect with Andrew on LinkedIn
• Check out Smartling

What's holding you back from reaching your next level? For many, the biggest obstacle is often a mental one, not a physical one. By shifting your perspective and zooming out, you can find pathways around the challenges that seem insurmountable. Uma Subramanian, founder of Limitless Leaders and former Microsoft leader, shares her journey of achieving extraordinary success by adopting a limitless mindset.

Uma explains how she overcame limiting beliefs, reframed her mindset, and transformed her career, even in the early stages. Her story reveals the power of believing in yourself and tackling seemingly impossible constraints—spoiler alert, they’re usually not as impossible as they seem.

Resources from this episode:

• Subscribe to The Product Manager newsletter
• Connect with Uma on LinkedIn
• Check out the Limitless Leaders

Research has often suffered from shortcuts, assumptions, and poorly conducted user interviews, long before AI entered the picture. While there are concerns about AI exacerbating these issues, today we’re exploring how AI can actually improve research practices by standardizing and democratizing good research at scale.

Cori Widen, User Research Lead at Photoroom, joins us to share how AI is being leveraged to transform research practices at her company. She discusses the cultural mindset that encourages innovation and provides practical insights on how teams can use AI to elevate the quality and impact of their research.

Resources from this episode:

• Subscribe to The Product Manager newsletter
• Connect with Cori on LinkedIn
• Check out Photoroom

A seedling and a tree may share the same DNA, but their roles in the ecosystem are vastly different—just like junior and executive product leaders. As leaders climb the ranks, their focus shifts from producing features to providing structure and support that allow teams to thrive.

Debbie McMahon, Chief Product Officer at the Financial Times, reflects on this evolution and how her approach to leadership has matured over time. From managing complex internal and external relationships to knowing when not to follow popular advice, Debbie offers practical wisdom on staying grounded, building trust, and leading with intention at the executive level.

Resources from this episode:

• Subscribe to The Product Manager newsletter
• Connect with Debbie on LinkedIn
• Check out The Financial Times

Zoom’s journey from a popular video conferencing tool to a household name during the COVID-19 pandemic was followed by a wave of competition. But rather than being overwhelmed, Zoom has embraced new opportunities for innovation, especially with the rise of AI. Smita Hashim, Zoom's Chief Product Officer, shares insights into the company's response to the challenges of the pandemic and the rapid shifts in the tech landscape.

Smita discusses her experience leading Zoom through this transformative period, highlighting the role of generative AI in shaping Zoom’s future. With bold strides in AI and an evolving product portfolio, Smita offers a glimpse into what’s next for the company as it adapts to a new era of growth and competition.

Resources from this episode:

• Subscribe to The Product Manager newsletter
• Connect with Smita on LinkedIn

In this episode, we dive into the phenomenon of the "feature factory," where companies focus more on releasing products and features rapidly rather than prioritizing quality or user needs. John Cutler coined the term, and it perfectly captures the feeling many teams face: launching features without a clear understanding of who they’re for or how they impact the business. If this resonates with you, keep listening as we explore how to break free from this cycle.

In our panel discussion, we hear from three product leaders—Aakash Gupta, Andrea Saez, and Paweł Huryn—who share their insights on shifting from output-focused to outcome-driven product development. They offer actionable frameworks for maintaining strategic focus, addressing mid-market pressures, and fostering a culture that values meaningful outcomes over sheer feature volume. Whether you're scaling a business or trying to reignite your team’s creativity, this conversation offers practical advice for escaping the feature factory mindset.

Resources from this episode:

• Subscribe to The Product Manager newsletter
• Connect with Aakash, Paweł, and Andrea on LinkedIn
• Check out The Product Growth Newsletter, The Product Compass Newsletter, and The Product Momentum Gap