Once upon a time, a professional in the middle of her career had two opportunities. One was working for a company where the job seemed well-defined, a step up in her career, and her peers would be people she loved working with. The other was for a company where the role was really ambiguous and […]
“Can I tell you something?” I asked my teacher while standing at the side of her big wooden desk positioned near the classroom door. “Yes dear, of course. What is it?” the elderly woman said sweetly. “I want Geraldine Ferraro to win,” I said in almost a whisper. A smile crept across her face. I […]
**Note: Please note that when speaking about toxic leadership in the following, I am NOT speaking about my current company. I specifically chose to work for a couple of guys who I think are great humans and leaders. Truth is…I never have to work for people I don’t respect or like again…and you don’t either.** […]
150 faces stare at me from their seats in the crowded atrium. 1000 more are staring at me from behind computer screens across Europe and North America. Some are bored. Some are eager. Some are wondering who I am and where I’ve come from. Some just find the seats with their flimsy banker blue cushions […]
Pride sometimes get a bad rap. Being prideful or too proud is generally frowned on in communication but I am full of pride and maybe a bit too proud for my own good for two reasons today. The first and biggest reason is that Tourlane raised $20M in Series C extension from our investors today. […]
Happy World Product Day 2020! “What do you do for a living?” he asks.“I’m a product manager. My teams build <enter current products> for <enter type of customer>,” I reply.“Oh cool. My cousin is a Project Manager.”“Ummm..Product Manager.”“What?” he says confused.“PRODUCT. I’m a Product Manager. Not Project,” sounding slightly testier than I intend.“Oh…okay. Nice,” he […]
Meetings. Meetings. Meetings. This is my life. At this stage in my career I spend more time in meetings at work than probably anything else. Creative time is at a minimum. Writing time is done in fits and starts throughout my day. But meetings…those are constant. Sometimes they are the one-on-ones I wrote about in […]
“Gather data. Gather data. Gather data. And when it feels personal, remember that it’s still data.” This is one of the most used pieces of advice I give to my team members, mentees, people who seek me about big decisions, etc. We absolutely get in our own way when it comes to asking for what […]
Tell me more What’s going on? What’s keeping you up at night? Talk more about that Holding 1-on-1s with my team members is important to me. I try hard to keep a pretty open door and leave time in my calendar for last minute chats. For me this means being open to both regularly scheduled […]
Last Friday, one of the ladies who does housekeeping at work nervously asked if she could have a picture with me. The guys in the kitchen with us watched confused as I said “Of course!” Two things struck me. The first was how excited she was to have our pictures taken. The second was the confused […]