Team building insights from LinkedIn's Director of Product Marketing

Hey there! I'm Sudha Ranganathan, the Director of Product Marketing at LinkedIn, where I’m immersed in our talent solutions business, striving to help our customers hire and nurture top-notch talent.

With a journey spanning over 15 years, from my nascent days as a market researcher to scaling the marketing ladder at renowned companies like P&G, Nielsen, and PayPal, my marketing odyssey has been both challenging and rewarding.

In this article, I'll share my insights about product marketing leadership, plus some golden nuggets from my experience. Let’s dive in!

What an effective product marketer looks like

An outstanding product marketer typically possesses a blend of both inbound and outbound skill sets. Let me break them down for you.

Inbound skill sets

Market insight: This involves understanding the current market dynamics, analyzing competitors, and getting to know your customers intimately.

A top-notch product marketer can distill this wealth of information to answer: "Given all this, what should we do with our product to meet our customers' needs?" It's all about the ability to listen to various inputs and simplify them into actionable insights that can guide the product's direction.

Collaboration with product teams: Once you've gained those insights, the next step is influencing the product's direction. This is where effective collaboration comes in. Product marketers need to work hand-in-glove with their product partners, those responsible for crafting the product roadmap. The key here is to effectively communicate, influence, and prioritize the features to be built.

Outbound skill sets:

Positioning and messaging: After understanding the customer's needs and the product direction, it's about crafting a clear message. This skill set revolves around establishing a solid product positioning and messaging strategy, ensuring it's rooted in what the customer truly wants and how the product addresses those needs.

Distribution strategy: Finally, a great product marketer should know how to convey their message to both the sales team and directly to the customers. This involves choosing the right channels to reach out on. It's essential to discern the primary marketing objectives and then select the channels that align with achieving those goals.

In summary, for inbound, it's about synthesizing insights and influencing product partners. On the outbound front, it's about clear positioning and messaging, paired with an astute understanding of the right marketing channels.

How to lead a product marketing team through times of adversity

Leading a product marketing team, especially during challenging times, requires you to tackle a myriad of issues. I've generally noticed these challenges falling into three main buckets:

1. Business challenges: Often, launches don't pan out as anticipated. Or maybe the strategy you've banked on isn't delivering results. When this happens, you need to take a look at what’s going on through a hypothesis-driven lens. Instead of blindly trying to fix things, ask yourself, "Why isn't this working?"

The problem could stem from the product, or perhaps the customers aren't too enthusiastic, or maybe your market launch strategy was off. By narrowing down potential causes and identifying the root issue, you ensure you're not just treating symptoms but solving the real problem at hand.

1. Stakeholder influence: A big part of the PMM role involves influencing product partners or convincing pricing teams to develop a particular offer. The challenge? Their priorities might not always align with yours.

The key to navigating these waters is open dialogue. It's crucial to sit down, listen to their perspectives with genuine curiosity, and engage in transparent discussions. At the end of the day, both parties want to cater to the customer's best interest. It's about determining if your suggestion genuinely benefits the customer or if it's better to trust the expertise of your partners.

1. Team dynamics: People challenges are perhaps the most nuanced. How do you cater to a high-performing individual eager for more responsibilities? Conversely, what steps do you take when someone's not meeting expectations or lacks the necessary skills?

The answer lies in clear, transparent communication. Whether offering opportunities for growth or delivering constructive feedback, open conversations are paramount.

Throughout all these types of challenges, two principles remain consistent: hypothesis-driven problem-solving and the art of effective communication paired with attentive listening.

Building and leading high-performing teams

In his remarkable book, "Culture Code," Daniel Coyle shares the three core principles essential for constructing top-tier teams – in product marketing or any other function. Here they are:

1. Psychological safety: Team members have to know their work environment is one where they can make mistakes, learn from them, and move forward without fear of being penalized or shamed.
2. Vulnerability: At every level from leadership to individual contributors, there should be a culture of honesty. Everybody should be able to admit when they’ve made a mistake or they just don’t know something. The biggest challenge is often overcoming our ego and saying, "I need help," or "I don't know."
3. Purpose: Understanding the why behind the team's actions is paramount. When everyone grasps our shared mission, it naturally clarifies what we do and how we should do it. Regularly reinforcing the team's distinct role and contribution towards broader business goals is invaluable.

Yet, even with these principles, there's another layer to ensuring a harmonious team dynamic. It's also important to note that high-performing teams aren't merely assemblies of individual stars, but rather groups that synergize and amplify their combined capabilities.

What gets in the way of a team being compatible is not so much about personality types as it is about attitude and mindset, which are choices individuals make. It's heartening to recognize that no one is inherently a poor team player; it's a skill that can be honed.

The foremost skill I search for is the ability to check your ego at the door. I value team members who display open-mindedness, humility, and curiosity. During interviews, signs of curiosity, humility, and strong listening skills signal to me that the candidate will likely thrive in a team setting.

Another pivotal trait is the willingness to put the team over yourself occasionally. I don't mean they need to be a victim or a martyr – I just mean there are going to be times when someone needs to step up and tackle the less glamorous tasks. When individuals willingly step into roles or responsibilities that might not be the "spotlight" tasks but are essential for collective progress, it's a testament to their team spirit.

In essence, if people show up with humility and curiosity and occasionally place team objectives above personal aspirations, they're likely to be invaluable assets to the team.

Psst! Want more of Sudha’s top-notch insights? Then grab your ticket to this year’s Product Marketing Summit in San Francisco. As well as LinkedIn’s might Director of Product Marketing, you’ll hear from pioneering PMM leaders from the likes of TikTok, Atlassian, Intel, and more!

My leadership style

My leadership style depends almost entirely on the individual I'm working with at that moment. For instance, the newest member of my team might experience a more hands-on approach from me. They'll receive more direct answers because they might not yet have the breadth of knowledge or experience to figure things out for themselves.

In contrast, my approach with the most seasoned team members leans more toward coaching. I'll prompt them with thought-provoking questions, distilling their thoughts to guide them towards the heart of any issue. My goal is to empower them, helping them break down barriers and grow independently. Ultimately, the level of guidance I provide depends on a team member's tenure and specific needs.

My top tips for transitioning into a product marketing leadership role

Diving into leadership advice, I'd like to share both a business-oriented tip and a team-oriented one:

Team leadership tip: To reiterate what I said earlier, if you’re at the helm of a team, remember to pave the way with psychological safety, vulnerability, and a defined sense of purpose. That’s the foundation of a great team, and if you don’t build a great team, they won’t be able to deliver on what you ask of them.

Business leadership tip: Product marketers are often tasked with handling small slices of broader challenges. However, to be an effective leader, you have to grasp the bigger picture and learn when to prioritize that over its smaller components.

Learn the delicate art of trade-offs; recognize when to emphasize your team’s role and when to step back for the bigger picture’s success. Differentiating between these moments, with a touch of humility, can set a great product marketing leader apart from the rest.

The future of product marketing leadership

The future of product marketing leadership can, once again, be looked at from two angles: business strategy and team dynamics.

Business strategy: Leaders with a knack for hypothesis-driven problem solving, who can prioritize the broader picture and seamlessly connect the dots between functions will be the ones who succeed and come out the other side of the macroeconomic challenges we’re currently facing.

Team dynamics: A balance of compassion and courage is key. By compassion, I mean empathizing with your team and doing right by them. Courage, on the other hand, means addressing performance lapses and guiding team members towards achieving their maximum potential.

These principles have always underpinned effective leadership. However, as we forge ahead, their significance will only grow, particularly as we're challenged to achieve more with fewer resources.

Key takeaways

It's always a treat to reflect on the nuances of leadership and product marketing. Here's a snapshot of some of the takeaways closest to my heart:

⚖️ Essential PMM skills: An effective product marketer seamlessly blends inbound skills, such as market insights and collaboration with product teams, with outbound prowess in clear messaging and strategic distribution, ensuring products reach and resonate with the right audience.

📏 Leadership isn't one-size-fits-all: It's about understanding and catering to individual needs to help each team member thrive.

📚 Lessons from The Culture Code: Crafting a stellar team goes beyond just gathering talent. It's about creating an environment where everyone feels safe, valued, and purpose-driven.

🌐 Big picture thinking: My experience at LinkedIn and other large firms has taught me the importance of always looking at the overarching system.

🔮 Future-proofing leadership: While the world around us changes, certain leadership essentials remain – most notably, compassion and courage.

This article is based on Sudha’s interview for the Product Marketing Insider podcast, which was recorded live at the Product Marketing Summit in San Francisco. Listen to the episode here and check out more amazing audio content here!

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