Similar mentors to KC
πAbout me
Design + Product. Love to chat prototyping, user research, and product discovery!
Product Management
Skilled in
βοΈWhy I mentor
Talk to me about
π©βπ©βπ¦βπ¦ Team happiness & productivity
π€ Prototyping that works
π Product vision and strategy
π Working in cross functional teams
π¬ Useful user research
π¨βπ©βπ¦βπ¦ Having a family in tech
π« Managing up, down and around
π¬ Giving and receiving feedback
π Being the only designer
π¨ Changing roles
ποΈ Building a design process
π§ UX and UI design
π Dealing with imposter syndrome
π Mock interviewing
π Resume and portfolio review
π» Managing remotely
π Preparing for the next level
Recommendations
Hereβs what Merit users have said about KC
Hearing about the challenge in a different way, getting tactical advice on building and getting buy in to a shared vision.
U.S. Office of Personnel Management
Product Manager
Thank you for being so easy to talk to and answering my questions.
KC was super helpful and we were able to do a deep dive and he shared his advice and insightful thoughts. Thanks KC!
Patio is now Teamland
Founder
βοΈ Recent Answers
First Time Hiring and Managing in Product
Shreyas Doshi has a good list of how to deal with the demands of product https://twitter.com/shreyas/status/1444715650505605121?s=20
A common approach is to brute force it and throw more time at the problem-IMO what you want to do for your IC responsibilities is figure out where there's leverage for you, where you can train and get more effective, and items you can give away/delegate.
Becoming a manager it's a little more tricky-you may have had good managers in the past or more likely have built a library of anti-patterns of management. One key thing to recognize is these are in the context of you and not everyone would like to be managed the way you want to be managed. Your objective as a manager is to provide an environment where your direct report can be successful as a person, on your team(s), and at the organization. I would focus on creating tight feedback loops via 1:1s and other mechanisms to inspect what's working/not working. You can start with strategies/mechanisms that have worked well for yourself, just don't get frustrated when they don't work with someone else.
A few books I'd recommend: Julie Zhuo, Making of a Manager Lara Hogan, Resilient Management Ken Blanchard, The New One Minute Manager Camille Fournier, The Manager's Path Wooden on Leadership
Heavy plus to Kirk's suggestion to talk to mentors! That can be a great way to learn about different management styles/strategies and also get feedback on specific situations you find yourself in.
