Lenny's PodcastHow to unlock your product leadership skills | Ken Norton, Ex-Google
Episode Details
EPISODE INFO
- Released
- July 24, 2022
- Duration
- 1h 18m
- Channel
- Lenny's Podcast
- Watch on YouTube
- ▶ Open ↗
EPISODE DESCRIPTION
Advancing as a product leader requires new skills and a new mindset. Ken Norton is an executive coach who works with some of the top people in product to help them get unstuck and find creativity again in their approach to problems and their careers. After 14 years as a Product Manager at Google, Ken brings deep experience in leadership and shares with us the lessons he most often offers his clients to unlock growth. Join us. Find the full transcript here: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-to-unlock-your-product-leadership — Thank you to our wonderful sponsors for making this episode possible:
- Amplitude: https://amplitude.com/
- Lenny’s Job Board: https://www.lennysjobs.com/talent
- Unit: https://unit.co/lenny
— Where to find Ken Norton:
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/kennethn
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennethnorton/
- Product Leadership Coaching: https://www.bringthedonuts.com/coaching/
— Where to find Lenny:
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/lennysan
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/
— Books and Resources Recommended By Ken:
- Dare To Lead by Brene Brown https://www.amazon.com/Dare-Lead-Brave-Conversations-Hearts/dp/0399592520
- 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership https://conscious.is/15-commitments
- Mastering Leadership by Bob Anderson https://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Leadership-Breakthrough-Performance-Extraordinary/dp/1119147190
- Immunity to Change by Robert Kegan https://www.amazon.com/Immunity-Change-Potential-Organization-Leadership/dp/1422117367
- Stop Telling Women They Have Imposter Syndrome https://hbr.org/2021/02/stop-telling-women-they-have-imposter-syndrome
- Innovator’s Dilemma by Clayton Christensen https://www.amazon.com/Innovators-Dilemma-Revolutionary-Change-Business/dp/0062060244
— In this episode, we cover: [00:00] What to expect in this episode with Ken Norton [03:10] Why Ken will never get tired of donuts [05:05] Ken’s career path and what he does with executive coaching now [08:00] What Ken learned from his own executive coach[ [12:02] Driving a car and the metaphor of learning a new skill [16:20] How Ken’s helping leaders shift their mindset [19:41] Creative vs reactive leadership mindset [22:15] How your underlying beliefs impact your leadership style [33:50] Mindset and authenticity and their role within leadership [39:00] What you can do if you can’t spend a lot on coaching [42:05] Resources Ken recommends (linked in notes) [44:22] Biggest blindspots people have [48:10] Why doing the hard thing, may be the best thing [49:20] What to do with imposter syndrome [58:40] Ways to find a coach [1:01:03] 10x vs 10% [1:05:35] Ken’s One Piece Of Advice For Hiring A Product Manager [1:13:00] How to find Ken
SPEAKERS
Ken Norton
guestLenny Rachitsky
host
EPISODE SUMMARY
In this episode of Lenny's Podcast, featuring Ken Norton and Lenny Rachitsky, How to unlock your product leadership skills | Ken Norton, Ex-Google explores unlocking creative product leadership through mindset shifts and coaching Ken Norton, former Google product leader turned executive coach, discusses how product managers can grow into effective leaders by shifting from reactive, fear-based behavior to creative, purpose-driven leadership. He explains what executive coaching is (and isn’t), why inner work and mindset matter more than frameworks, and how to recognize and rewire common PM blind spots like people-pleasing, control, and imposter syndrome. Ken emphasizes that product managers are leaders from day one, and that the hardest part of senior roles is almost always people, not product. He also shares practical advice on finding a coach, self-coaching, building 10x bets, and evaluating product roles and cultures when hiring or job hunting.
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