Curious about Product Leader Group Coaching? Hear from Past Participants

As a product leader, you face a number of challenges. You might lack confidence in your coaching abilities, struggle to get stakeholders on board, or simply feel overwhelmed by meetings that creep across your calendar and prevent you from getting any real, strategic work done. So how do you take charge of your own professional development as a product leader?

But rather than talk about the benefits of my product leader group coaching myself, I thought you’d like to hear directly from a few participants. If you’d like to learn more about my group coaching packages, you can find all that information here.

Julia Bastian, Head of Product at Alasco

What prompted you to join the group coaching session?

I joined Petra’s Coaching Group since I knew her from some podcasts and her product book, STRONG Product People, which I really enjoyed reading. I already used her PMwheel in my 1:1s with my product managers before I even planned to join her session.

I worked as a UX Researcher/Product Manager before I took over the Head of Product role. I have all the necessary tools in my head to structure my own work, but since I took over a team with three product managers, I wanted to learn to empower them and unleash their full potential. I think that being a good product manager does not necessarily mean that you are a good product leader!

Furthermore, I wanted to structure our process of roadmapping and setting goals better since I think this is an important tool not only to structure the product teams but also to manage upwards (toward the founders and management team), which you need to set up self-empowered teams.

What was the group coaching experience like for you?

It was so interesting to see that we (the coaching group) are all facing similar challenges and we are all using similar methods/tools but the full potential of each method/tool lies in the right adoption to the individual context (product, customer, and company) and in the enablement of the product managers.

I loved Petra’s way of explaining things in metaphors and visualizing.

I really enjoyed the first session which included really simple but powerful advice: How to structure the day, week, and month of product managers to help them get focus in their daily work. Right after the session with Petra, we switched all of our meetings to the afternoon and implemented deep working sessions—where we did not take any meetings—before noon. This helped us focus, especially in times of remote working where you are often distracted by Slack or short calls.

Who do you think would get the most out of this type of coaching?

I think the session is helpful for pretty much all product leaders since many of us come from a product role ourselves and know many tools and methods, but we never learned how we can empower others to use them and grow as a product manager and as a person. I think this session is especially helpful for product leaders in fast-scaling startups since we need to set up and grow a team in a very short amount of time and have total flexibility to define processes. This investment in a product leader can definitely help a startup to set the basis for a fast-growing product organization, which is the foundation for a successful business.

What has changed for you since participating in the coaching?

Since the coaching, I invest more time in defining the strategy and goals while backing out of the product teams in order to empower the teams and hopefully help them unleash their full potential without me being close to every decision.

Here are some of my sketch notes from Petra’s session about goals and KPIs.

Peter Dyllick-Brenzinger, Head of Product Editorial, Axel Springer National Media & Tech

What prompted you to join the group coaching session?

I wanted to take my work as head of product to the next level. I also wanted to get in touch with others in a similar position for an exchange on experiences and best practices.

What was the group coaching experience like for you?

I really enjoyed the positive atmosphere where everything could be asked. I especially liked the discussions around roadmaps, OKRs, and North Star Metrics. It really helped me to grasp the pros and cons of the different approaches. I also really liked the concept of KPI trees.

Who do you think would get the most out of this type of coaching?

I believe a seasoned product leader who wants to improve is a great fit for this training. A lack of experience might be a disadvantage. Reflecting on the methods and insights given by Petra in the context of my own experiences and being able to talk about that and ask questions was key for me.

What has changed for you since participating in the coaching?

We have started to bring a stronger outcome focus to our roadmap process and are working to take this even further.

Sara Chokr, Product Lead at allplants

What prompted you to join the group coaching session?

Having moved to allplants before Christmas, I wanted to use the opportunity to hit the reset button and review my current approach and where my blindspots were in my product practice. Taking on a new team of product managers, my main goal from these sessions was to start building a really solid framework to help them grow and be successful in their roles. I was also hoping to learn some new tricks.

What was the coaching experience like for you?

One of my favorite moments was learning about the decision stack. (Note from Petra: This is a concept created by Martin Eriksson, but I brought it to the group’s attention. Learn more about this concept here.) This was one of the most powerful things I learned and something I’m already trialing with a product manager in my team. It's inspired how we can further improve alignment and transparency between strategy and teams. Reframing the way discovery and delivery are connected has given me a new perspective on how we can elevate that to the next level in allplants.

Who do you think would get the most out of this type of coaching?

This type of coaching is good for anyone who already has some experience in a product lead-type role where you are managing or mentoring product managers and working more holistically or on broader product areas in your company. It’s a lot more impactful to come in with some of those scenarios or experiences under your belt, as the material discussed will really help frame how to approach or tackle that situation in the future. Petra is incredibly knowledgeable and is able to adapt that theory and apply it to your experiences. Our group had quite even levels of experience and it made the sessions way more valuable and relatable as everyone could contribute and converse on topics.

What has changed for you?

It’s definitely nice to get a bit of validation from a highly respected peer in the product community that you’re heading in the right direction.

Want to join my next cohort of group coaching? Learn more and save your spot here!

Product Leadership, Product Management Tips, All blog postsPetra Wille25 May 2021Work with me