- Another PM Day
- Posts
- Can You Spot a High Agency Product Manager?
Why Your PM Skills Aren't Sufficient to Be a Peak Product Manager
Weekly Picks
⏩️ 6 Tips for Better Product Retrospective Meetings (Link)
⏩️ Key to Achieving Change Management Buy-In (Link)
⏩️ Ken Norton shares Building Products at Airbnb (Link)
What happened this week?
As I wrap up my quarterly check-ins with my team, my mind is consumed by thoughts on how I can empower my PM team to achieve their full potential. I had been wondering for years about the ONE quality I wish each Product Manager had, a trait that will serve them well in their career, regardless of their future paths.
Initially, I used to refer it to as being an 'animal.' However, a couple of years ago, I came across the perfect expression for this concept in a podcast, 'high agency.' That term precisely captures what I've been trying to articulate.
Today at a glance:
What is High Agency anyway?
What a high agency PM looks like?
Sharpen your agency skills
Wanna spot a High Agency person?
Tactical Summary Post-it
Catalyze your career with a Personal Board of Directors.
Sidebar is the leadership program where small peer groups grow and evolve together. Nothing will get you further in your career than learning from your peers.
What is High Agency anyway?
You know someone has it when you see it. This is probably one of the most core traits to develop throughout your career.
Here are a few quotes from Product leaders who reference high agency people:
Paul Graham (YC), @paulg says:
A good startup founder in two words – “relentlessly resourceful”
Jeff Bezos (Amazon) @JeffBezos has a framework for identifying high agency people.
Answer this question below and you have your answer.
“If you were stuck in a third world prison and had to call one person to try and bust you out of there – who would you call?”
Steve Jobs (Apple)
“Life can be much broader once you discover one simple fact: Everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you and you can change it, you can influence it, you can build your own things that other people can use.”
This tweet below from GM is a good thread explaining what this is…
4/ High Agency is a sense that the story given to you by other people about what you can/cannot do is just that - a story.
And that you have control over the story.
High Agency person looks to bend reality to their will.
They either find a way, or they make a way.
— George Mack (@george__mack)
8:21 PM • Nov 29, 2018
What a high agency PM looks like?
High Agency product managers embrace challenges, viewing failures as opportunities and thriving in uncertain environments. They exhibit resourcefulness, achieving results with limited resources, and excel in diverse settings, from startup scrappiness to navigating corporate complexities.
You have seen those PMs in action, you know them and you may be one of them…They display the traits below: