From Bosses to Peers: Building Executive Relationships as a New CPO

How can a new CPO approach building solid relationships within the leadership team? How can you gain your board’s trust? What does a strong CEO/CPO partnership look like?

Leaders are People Too

As a product manager, you are laser-focused on the outcomes you are trying to reach, and shaping your product as you go to meet those outcomes. So when a change of direction comes from higher up that directly impacts your work, it's frustrating. It can seem like the executive level is not in tune with what’s happening at the core of their organization, and that they’re meddling in your work as a PM. It’s hard to have compassion or empathy for what is driving these decisions.

But once you reach the product executive level, things start to look different. It becomes apparent that those leaders you thought didn’t “get it” are really just working towards their own set of goals-the business’ goals-under their own set of constraints, being judged on their own criteria of successes. They are looking at a broader picture. And even if sometimes they aren’t great at communicating that picture, their intentions are good.

In other words, you’ll discover that hey, leaders are humans too. They aren’t your enemy afterall - in fact, they’ve just become your new team. So empathize with them. Figure out what makes them tick. Support them in reaching their own goals, while at the same time being very clear about what you need from them. And that means ALL the leaders… even Sales.

Product Managers have a particularly frustrating relationship (even if it’s one sided) with the Head of Sales. In the past, you may have uttered the words, “Ugh, Sales is so clueless! Why can’t they stop selling so far ahead of us?” to a coworker or two. But if you want to be a successful CPO, that Head of Sales is now leading a critical component to your success as a product leader, and you need to figure out how to forge a strong relationship with them. Sales also has a wealth of information you can benefit from as a Product Manager - remember they are talking to customers every day. Find out how you can be in service to their goals. Put yourself in their shoes. In fact, put yourself in the shoes of all of the C-suite executives. Just wear lots and lots of shoes, until you feel like you can fully empathize with each member of the leadership team.

They’re Not Crazy, They’re Invested

The most important relationship you’ll have as a new CPO is with your CEO, so spend your time and energy making sure it’s a good one. Because if you don’t build that solid foundation, if you can’t gain their trust and convince them that you are the right person to help execute their vision, then you’ll never have the room or the support you need to succeed at your job.

So how can you cultivate this relationship? Well to start, it’s important to know that CEOs typically come from non-product backgrounds (more likely, they’ve moved up from Sales, Finance, Operations, etc), and there is a good chance they don’t have all that much familiarity with what a product leader can really do- especially if they’ve never had a product executive on their board before. It’s your job to educate them. Show them what you’re capable of from the start, rather than waiting for them to ask you to do it, because they might not know what to ask for. Identify their goals, and explain how you can directly help them meet those goals. Understand how they are being judged for success, and then present everything you do through that lens by showing how you can support those metrics. Really listen to what they want. Are they trying to exit the company? Grow it for stock price? Position yourself as someone that can help them achieve greatness, and really come at your work with that as one of your true goals- to support and lift up your CEO.

If you think this sounds like a balancing act, it gets even trickier when you’re working alongside a Founder and CEO. A for-hire CEO is, of course, emotionally invested in their company. But a Founder is their company. And if they have a real shot of an exit, particularly if the company is big, they also have a huge amount of money riding on whether or not their company succeeds- think 50% of a $100 million company. That’s why founders can get a bit crazy, or should we say, passionate- their whole life is riding on the outcome of this business. And Product, particularly in a SaaS environment, can directly make or break that outcome. So you need to show them that they can trust you. When they get really “passionate,” don’t be dismissive or frustrated by it. Your job is to always keep in mind where that passion comes from, and to communicate to your CEO that you are in the boat with them, ready and able to steer them to where they want to be. Build that trust from day one.

Wrong Place, Wrong Time

So what are normal speed bumps for a new CPO signing on to an executive board, and what are signals that you’re coming up against things beyond your control? Because joining a company or starting a new role is inevitably messy. There will be growing pains, and it will take time to cultivate trust and confidence from your fellow execs. But there are two big issues that will be difficult to surpass.

One is a CEO who is not, and won’t ever be, on board with what you want to do. If, no matter how hard you try, you can’t sway them in your direction (and you’re sure you are proposing the right thing! This is where you want to come to the table with clear data to tell your story), then that’s an immovable blocker. You’re not in the right place for you.

The second is if there is a significant gap between your skills and experience and the needs of the company. If you’ve only worked at start ups and you’ve been hired to help IPO a company, you’re going to have to make a huge leap in your knowledge and skill set to get them there. The question is- is this company trying to IPO next week? Or in 10 years? Because you can’t learn different plays for expansion, financial models, pricing and packaging needs, and all the other work that goes into preparing something for an exit in a few months. In other words, does the amount of time you have to learn these skills match the time frame that the company needs you to use these skills? If not, you might be in the right place, with the right team, and a great CEO- but you’re there at the wrong time.

Earning their Trust

We know as well as anyone that when the product arm of an organization isn’t strong, everything else breaks. Remember that when you are navigating difficult relationships with stakeholders- their success is partly in your hands, so you need to show them why they can trust you to see them through. Fill in the gaps of what they aren’t understanding, educate them on what product can do for them, and take a page out of Brian Bhuta’s book by leading with humility and compassion for your peers. Remember that you are all in the same boat, working towards a common goal. Make it easy for them to hand you the wheel.