The Big Lie in Product Management: You’re NOT the CEO of the Product
If you’ve ever heard that product managers are the “CEO of the product,” it’s time to rethink that idea.
It sounds empowering, but in reality, it’s one of the biggest misconceptions in product management — and believing it can set you up for failure.
Here’s the truth: PMs don’t own the product. They influence it.
What PMs Don’t Control
Unlike a CEO, a PM doesn’t have the final say in key areas like budgets, engineering timelines, or sales outcomes. Here’s what you actually don’t control:
🚫 Engineering Timelines & Priorities — Developers set their own estimates based on complexity, scope, and dependencies. You can influence priorities, but you don’t dictate deadlines.
🚫 Budgets & Resources — Leadership determines how much funding your product gets. You can make a business case, but you don’t control spending.
🚫 Sales & Revenue — Even if you build the best feature, it’s marketing and sales that ultimately drive adoption, positioning, and conversions.
So, if you don’t have direct authority over these, how do you actually lead?
The PM’s Real Power: Influence, Not Authority
The best product managers succeed not by giving orders, but by mastering the art of influence. The key? These three skills:
✔ Vision & Narrative Building — A great PM crafts a compelling vision that inspires teams. If engineers don’t understand why something matters, they won’t be invested in building it.
✔ Cross-Functional Alignment — PMs connect the dots between engineering, design, sales, marketing, and leadership, ensuring everyone is moving toward the same goal.
✔ Inspiration Over Direction — You don’t just tell people what to build — you make them want to build it. Whether through user insights, data, or storytelling, you get buy-in instead of forcing compliance.
Great PMs Don’t “Own” the Product — They Orchestrate It
A great Product Manager isn’t a dictator handing down orders — they’re a conductor, ensuring that every part of the organization works in sync to build the right product.
Like an orchestra, where musicians play different instruments, a successful product depends on multiple teams working together:
🎻 Engineering: Needs clarity on what to build and why, ensuring feasibility without scope creep.
🎨 Design: Focuses on user experience, requiring research-backed decisions and business alignment.
📣 Marketing & Sales: Must understand how to position the product and communicate its value effectively.
The best PMs synchronize these teams, remove roadblocks, and keep everyone aligned. Instead of forcing decisions, they influence, inspire, and facilitate collaboration.
Because here’s the thing: A conductor doesn’t play every instrument, but without them, the music falls apart. 🎼
The Takeaway?
Stop trying to “own” the product. Instead, influence it so well that every team feels ownership over building the right thing.
That’s how you drive real impact as a PM. 🚀
