Today the first ever Product Leader Roundtable has taken place in Berlin. Ten product leaders including CPOs, Heads of Product, and others have met to discuss relevant topics around product leadership.
SPLSG Product Leader Roundtable – Room ready for the participants
“It was a pleasure and an exciting experience the like to welcome all those professionals to our first ever Product Leader Roundtable. The level of discussions and quality individual contributions was great and we are looking forward to more in the future,” says Jörg Malang (initiator & founding partner SPLSG).
Based on this first success, SPLSG is planning to roll out this concept to other cities & countries as well. Together with SPLSG Ambassadors like the SPLSG Ambassador Berlin Luca Criscuolo, there will be a local “anchor” in every location.
All participants confirmed that they see value in this concept and are planning to attend the next iteration in about three months. In case you are interested in updates and/or in participating in the next Roundtable, please sign up with your email address below.
For the first time in Berlin, the Senior Product Management Leadership Group opens an invitation-only round table to experienced Product Leaders for learning and networking.
Product Leaders Among Themselves in Berlin
Similarly to a Bootcamp, the attendees will bring in advance topics. The list of topics will be prioritized upfront by the attendees and facilitated by Jörg Malang (Initiator & founding partner of Senior Product Leadership Group SPLSG).
Two topics have been identified already and will be covered in any case:
Perception of product management organizations and how to influence it
Innovation vs optimization – product management organizations juggling between unknown and safety
Jörg Malang, Facilitator & Host of the first Roundtable
Only attendees in an actual product leadership position qualify and only a restricted number of applicants will be selected based on their experience and potential contribution. By applying to this round table, your name will be included into an initial list, we will reach you ASAP to communicate the acceptance or rejection.
Jörg Malang says: “This is a unique opportunity to join and shape the only product leadership initiative in Berlin. We believe this helps our community to grow and reinforce in the years to come.”
Career planning for product managers is a bit tricky. On the one hand, there are many opportunities. On the other hand, there is so much confusion about job titles, role descriptions, career paths, etc.
Career at the cross roads
SPLSG sees the need to dedicate one full day training to this topic. Therefore attendees will benefit from their time and money investment from many angles:
Understanding the personal situation better. In other words, the focus will be on finding out more about my strengths and weaknesses. We will also look into opportunities and challenges for product leaders.
Being able to improve own “due diligence” in an interview situation. In other words, we will learn how to find out if a role in scope is meeting our expectations. Finally, challenging if the hiring company is a product company, etc.
Looking a couple of years ahead: Where do I want to be in 3-5 years?
About the trainer
The trainer is the SPLSG initiator and founding partner Jörg Malang.
Trainer Jörg Malang
Jörg has gone through the product management “trenches” himself. Here come his major relevant roles:
2007 Business Analyst kimeta
2008 Product Owner Nokia
2009 Head of Product Management Nokia
2011 Director Product Nokia
2011 VP Product XING (incl. Head of Product Innovation Lab)
2012 Chief Product Officer XING
2013 (External) Head of Product Mobility Hub TUI Travel
2014 Chief Product Officer & Managing Director HOTEL DE
2016 Chief Product Officer Betsson
In addition to that, Jörg was the line manager of larger product organizations:
Nokia: some 30 employees (incl. 3-5 product employees)
XING: some 20-30 employees (incl. 15-20 Product Owners of different seniority/hierarchy levels)
HOTEL DE: up to 200 employees (incl. 5-10 Product Owners of different seniority/hierarchy levels)
Betsson: some 100 employees (incl. 40-50 Product Managers of different seniority/hierarchy levels)
This is why Jörg can give all attendees of this training valuable insight for their own career. Training packages are currently offered in Barcelona, Berlin, London, Munich, and Malta. Please read here to find out more.
In conclusion, career planning for product managers matters also to you! Please send us an Email if you wish to know more.
Product and IT – a love-hate relationship? Well, the answer to this question really depends on who you ask. I would argue that there are many product managers out there who’s comfort zone is technology. And outside product management, you will find a lot of senior executives for whom it doesn’t really matter if “product” or “IT” as long as their desired features get delivered in scope, on budget and on time.
Jörg Malang – Your Trainer for “Getting out of the IT Box”
Jörg Malang
In my long career as a senior product leader, it mattered to me a lot. This is not always a very healthy tension. I am talking about the tension between the overarching ambition to have an influence on “business” and the overall direction of the company and the obligation to be head down and simply deliver.
To be frank: A great product leader needs to be capable of doing both. Nitty-gritty detail work and then being able to challenge the Board regarding the company strategy. If the product leader isn’t up for this – who else? If there is someone else doing this, then this person might be the factual product leader and not you. Even worse, if there is a person doing this without knowing what it means to be a “product company” you as a product leader should be sued to not speak up because this is causing damage to the company.
The SPLSG training “Getting out of the IT Box” is for those product people out there who need to expose themselves to a broader audience and influence their outside perception. I am running this training myself. It is a topic very close to my heart.
We will talk about what getting out of the IT box really means and why it is so important to learn to speak the right language and to not let go. The attendees will get a deeper understanding of how organizations work. But we will also do some role play and dive deeper into concrete practical examples. Finally, it is supposed to be a starting point for the regular exchange of the attendees.
Please get in touch if you wish to hear more Email. Or have a chat with the trainer Jörg Malang.
Book your training in Barcelona, Berlin, London, Malta or Munich now!
PS: Please always look out for early bird tickets. Typically there are some available if you are early enough!
Product manager training in Berlin and others! SPLSG is focusing a lot on offering training to its members. Also, Non-SPLSG members are welcome on request in specific cases. You will find more about the overarching SPLSG event concepthere.
We are offering training for product leaders throughout Europe. During the months to come, there have been training packages organized in the following cities:
Barcelona, Berlin, London, Malta, and Munich
What makes our training program stand out, is the focus on “horizontal” skills and abilities. The following picture illustrates this very well:
We are also happy to provide you with some individual coaching to find out what type of training might be the best for you. We are looking forward to welcoming you to one of our training events very soon!
To give you some orientation, we have created to following pages for you:
PS: Beware that the early bird ticket sale for the training packages offered in Barcelona have more or less already closed. But if you are able to come to Berlin? We still offer early bird tickets for the training packages. Please note that you will need to hurry as early bird sales end very soon!
In case you are interested in attending one of the following three training packages in Berlin, please be fast! Early bird tickets for a full day workshop cost as low as 299 EURO plus VAT.
