I Asked What Exactly Do We Mean by “Product Leaders”—Here’s How People Answered

Not too long ago, I posed a question here on my blog and on social media: What exactly do we mean by “product leaders”? I shared how I’ve recently noticed a trend where people seem to use the title “product lead” or “product leader” when describing an individual contributor product manager. The argument seems to be that the title “product manager” doesn’t do a good job of encompassing all of the responsibilities the product person holds.

But I also shared how from my perspective this causes confusion since I regularly coach and create events for product leaders (the people leaders who manage individual product managers and product teams). Did you miss that article? You can find it here.

After asking how others are defining the terms ‘product lead’ and ‘product leader,’ I was blown away by the responses on social media, particularly on LinkedIn. Clearly I had touched a nerve. This is a topic many product people have opinions about. 

I thought it was worth sharing some of the discussion that was happening on LinkedIn here on my blog since I know that not all readers keep up to date on that platform. 

Here are a few of the noteworthy responses:  

Martin Erikkson said that in his opinion, a “product leader” is unambiguously someone who leads or manages other product managers. But if your goal is to build an equal trio, it doesn’t make sense to use the titles product manager, engineer, and designer. “In that context, I quite like ‘product lead,’ ‘engineering lead,’ and ‘design lead’ with potentially more engineers/designers in the team,” writes Martin.

Chantal Botana makes the same distinction as Martin, using “leader” for people managers only and “lead” for anyone, regardless of whether they manage people or have a specific leadership role. She adds that in a setting like LinkedIn, it makes sense to use “lead” because title, roles, and responsibilities can vary so much from company to company. She writes, “I believe everyone has the possibility to lead without the leader title, and PMs in particular are leads of the product(s) they manage and need to influence without authority.”  

Ben Williams writes, “I think what they really mean is ‘lead product manager,’ which, as you highlight, is very different from ‘product management leader.’ When I hear ‘lead PM,’ I interpret that as a PM taking a central coordinating role in a larger product and/or program of work.” He interprets “product leader” as a manager of other product people. I love his synopsis: “It’s all as clear as mud.”

Büşra Coşkuner shared what I imagine is a common complaint, “As a non-native I got confused by the difference between lead and leader until a native explained it to me. To me, a product lead equals lead product manager. A lead PM is someone who is more senior and responsible for an area. This could be a senior PM, group PM, principal PM, or staff PM. These are leads but not leaders as in ‘product leader’ = manager of PMs.”

So what can we take away from all this?

While people generally agree that the term “product leader” should be reserved for someone who manages other people, there’s no absolute consensus, and that’s even more the case when it comes to what exactly we mean by the term “product lead.”

This entire conversation is a great reminder to be mindful of the words we’re using and to strive for clear communication (there are some great tips on providing directional clarity to the people around you here, by the way). If you’re ever unsure about the terminology someone is using, don’t be afraid to ask for clarification. And if you’re planning to enroll in coaching or an event that’s marketed to a specific audience (like the Product at Heart Leadership Forum, for example), make sure you are the type of participant the organizer had in mind.