The Product Leadership Wheel - A Framework for Defining and Growing Product Leadership at Scale

The PLwheel is a structured self-assessment and development tool for product leaders—CPOs, Heads of Product, Directors, and VPs—designed to define what great product leadership looks like in your organization and help leaders grow intentionally into that definition.

 
 

Why Organizations Choose the PLwheel

Most companies lack a shared understanding of what strong product leadership actually looks like. The PLwheel fills that gap by offering a clear framework tailored specifically to those running product organizations—not just shipping features.

Whether you’re navigating a digital transformation, scaling a growing product org, or rethinking your leadership development strategy—the PLwheel brings structure, alignment, and momentum.

This Is for You If You’re...

  • HR / L&D building career paths for product roles

  • Digital transformation teams clarifying leadership responsibilities during org change

  • Execs aiming to have better conversations with product leaders

 
 
 

A glimpse inside the PLwheel - Three of the many pages that help product leaders reflect, align, and grow.

 
 
 

What’s Included

Licensable Tool + Consulting Package, tailored to your organization. You’ll get:

  • A structured framework breaking down leadership into 12 responsibilities across People, Product, and Ways of Working

  • A performance scale to assess where your leaders are now

  • Time allocation diagnostics to align focus with company context

  • Reflection guides and optional coaching formats to support growth

  • Guidance for team workshops, development planning, and leadership conversations

 
 

What the PLwheel Helps You Do

  • Clarify leadership expectations and career progression

  • Benchmark leadership maturity across your org

  • Move leaders from execution mode to strategy mode

  • Enable better 1:1s and coaching conversations

  • Build product leadership capability intentionally, not accidentally

Use Cases for the PLwheel

🧭 Self-assessment
🧠 Leadership team alignment
💬 Coaching and development conversations
⏳ Time allocation analysis

You may also discover that the PLwheel provides a foundational framework that you can adapt to your organization's specific needs. Learn more about how Novo Nordisk did this with my other tool, the PMwheel, here.

 
 

What Makes the PLwheel Different

Similar to tools like Gartner’s Strengths Finder or Gallup CliftonStrengths, the PLwheel supports structured reflection and intentional growth.

But what sets it apart is this:

👉 It’s built specifically for product leadership.
Where other tools focus on general leadership traits, the PLwheel is tailored for those leading product teams—navigating alignment, strategy, culture, and execution across fast-moving, cross-functional orgs.

👉 It’s grounded in real coaching practice.
I developed the PLwheel after years of coaching product leaders—from Heads of Product to CPOs—and after thousands of conversations about what great product leadership actually looks like in the wild. Every element of the PLwheel is rooted in what product leaders are truly grappling with, not what looks good on a poster.

This isn’t theory. It’s a framework built for the messy, rewarding, high-leverage work of leading product at scale.

 
 

Ready to Bring Clarity to Product Leadership?

Whether you're an individual product leader, a leadership team, or a company preparing for a broader rollout—there’s a PLwheel format designed for you.

✳️ Available Packages Include:

  • Customize It Yourself: A standalone license for internal teams who want access to the PLwheel self-assessment PDF and plan to adapt or explore it independently.
    → No calls, no customization, just the tool.

  • Guided Rollout Package: Designed for organizations rolling out the PLwheel “as-is” with their product leaders, but looking for strategic input.
    Includes Petra’s guidance on framing, rollout planning, and light-touch customization—so the tool lands well and leads to meaningful reflection.
    → Leverage Petra’s experience to set your rollout up for success.

  • Enterprise Package: For large-scale rollouts or organizations with complex role structures. Includes a company-wide license and a fully customized version of the PLwheel tailored to your leadership architecture—plus a series of enablement workshops.
    → A strategic, end-to-end implementation.

  • Coach License: For experienced product leadership coaches interested in using the PLwheel with their coachees. (Coming Winter 2025)

✨ Add-Ons

Optional elements for deeper development: workshops for interpreting results, 1:1 leadership coaching, and access to the From STRONG to Exceptional email course.
→ Only available with the Guided Rollout Package.

If you're serious about growing product leadership intentionally, let’s talk.