A new CPO's first instinct is often to "fix" the roadmap process. A better approach is to interview every functional leader to understand their perspective on product. This reveals the core issue—often a feeling of exclusion—and builds the necessary consensus for real change.

The essence of product management is taking unclear or ambiguous situations and creating a clear, structured path forward. This process energizes the team, aligns everyone on a single goal, and creates the momentum needed to build products that drive real outcomes.

Product managers don't code, design, or conduct research. Their unique value is providing clarity through strategy, requirements, or a North Star vision. This clarity empowers the entire team to execute their specialized roles effectively and succeed.

The core job of a Product Manager is not writing specs or talking to press; it's a leadership role. Success means getting a product to market that wins. This requires influencing engineering, marketing, and sales without any formal authority, making it the ultimate training ground for real leadership.

Product managers operate as internal ambassadors, responsible for outcomes like budget and sales but without direct authority. Success depends on building relationships and influencing functions like cost accounting, engineering, and other product teams to achieve shared goals.

The 'CEO of the product' metaphor is misleading because product managers lack direct authority. A better analogy is 'the glue.' The PM's role is to connect different functions—engineering, sales, marketing—with strategy, data, and user problems to ensure the team works cohesively towards a shared goal.

On the Codex team, the PM role is not seen as a traditional leadership position. Instead, it's a support function focused on doing whatever is necessary—bridging gaps, coordinating, and sometimes criticizing—to help the team succeed, rather than directing strategy from the top.

In an organization still running in project mode, the 'Product Manager' title is misleading. The role is often relegated to organizing work and scheduling tasks for engineering. A true product model requires empowering these roles with the mandate, skills, and market access to make strategic decisions.

Product leaders are often consumed by low-value work like internal politics, firefighting, and escalations, leaving no time for strategy. They must first fix their own system of work to free up time for high-value leadership. Like the airplane oxygen mask rule, they cannot help their team become effective until they fix their own role first.