When joining a new company, especially in a complex industry, a leader's first focus should be on understanding the 'edge cases'—escalations, churn reasons, and support issues. This is where the company's real constraints and customer pain are most apparent.

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.

A new CEO’s first few months are best spent gathering unfiltered information directly from employees and customers across the business. Avoid the trap of sitting in an office listening to prepared presentations. Instead, actively listen in the field, then act decisively based on those firsthand insights.

When starting a new partnerships role, resist the pressure to show immediate results. Spend the first 90 days on a listening tour with internal teams and external partners to identify systemic patterns and root causes, rather than applying superficial 'Band-Aid' solutions.

In your first 90 days, resist the urge to be the expert. Instead, conduct a "listening tour" by treating the organization as a product you're researching. Ask questions to understand how work gets done, what success looks like, and what challenges exist at a systemic level.

When a new leader joins, the immediate pressure is to deliver results. However, the most effective first step is to 'wander'—to observe, listen, and deeply understand the existing environment and power dynamics before trying to implement change.

When you're hired into a leadership role, it's because the company needs something fixed. Conduct a "listening tour" specifically to understand the underlying issues. This reveals your true mandate, which is often a need for more innovation and faster speed to market.

After decades as a CEO, Andrea Greta finds his greatest listening skill is discerning the unspoken. He actively probes for the tensions, problems, or issues that team members are hesitant to voice, believing that surfacing these hidden truths is key to quick and effective problem-solving.

A product leader's true value isn't in having all the answers but in creating an environment where the team can collectively find them. This involves fostering clarity, encouraging teams to tell the truth, and building systems for good decisions.