A significant maturity gap in large organizations is that internal platform PMs don't treat their users (e.g., developers, finance) as customers. Applying customer-centric practices like problem framing and journey mapping to these stakeholders can dramatically improve outcomes.

Product teams excel at using tools like empathy maps to understand customer feelings and behaviors. However, they often fail to apply this same rigorous curiosity to their internal peers and stakeholders. Using these tools internally can build stronger relationships, improve communication, and foster better collaboration.

To get buy-in from skeptical, business-focused stakeholders, avoid jargon about user needs. Instead, frame discovery as a method to protect the company's investment in the product team, ensuring you don't build things nobody uses and burn money. This aligns product work with financial prudence.

It is a product manager's job to understand the company's financial goals. Instead of waiting for leadership to share this information, great PMs take ownership by actively seeking it out. This means building relationships with finance and other departments to understand the metrics that truly matter to the business.

To build trust and deliver value, product managers cannot be 'tourists' who drop in on other departments transactionally. They must become 'locals'—deeply integrated, trusted partners who are regulars in cross-functional conversations and are seen as being 'in the battle' together with sales, marketing, and other teams.

Product leaders believe their teams lack the fundamental skills and knowledge to connect product plans to business outcomes. It's not just about how they present information, but about whether they've done the core thinking to make the connection in the first place.

Early in their careers, product managers focus on execution. To advance into leadership, they must shift their mindset to running the product as a business, focusing on strategy, market engagement, and uncovering problems, not just shipping features.

A product manager's role extends beyond development. The customer stories and problem statements gathered during discovery are powerful sales assets. Packaging these insights and sharing them with the sales team helps them communicate the product's value more effectively.

Product managers often fail to get ideas funded because they speak about user needs and features, while executives focus on business growth and strategic bets. To succeed, PMs must translate user value into financial impact and business outcomes, effectively speaking the language of leadership.