Org & Influence

As a new PM, no one owes you their trust or decision-making power—you have to build it. Start by finding the most influential person in your organization and asking them to teach you or letting you help them; this transfers their credibility to you while you learn what actually drives the business. The faster you accumulate real knowledge about customers, data, and business outcomes, the faster people will want your opinion before making decisions.

Getting a product decision approved feels hard because you're trying to convince people in the moment. The real trick is to involve the right people early, connect what you want to build to goals they already care about, and by the time you formally ask, they already feel ownership. Think of approval as the last step, not the first.

When you present to a leader, they probably haven't thought about your project since the last time you spoke. Start every meeting with a 30-second reset: why are we here, what did we decide last time, why does this matter now. Make it easy for them to get context fast, and answer their questions directly — if they ask when, give a date.

As a PM, no one on your team reports to you, but you're still responsible for what ships. That means your ability to influence engineers, designers, researchers, and executives — without using authority you don't have — is the actual job. The fastest way to build that influence is to earn trust by doing the unglamorous work, following up on results, and making the team feel heard before making a call.

When someone asks you to build something that doesn't fit your priorities, don't refuse them directly. Instead, show them your current priorities and the impact math, then ask them to help you figure out what to deprioritize if their request should jump the queue. You're not saying no — you're making the cost of yes visible.