Join Shobhit Chugh from Intentional Product Manager with special guests Bruce McCarthy and Melissa Appel, co-authors of Aligned: Stakeholder Management for Product Leaders. This episode offers actionable insights to help you manage stakeholders, build trust, and navigate decision-making cultures. Plus, discover the surprising benefits of "mining for conflict."

Key Takeaways

• 00:00 Meet the authors: Bruce McCarthy and Melissa Appel
• 00:44 The Story Behind the Book: How Aligned was born
• 01:08 Challenges in stakeholder management: When to say “yes” and “no”
• 03:28 Building rapport: Why understanding stakeholders is as crucial as understanding customers
• 05:04 The importance of organizational fit: Identifying hidden roadblocks to career growth
• 08:15 Communicating effectively: Strengthening relationships between product and sales
• 11:00 Positioning yourself for promotions and identifying influential "power players"
• 13:13 Learning from others: Gaining diverse perspectives to craft well-rounded strategies
• 15:00 Building comfortable, meaningful relationships
• 15:58 Practicing empathy: Reflecting stakeholder language for clarity and connection
• 17:00 Turning difficult relationships around: Finding common ground and bridging divides
• 19:45 Earning a seat at the executive table: Building and maintaining executive relationships
• 21:00 Mastering “the meeting before the meeting”: Setting up for success
• 22:48 Decision-making cultures: Identifying decision-makers and distinguishing alignment vs. agreement
• 26:30 Mining for conflict: Using strategic disagreement to foster psychological safety and alignment
• 33:37 Trends in product leadership: Balancing empathy with founder-driven dynamics
• 35:12 Hiring insights: Attracting top talent in competitive markets
• 37:13 Where to find more about the book and authors
• 38:22 Closing thoughts

Discover how to deepen relationships, boost your organizational impact, and drive success for your product and company.

Learn more about Shobhit Chugh at intentionalproductmanager.com and connect on https://www.linkedin.com/in/shobhitchugh/

Learn more about Bruce McCarthy at Product Culture or connect on https://www.linkedin.com/in/brucemccarthy/ 

Learn more about Melissa Appel at Product Culture or connect on https://www.linkedin.com/in/melappel/

Get Bruce and Melissa’s book “Aligned: Stakeholder Management for Product Leaders”

www.intentionalproductmanager.com