Most Important Skills For A Head Of Product At Postal
Shadi, Head of Product at Postal, emphasizes the importance of "humility and a genuine care for people," combined with strong organizational skills and the ability to quickly learn and adapt, citing that many crucial product skills are learned "on the job" through resourcefulness. Effective communication and persuasive argumentation, including knowing "when to push, when to pull," are also key to success in their role.
Communication, Problem-Solving, Project Management, Resourcefulness, Leadership
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Shadi Majzoub
Head of Product
Postal
Cal Poly
N/A
Business Management & Admin
Technology
Product / Service / Software Development and Management
First Generation College Student
Video Highlights
1. Humility and genuine care for people are crucial for connecting and collaborating effectively.
2. Strong organizational skills and the ability to prioritize tasks are essential for managing diverse responsibilities.
3. Resourcefulness, quick learning, and effective communication are vital for navigating complex challenges and building consensus within a team.
Transcript
What skills are most important for a job like yours?
That's a good question. I think the main one, or one of the first ones, is humility and having a genuine care for people and connecting with them. Being organized is also important.
As we've said, there are many things you could be doing. Having focus and being able to prioritize your time well is super important. Being able to learn things quickly and pick them up fast, resourcefulness in general, is one of the biggest.
A lot of what I've learned in product wasn't taught in school. While more things are being taught for product management now, before, it was about sitting in on development meetings and learning from developers. I learned I knew nothing and didn't understand how things worked, so I learned about their world.
To tie it all up, from that point on, it's about communication and articulation. It's about being able to compose a persuasive argument and be smart about it. It's about properly positioning things and learning when to push and when to pull to build consensus around what you're going to do and the decisions you're going to make. I'll say those.