This is what a product manager (any great leader) must do. This is a deceptively simple phrase but there a lot packed in it. This describes the what and the how and the why for achieving success as a team leader.
Enable
Enablement happens on multiple levels. Unblock sticking points. On any project there will be many sticking points including: (1) From above (e.g., leadership misalignments), (2) from within (e.g., intra-team process, dynamics, lack of cohesion etc.), (3) from outside forces Enable individuals to achieve their potential. This could mean emotionally supporting them to find their way into the work. Lifting the down-trodden, pushing the strong ones, and suppressing the over-zealous. It requires reading the emotional landscape people are traversing. Enable the team to work well together. This requires reading the team dynamics as a machine. That machine requires oiling and tuning. What process will ensure this stays humming (I like retrospectives every other week but there’s no formula). Build the process so that people can quickly achieve their best work. This could mean anything from burn down charts to vision documents, writing product briefs or taking out dishes from the dishwasher so the sink doesn’t overflow. I think of this as paving the road. This means you need to get ahead of the work so that the team can drive quickly.
Us
We is not me. We all have so many pressures on us. The realization that the collective is stronger than any individual’s particular mandate is important to keep front and center. What will you tell your manager you’ve been working on when much of it is “soft skills”. Hopefully your manager will understand and support the need to invest in this.
To Pull
Pull is very different than push. As a young product manager I got a lot of mileage from pushing. We shipped our goals. But that came at a cost in terms of team burnout. Pull is the great quote from the little prince (paraphrasing) that if you want men to build a boat do not give them the instructions, but rather help them see where they want to get to on the other side of the ocean. This is wisdom.
Pull requires a vision greater than oneself. Pull requires an appeal to the “why”, to greater meaning. So what is it you aspire to? Get clear why YOU are doing the work. Convince yourself and the rest will follow.