cpo 
More than a product manager : a chief of product is not a PM! He or she needs to know about the whole product life cycle and how to set the direction for the product, not just manage the backlog.
A strategic role : the task of the chief of product is to strategize, to create a vision and a strategy for the product. It’s their job to help define the overall purpose of what the company is doing, and how they are going to achieve it.
A holistic view : a chief of product needs to have a broad view of what is going on within the company in order to be able to plan for the long-term. When you are working on a product, you need to be aware of what is happening in marketing, business development, sales, HR, operations, and so on.
A long-term view : having a long-term view means that you are not thinking about how you are going to make this quarter’s numbers, but rather how you are going to make next year’s numbers. In terms of strategy, you should be thinking about how you are going to get from where you are now, all the way to where you want to go.
Strategic skills : these are skills such as knowing where your company fits in its market and how you can position yourself in it; knowing your customers’ needs, motivations, and desires; knowing your strengths relative to your competitors; understanding what the market wants from your product; and knowing what new opportunities exist. Having strategic skills means that you are not just looking at your next quarter’s numbers but thinking about where you want your company to be in three or five years’ time.
Presentation skills : when presenting information about your product or service, it is important to be able to distil things down into their most important elements. You need to be able to cut out any unnecessary detail and present only what is most relevant. Any superfluous information can be used as a reference point if people do have any questions or specific points they want clarification on. A chief of product needs to be able to present information clearly and succinctly.
Teamship: having good teamship skills means that they work well with other people in order for them all to achieve their goals. It also means that they can deal well with conflict when it arises; they can resolve disputes effectively and diplomatically and will not allow conflict between people get in the way of their goals.
Key stakeholders
We have already mentioned that the main stakeholders for a chief of product are the executive team, but this is really just the tip of the iceberg. The following stakeholders are also important:
The product manager : the chief of product needs to be able to work closely with the product manager because they are two sides of the same coin. The chief of product sets the strategy for what the product should become, while the PM is responsible for making it happen. The chief of product should be able to work well with a product manager who has a different strategic approach from their own, as long as they are both working toward the same end result.
The sales team : a chief of product needs to be able to work well with the sales team because sales and marketing are often interlinked. The sales team needs to understand what is happening in marketing, and marketing needs to understand what is happening in sales. Sometimes there is a lot of overlap between the two, and you will need to work closely together.
Marketing : marketing is a crucial part of your company that you need to understand if you are going to be successful. You need to know how they will position your company in its market, how they will promote your product, what type of communications they have planned, and so on. You need to know what other marketing initiatives your company is taking, such as events, partnerships, and so on, so that you can ensure they are working together coherently. If you do not know about these initiatives, it could cause some serious issues for you further down the line.
Product managers in other areas: if your company has other products or services that are related to your own, then you will need to know what is going on with them too. You might have a product manager for social media and another for mobile apps; each one will have their own strategy for their area and you need to know about it. You also need to be aware of what plans other departments have for their products; for example, if they are planning on scaling back on their mobile app’s development soon, it is important that you know about this so that you can plan accordingly.
Summary
A chief of product must have strategic skills in order to successfully lead a product team; it requires a broad view of the company and how it works as a whole. Product managers set the direction for products but need strategic direction themselves too, which they can then translate into actionable items and communicate throughout their teams. A chief of product should be able
