At Level 5, you are a shaper of product strategy and culture. You influence how the organization understands its product, frames its priorities, and designs its systems to reflect the real needs of real users. You work across disciplines and time horizons, connecting dots between business strategy, customer goals, and technical investments. You shape not just products, but the way product thinking happens.
Key Behaviors
- Drives organizational alignment around product purpose and long-term goals
- Connects technical investments to product strategy and business outcomes
- Identifies and addresses systemic barriers to product excellence
- Pushes for clarity in goals, metrics, and principles that guide product work
- Elevates awareness of user needs across organizational boundaries
Common Struggles
- May need to balance product idealism with business and technical constraints
- Can face challenges bridging varied priorities across leadership groups
- Might struggle to maintain deep product knowledge across broadening scope
Success Indicators
You know you're successful when you:
- Shape product strategy that aligns business goals and user needs
- Create connections and shared understanding across disciplines
- Drive clarity in how the organization thinks about and evaluates product success
- Ensure technical and product excellence reinforce each other
Mindset Shift
From:
"I influence how teams build products."
To:
"I influence how the organization thinks about product purpose and value."
Questions to Ask Yourself
- How do we ensure that our technical and product choices reinforce each other?
- Where are disconnects between our strategy, product direction, and execution?
- What will matter most to our users in one year? In three?
Build These Habits
- 1Connect product strategy to technical architecture decisions
- 2Help teams see the connections between their work and broader product goals
- 3Build bridges between product, business, and technical stakeholders
Seek Feedback
- "How aligned are our product and technology investments?"
- "Where are we failing to address user and business needs?"
- "What mental models guide how we make product decisions?"
Signals You're Ready to Level Up
- You create clarity in product strategy and technical direction
- You help teams understand their work in context of larger goals
- Your product insights shape organizational direction and decisions
Focus Summary
- Think deeply
- Teach clearly
- Shape how we build
At Level 5, product knowledge becomes organizational clarity. You help everyone see the connections between users, technology, and business goals.