Taking ownership and never settling as a Product Manager with Thane Ringler - speaker, author, podcast host, and development coach

On today's episode, I spoke with Thane Ringler, speaker, author, podcast host, and development coach. Thane is a good friend, but this conversation isn't going to be your typical product management discussion. Thane doesn't have a PM background, but what he's about to share absolutely applies to you as a product manager. If product launches fail, it's on us and we MUST take ownership of the success or failure of our products. And we exist to make the lives of our customers and users better, so we should never settle for "okay" or "good enough".  Here's what we discussed: Thane's mission to help people live better and work more effectively through developing the mindset of a professional athlete Thane's life journey into marriage, moving, and building a family My thoughts on how sports helped shape my view of growth, leadership, and taking ownership Thane's definition of taking ownership Why failing isn't failing if you have a growth mindset How reflecting on our mistakes for how to not make them again is a muscle that must be exercised to see growth Finding someone to blame is easy. Owning outcomes is what leaders do.  We HAVE to be able to lead ourselves well before we could ever lead others well How fragile culture can be and why you must fight to maintain a healthy culture The principle of "leading up" when you don't have a position of authority Even when things aren't our fault, there's always something we can do to improve the situation or could have done The difference between ownership and control and there are only two things we can truly control Why we can't define our identity by what we do How we don't have to be recognized to sleep well at night We don't have to take ownership for other people's actions Why leading out of love might sound soft but it's incredibly powerful What never settling looks like in a product sphere Why never settling and never stopping are two different things Why discipline equals freedom Check out Thane's books and courses: Book Website