### Next steps in Dell PM journey
- Assess personal and career goals. Work backwards from your goal
	- Looking for advancement, adventure, decision making power and intellectual challenge
	- Get flagged as high potential from your leaders
	- Have IDP conversation - 3-year career end-state, work backwards
- Communicate career interests and goals
- Build mentorship network, develop network of peers, experts
- 3-year state - leading PM team of products sold in market, not used as enablers (like eCommerce)

### PM Career roadmap
How to create a PM Career Roadmap?  
Try asking yourself these questions:  
  
1️⃣ What type of product work do you enjoy doing?  
- Ship 0-to-1 product to find product-market fit  
- Core feature work to deepen existing value prop  
- Growth work to accelerate adoption & usage  
- Expanding into adjacent markets/products  
- Optimize to scale from 1-to-N  
  
2️⃣ What stage of the company?  
- Very early seed stage  
- Well funded startup, Series A+  
- Mature pre-IPO, hypergrowth company  
- Public company with <5K employees  
- Large public company with 5K+ employees  
  
3️⃣ What domain will you excel at?  
- B2B, B2C, or B2B2C  
- Any specific industry? FinTech, HealthTech, etc.  
- Type of product? Marketplace, AI, social, etc  
  
4️⃣ What is your predominant PM archetype?  
- Owner vs. facilitator  
- Scientist vs. Artist vs. General Manager  
- User-facing vs. Technical back-end focused  
  
5️⃣ What level do you want to grow into?  
- Individual contributor  
- First line manager  
- Manager of managers  
- CEO/Founder  
  
6️⃣ What are your core competencies?  
- Requirements definition  
- Product execution/delivery  
- Data fluency  
- User design/research  
- Business outcome ownership  
- Product vision & roadmap  
- Strategic storytelling & narrative building  
- Stakeholder management  
- Team leadership  
- Managing up  
  
7️⃣ Last but not least, map how a company / job allows you to live up to your core personal values?



### ChatGPT answer on growth beyond principal PM
From ChatGPT
As a principal product manager with extensive experience and an MBA, there are several steps you can take to further grow in your career. Here are three specific steps to consider:
1. **Expand Your Network**: Networking is a crucial aspect of career growth. Building and nurturing professional relationships can open doors to new opportunities, collaborations, and industry insights. Here are some actions you can take to expand your network:
	- Attend industry conferences, seminars, and trade shows relevant to your field. 
	- Join professional organizations related to product management, commerce, or your specific industry. Participate in their events, workshops.
	- Leverage social media platforms such as LinkedIn to connect with industry experts, colleagues, and potential mentors. 
2. **Seek Out Leadership Opportunities**: To advance your career, it's important to demonstrate leadership skills and take on additional responsibilities. Look for opportunities to showcase your leadership abilities:
	- Volunteer for cross-functional initiatives within your organization. This allows you to work with different teams, broaden your skill set, and demonstrate your ability to manage complex projects.
	- Mentor junior product managers or individuals seeking to enter the field. Sharing your knowledge and guiding others not only contributes to their growth but also showcases your leadership and expertise.
	- Identify gaps or challenges in your current role or department and propose solutions or strategies to address them. Taking the initiative to solve problems demonstrates your proactive approach and ability to lead change.
3. **Continuous Learning**: The field of product management is ever-evolving, and staying updated with the latest industry trends, technologies, and best practices is crucial. Here are some ways to invest in your continuous learning and professional development:
	- Attend relevant workshops, seminars, or training programs to enhance your knowledge and skills in areas such as product strategy, agile methodologies, user experience design, or data analytics.
	- Pursue certifications specific to your field or industry, such as Certified Product Manager (CPM) or Agile Certified Product Manager (ACPM). 
	- Stay informed about industry trends, market changes, and emerging technologies through reading industry publications, blogs, and research reports. Engage in online communities and discussion forums to exchange ideas and learn from others in your field.
### ChatGPT on career cross-roads with pregnancy
##### Prompt: 
help me assess my tradeoffs and give a recommendation. 
I am 5 years into a tech company after MBA. First 2 years, I was senior product manager for Performance PC, then 3 years I am a Principal Product manager for core purchase backend product line consisting of 8 products that are responsible for all of backend business logic to handle carts, quotes, checkout and order experiences for the company handling overall annual revenue of $90B+. 
2 months ago, my org went through massive leadership changes. Now my boss and skip level are new to me. 
In the past, I worked on product vision with a next-generation architecture for my products that integrate with UX apps - the idea is to redesign our products to make them completely configurable and performant so that purchase experience becomes personalized on a shared architecture. This will be a high visibility workstream with good exposure to leadership. My boss and skip level both aligned and gave me green signal to go into development mode for the next-generation architecture. 

When I speak about my promotion opportunity with my new manager, she said it will be difficult and I need to build relationship with new leaders, especially with skip level and her boss, who is SVP. Since I am 3 years into the role, I find it very comfortable and have been performing at my peak for quite some time. I feel like I am reaching a ceiling when it comes to promotion. 

At the same time, I just found out my wife is 1 month pregnant. I will need job security in this job market which looks very volatile and difficult right now. What if recession hits and layoffs begin when I am switching the companies? What if I don't find the same steady and stable work-life balance in the new role when my baby comes? There are many such uncertainties. 

So I am trying to assess whether I should keep a growth based mindset and think of life as if 'you only live once, so live the best you can', or should I take it bit more conservatively, thinking that my family will need me to raise the baby properly. Assume this decision will affect my next 2-3 years. What's your recommendation and what are your thoughts?  

##### Response: 
Congratulations on both your professional journey and the exciting news about your growing family! 🌟 It’s clear that you’re at a pivotal crossroads, and your thoughtful consideration of trade-offs shows maturity and awareness. Let’s break down your situation and explore some recommendations:

1. **Career Growth and Promotion**:
    
    - **Pros**:
        - Continuing to pursue growth and visibility in your current role can lead to exciting opportunities.
        - The next-generation architecture project is high-impact and aligns with your expertise.
        - Exposure to leadership can open doors for future promotions.
    - **Cons**:
        - Your new manager’s feedback suggests that promotion might be challenging within your current team.
        - Feeling comfortable in your role may indicate a potential plateau.
        - Uncertainty about promotion timelines can be frustrating.
2. **Job Security and Stability**:
    
    - **Pros**:
        - Staying in your current role provides stability during a volatile job market.
        - Familiarity with the company and team can be reassuring.
        - You’ve already demonstrated strong performance.
    - **Cons**:
        - Relying solely on stability might limit your long-term growth.
        - External opportunities could offer fresh challenges and learning experiences.
        - Fear of layoffs during a recession is valid but hard to predict.
3. **Work-Life Balance and Family Considerations**:
    
    - **Pros**:
        - Prioritizing family during this significant life event is commendable.
        - Stability and a known work environment can ease the transition to parenthood.
        - Predictable work hours may be crucial for balancing family responsibilities.
    - **Cons**:
        - A growth mindset might require more time and energy, impacting family time.
        - New roles often involve adjustments, potentially affecting work-life balance.
        - Balancing ambition and family needs can be emotionally challenging.
4. **Recommendation**:
    
    - **Balance and Flexibility**:
        - Consider a balanced approach. You don’t have to choose one extreme over the other.
        - Leverage your current role’s stability while actively building relationships with new leaders.
        - Continue contributing to the next-gen architecture project—it’s a valuable asset.
        - Explore external opportunities selectively, keeping family priorities in mind.
        - Communicate openly with your wife about your career decisions.
5. **Long-Term Perspective**:
    
    - Remember that decisions made now impact not only the next 2-3 years but your entire career trajectory.
    - Reflect on your long-term goals: What legacy do you want to leave? What kind of leader do you aspire to be?
6. **Embrace Uncertainty**:
    
    - Life rarely follows a linear path. Embrace the unknown, knowing that growth often comes from discomfort.
    - Trust your instincts and adapt as circumstances evolve.

Remember, there’s no one-size-fits-all answer. Your unique context, values, and aspirations should guide your decision. Ultimately, prioritize what aligns with your personal and professional fulfillment. Congratulations again, and best wishes on this exciting journey!