556: Product managers excel when they understand human patterns

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Product Mastery Now for Product Managers, Leaders, and Innovators

Chad McAllister, PhD

300 episodes

1 week ago

Welcome to Product Mastery Now, where you learn the 7 knowledge areas for product mastery. We teach the product management practices that elevate your influence and create products your customers love as you move toward product mastery. To learn about all seven areas and assess your strengths in product mastery, go to my website -- https://productmasterynow.com -- and click the Podcast button at the top of the page. Hosted by Chad McAllister, product management professor and practitioner.

All content for Product Mastery Now for Product Managers, Leaders, and Innovators is the property of Chad McAllister, PhD and is served directly from their servers with no modification, redirects, or rehosting. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by Podjoint in any way.

556: Product managers excel when they understand human patterns – with Blair LaCorte

Product Mastery Now for Product Managers, Leaders, and Innovators

25 minutes 1 second

2 months ago

556: Product managers excel when they understand human patterns – with Blair LaCorte

Focused product strategy and teams

Watch on YouTube

TLDR

In this episode, Blair LaCorte—seasoned leader, investor, former CEO of AEye, and coach to 50+ CEOs— breaks down the keys to building product teams that win. Blair shares insights on aligning product strategy with company goals, the importance of saying no and making trade-offs, and why team culture and people patterns matter more than anything. He draws on experiences across tech, aviation, private equity, and defense, offering memorable lessons on scaling organizations, product leadership, and the human side of performance (including when and how to part ways with team members). The episode closes with advice for product managers seeking purpose, growth, and ways to elevate themselves and their teams.

Introduction

Whether you’re a product manager trying to get your team aligned, or a product leader striving to translate executive vision into actionable roadmaps, this episode addresses the real challenges you face every day.

You’ll hear from a leader who has built high-performing product teams and grown organizations across different industries, from taking autonomous vehicle tech company AEye through a $1.8 billion IPO while launching products across automotive and defense markets, to scaling XOJET into one of the fastest-growing companies in aviation history. He’s worked with over 40 companies as a private equity Operating Partner at TPG and now coaches 50+ CEOs through his Pinnacle Performance Elite mastermind. His career started in tech at Sun Microsystems and Autodesk and has spanned hardware, software, and services. If anyone knows what separates high-performing product teams from the rest, it’s our guest, Blair LaCorte.

Summary of Concepts Discussed for Product Managers

Focused Product Strategy & Team Alignment:Success starts with product managers who grasp both internal operations and external market realities, aligning product decisions tightly to company strategy. Focus is critical—great leaders say no more than yes.

Scaling & Market Fit:Blair details how autonomous vehicle tech company AEye shifted from pure autonomous vehicles to ADAS (Advanced Driver-Assistance Systems), aligning their tech roadmap with realistic market cycles and cash flow needs.

Team Dynamics & Culture: For a product team, the type of culture is less important than the consistency of the culture and the consistency of the team. Teams with alignment and clear expectations outperform more talented but chaotic groups. Winning builds healthy cultures; the feeling of progress is essential.

Hard Choices & Leadership:Removing the wrong team members is tough but essential. Blair emphasizes the importance of honest feedback, quick decision-making, and quickly firing weaker performers to allow the rest of the team to move forward.

Personal Growth & Knowing Yourself:Blair dives into psychology, personality frameworks, and patterns—urging product leaders to understand themselves, seek feedback, show vulnerability, and continually develop their Johari Window (the intersection of self-perception and how others see you).

Technology vs. Humanity:As technology advances rapidly, keeping humanity at the center becomes more important than ever. Product managers must weigh the impact of their products, striving for both business value and societal good.

Useful Links

* Connect with Blair on LinkedIn