Coaching Stakeholders

Christian Idiodi sits down with SVPG partner Chris Jones to unpack the often-ignored other half of “empowered teams”: coaching the stakeholders. They dig into why stakeholders often feel like the enemy, what “healthy” actually looks like in the product operating model, and how trust, context-sharing, and outcome-thinking change the relationship. They also get practical about handling “because I said so,” avoiding the stakeholder “black hole,” and shifting finance from funding projects to funding teams and outcomes. – Today’s episode will discuss: What makes someone a “stakeholder” and why product teams can’t pretend they’re optional What a healthy stakeholder relationship looks like Why stakeholder trust has to be earned How to get context when stakeholders tell you “because I said so” How to keep stakeholders engaged without hijacking teams Predictability without pretending roadmaps are fortune-telling How to avoid the stakeholder “black hole” through transparency Why postmortems are critical, even when outcomes miss – References: Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/ ChatGPT: https://chatgpt.com/ Google: https://www.google.com/ – SVPG on stakeholders: Articles: https://www.svpg.com/stakeholders-and-the-product-model/ – Where to find Chris Jones: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisjonessvpg/ SVPG profile: https://www.svpg.com/team/chris-jones/ – Where to find Christian Idiodi: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cidiodi/ – Where to find SVPG: SVPG’s newest book, TRANSFORMED: https://www.svpg.com/books/transformed-moving-to-the-product-operating-model/ Other books: https://www.svpg.com/books/ Articles: https://www.svpg.com/articles/ Workshops: https://www.svpg.com/ Videos: https://www.svpg.com/videos – Timestamps: (1:07) Why do stakeholders matter? (3:52) The conflict between product and business (6:47) Unpacking a healthy stakeholder relationship (10:09) Stakeholders should give you problems, not solutions (13:05) Why product has to make the first move (17:58) Getting context when stakeholders won't give it (24:42) The three reasons stakeholders resist you (27:53) What we get wrong about “empowerment” (31:56) Do senior executives need different coaching? (37:21) Finance is the stakeholder nobody talks about (41:47) Trust starts when teams own the outcome (44:23) What dysfunction really looks like (50:14) "We're too big for this" and other excuses (53:45) The roadmap trap: predictability vs. discovery (56:37) The accountability question everyone's afraid to ask – Disclaimer: While this podcast is named “Product Therapy”, it is not hosted by licensed therapists or mental health professionals, and it is in no way a substitute for professional mental health services. We recognize the importance of mental well-being and encourage anyone facing personal difficulties to seek support from qualified professionals. See https://findahelpline.com/ – Production: Production by ⁠supermix.io