Ibrahim Bashir argues product leaders need to be hands-on builders, not just managers. Recruiters now look for leaders who can code, design, or ship products themselves. Interviewers ask candidates about side projects and actual building experience to prove they can lead from the front.
What matters more now than ever is, are you actually a hands-on builder? Now, why is everybody sort of so focused on this hands-on builder archetype? I mean, that's what recruiters are being pushed to look for, but I think the biggest reason is that there is a sense that unless you're a hands-on builder, you're not actually going to be able to find and attract other hands-on builders, and you're not actually going to be able to coach and mentor people who are kind of blurring the lines between product design, engineering, marketing. And so in order to actually shepherd that kind of organization, in order to sort of cultivate that mindset, people want somebody who sort of leads from the front and can do that themselves instead of somebody who understands it theoretically and can sort of do it that way. And so I'm definitely seeing that people are getting asked all sorts of questions around what they've actually built, how hands-on they were in their role, or even in their side projects. And I think one of the important things to note here is If you've actually been hands-on and whether you're actually building the product or building sort of the operating system of your product organization, there's actually really compelling stories to tell here.
