People ask me all the time how to become a product manager or become a better one. Here are my quick thoughts on what makes an awesome product manager. If you already work in product, I’d be curious to hear your feedback.

1. Customer empathy

The biggest question I always ask when working on something new is, “who is the customer for this product?” Know everything about your customers, obsessively. If you can map out how a customer spends a typical workday, then you can start to think about their problems from their perspective, rather than from your product’s perspective. In addition to the qualitative, know the quantitative metrics as well. As a product manager, you need to understand the data about how users are interacting with your product, and what types of interactions are good for customer health.

2. Resourcefulness

As a product manager, everything begins and ends with you. Beyond the typical skills you might expect such as UX design, knowledge around specific technologies, data analysis, and general business acumen, you often need to go beyond your comfort level to get things done. That might mean helping to sell your product alongside salespeople. That might mean reading 100 pages of third-party API documentation to find that one endpoint that could make or break a feature. It might mean chasing down that one beta customer for the perfect testimonial on your website. Do whatever it takes.

3. Humility

Most product managers do not have direct reports, and for good reason. Your job is to help move an organization’s product forward using your best judgment, and you cannot do it alone. You must earn the trust and respect of others. An arrogant product manager can be absolutely toxic in an organization. When critiquing others’ ideas, assume good intent. When you fail, admit it openly and move on quickly to redeem yourself. Acknowledge the help you receive from others and make them feel rewarded. Never give the impression that the product will move in a certain direction only “because you said so”.

4. Fortitude

Part of the challenge of being a product manager is staying humble while staying true to a product vision at the same time. Although you want to be front and center whenever someone has a new idea, you also have to say “no” to a lot of people. Do not compromise all of the research and knowledge you have amassed because something new and shiny comes along. Learn how to stay the course and bring people along with you even if they disagree.

5. Passion

People will often rely on you for the energy required to take a bold stance when introducing something new to the market. You need to be a selling to the salespeople, instilling the belief in them that you have done your homework. If you are not passionate and excited about your product, assume that no one will feel that way.

I hope that helps — comments are welcome!