There are two things that ring loud in my head whenever I think about PLF. The first is the teaching by renowned Chinese philosopher Lao-Tzu that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. And the second is the quote “Celebrate what you have accomplished but raise the bar a little higher each time you succeed” by Mia Hamm a leading soccer player who has many firsts to her name.
At iSPIRT we dream of making India a product nation. In it’s 2-year journey so far (yes #iSpirtturns2!), the dream has taken shape in different ways! It is great that there are others who share the dream and the passion! Product Leaders Forum (PLF)—a not-for-profit is one such catalyst working in the eco-system in the same direction. PLF’s mission is to build an active forum of product leaders helping build stronger product mindsets and skillsets in India. This journey is going to be made of many steps and as a part of its early steps it brings an upcoming event PLF 2015!
As a product citizen I am very excited about “Product Leaders Forum – 2015” a 4-day event coming up in Bangalore between 17-20th February 2015! True to it’s core, PLF’s promise for the event is to bring together product heroes and sheroes—visionary practitioners who have successfully run product centers for global companies or transitioned to start-up on their own; gurus—product management, leadership and design gurus; and practising and aspiring product citizens.
A key goal of PLF 2015 is to help create product leaders and to celebrate product leadership! As we know a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step and the Indian eco-system has made a bold start in the last few years. As the country was fast thriving in the Indian services industry making a global impact, the product journey slowly but surely began! With the vibrant eco-system of MNC companies and local start-ups, it is only going to grow further. Start-ups have an appetite greater than ever to get bigger and the R&D centers want to go beyond being R&D centers to become product and business centers! This shift in appetite and need to move up the value chain calls for a greater role of product management, product leadership and product leaders in the play.
The product leadership evolution has become a revolution and it stands on two key pillars—product mindsets and skillsets to make the shift! At PLF 2015 all sessions and speakers have been hand-picked to exclusively focus on that. Here are just a few of the many exclusive things that can be expected at PLF 2015:
- 11 CEOs, 1 stage, 1 topic — Panel discussion on Product Leadership’s journey from evolution to revolution!
- Series of career tracks, workshop tracks and best practice series carefully hand-picked for product leaders to build the mindset and turbo-charge career paths
- Candid conversations on a spectrum of topics ranging from intraprenuership; product management; design and experience; leveraging emerging; transformative technologies; and organizational championship to build great product teams!
- First hand success stories from accomplished stalwarts on their journey from product leadership to intrapreneurship to enterprenership
- Actionable takeaways
- An exposure to a bagful of unexplored possibilities to become a product leader and a great one at that!
- Form lifelong, meaningful connections in the eco-system not just at the event but ones that open up dialogues beyond it as well
This is a not-to-be-missed event by every product leader, and anyone who’s in the business of building products needs product leaders!
- If you’re a product company making global products, you need product leaders
- If you’re a service company with thriving services business, but are looking to build great platforms that not only allow you to take the best to all your customers, but also monetize it better; you need product leaders
- If you’re an entrepreneur running a start-up for local or global customers, while you are focussed on managing funding and selling of the product as you build it, you need to also play the role of a product leader! And as you grow, you need a team of product leaders!
Being part of both families, I can see and feel the passion; and visualize a product nation for all us product citizens; and inspired and upskilled product leaders; and it is this visualized dream that keeps me marching one step at a time every day in that direction! Before we continue on the journey ahead, I do plan to stop by at PLF 2015 to celebrate product leadership and become a champion product leader! Given the way the iSpirt family is a fan of building great products, definitely hope to see many of you there J!! To find out more about the schedule, speakers and registrations check out the PLF website before the bus is full!