Leadership Professional Development - All Things Product with Teresa & Petra

In this episode of All Things Product, Petra Wille and Teresa Torres dive deep into the often-overlooked topic of professional development for product leaders. Drawing from their own experiences and coaching practices, they explore why leaders struggle to invest in themselves, what the real blockers are (spoiler: it’s not just budget), and how to navigate growth despite uncertainty and overwhelm.

From frameworks like the Learning Menu to the uncomfortable truth about leading during downturns, this episode is both a rallying cry and a practical guide for any product leader ready to take their development seriously. Vulnerability, coaching, reflective practices, and skill-building—all on the table.

Whether you're a head of product, a seasoned CPO, or simply a product leader feeling stuck—this one's for you.

Show Notes
Topics We Cover:
✅ Why the Product at Heart leadership event in Barcelona was canceled—and what it taught us
✅ The hidden stigma of coaching for leaders
✅ Vulnerability as a leadership skill
✅ The Learning Menu framework: how to invest in your development at any budget level
✅ From free resources to high-ticket coaching—how to choose the right growth path
✅ Reflection, journaling, and emotional resilience in product leadership
✅ The importance of finding your learning “dojo”
✅ How conferences offer more than just talks (think: peer benchmarking and teaching tactics)
✅ Ethical coaching boundaries and what happens when coaching reveals misalignment

Resources & Links:
Follow Teresa Torres: https://ProductTalk.org 
Follow Petra Wille: https://Petra-Wille.com

Mentioned in this episode: 
Product at Heart: https://productatheart.com/
Product Talk Academy - Teresa’s Product Discovery Courses: https://learn.producttalk.org/pages/home
Coaching for Product Leaders/Executives with Petra Wille: https://www.petra-wille.com/coaching-packages
Behind the founder: Drew Houston (Dropbox) - Lenny Rachitsky’s podcast episode with Drew Houston: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/behind-the-founder-drew-houston-dropbox
How the “Learning Menu” Concept Can Help Develop Your Product Team - Petra’s Learning Menu article: https://www.petra-wille.com/blog/how-the-learning-menu-concept-can-help-develop-your-product-team
Harvard Business Review: https://hbr.org/
Meetup: https://www.meetup.com/
Product Talk Blog - Teresa’s blog: https://www.producttalk.org/blog/
Product Leadership Blog - Petra’s blog: https://www.petra-wille.com/blog
Product Talk Academy Free Mini Courses - Teresa’s free mini-course: https://learn.producttalk.org/mini-courses
Continuous Discovery Habits Membership - Teresa’s community for continuous discovery practitioners and features monthly leadership calls: https://learn.producttalk.org/course/cdh-membership
Quarterly Leadership Newsletter with Petra: https://www.petra-wille.com/newsletter-archive
Continuous Discovery Habits - Teresa’s book: https://www.producttalk.org/2021/05/continuous-discovery-habits/
STRONG Product People and STRONG Product Communities - Petra’s books: https://www.strongproductpeople.com/
Workshops by David Bland and Jeff Gothelf: https://davidjbland.com/courses/ and https://jeffgothelf.com/all-courses/
Maven Learning’s Lightning Lessons: https://maven.com/lightning-lessons
Toastmasters International: https://www.toastmasters.org/
Christina Wodtke’s book Present Yourself: https://cwodtke.com/writing-2/
Finding Your Learning Headline - from Petra’s blog post: https://www.petra-wille.com/blog/how-to-focus-and-thrive

Have thoughts on this episode? Leave a comment below.
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