New Head of Product? What to Do When Your Playbooks Fail (Barron Ernst)

A huge thanks to this episode’s sponsor:

Hire Overseas: Exceptional Talent for Less - https://www.hireoverseas.com/value

Navattic: Interactive Product Demo Software - https://navattic.com/value

---

In this episode, Barron Ernst, a seasoned product and growth leader, shares how his diverse career led him to navigate success in environments where his tried-and-true playbooks didn’t apply.

Barron discusses a pivotal moment at Showmax, a Netflix competitor in Sub-Saharan Africa, when he had to adapt his growth strategy to the unique market challenges. He reflects on early leadership struggles, from relying too much on his expertise to learning the value of trust and collaboration with his team, and how these experiences reshaped his approach to leadership and problem-solving.

Things to listen for:

(00:00) Intro

(06:11) Early job lessons shaping leadership style

(09:02) Thank you to our sponsors, Hire Overseas and Navattic

(11:46) Pivoting from law to tech career

(13:00) Debate skills that helped Barron lead

(15:54) Why sharing mistakes leads to growth

(24:31) Delegating tasks and building trust in teams

(32:09) Making yourself redundant as a leader

(34:56) Choosing between being right and effective

(35:50) Copying growth playbooks in unfamiliar markets

(37:21) Meeting the movie guy who disrupted streaming

(43:29) Safari offsite as a leadership reset

(46:46) From expert to problem solver mindset

(50:46) Radical Candor clash between leadership styles

(57:33) Balancing values and company culture differences

(01:00:43) Grounding career decisions with personal values

(01:05:10) The value of range over specialization

Resources:

Connect with Barron:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/barronernst/

Website: https://www.barronernst.com/

Connect with Andrew:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewcapland/

Substack: https://media.deliveringvalue.co

Hire Andrew as your coach: https://deliveringvalue.co/coaching