Nic Amos, CIPM

Seeking a mentor can accelerate your leadership development. Find someone established in your desired career, embodying the leadership qualities you admire. A mentor provides guidance, feedback, and support during your career transition, offering insights into industry culture and pathways to demonstrate leadership potential. Additionally, consider cultivating a sponsor. Unlike mentors who advise, sponsors actively advocate for your advancement, opening doors to opportunities, providing visibility, and championing your career progression. Both relationships are invaluable for career growth and success and they may not be formal and sometimes they could be a one time meeting or a long DM conversation

1. Join Professional Associations or Groups: Become actively involved in professional associations or networking groups related to your new career path. 2. Start a Side Project or Initiative: Initiate a side project or start an initiative within your current organization or within your community that aligns with your career interests. 3. Seek Mentorship and Guidance: Connect with mentors or leaders in your desired field who can provide guidance and advice on how to navigate the transition and develop leadership skills.

Networking is crucial for professional growth. Internally, engage in coffee chats and book clubs to connect with colleagues, share insights, and foster collaboration. Externally, attend industry events to expand your network, exchange ideas, and discover new opportunities. These interactions cultivate relationships and open doors for career advancement. I know if you are more shy or an introvert this may feel scary but there are others who are in similar situations who would be more than happy to chat with you

Continuous learning is essential for leadership development. I always like to recommend free of low cost options such as podcasts, YouTube University, and LinkedIn Learning . ( LinkedIn Learning can be free with your local USA library card) These resources offer a wide range of topics and perspectives that can help leaders stay informed, inspired, and engaged. By taking advantage of these accessible learning opportunities, leaders can continue to grow and evolve in their roles, ultimately benefiting both themselves and their teams. Embracing a mindset of continuous learning is key to staying ahead in today's rapidly changing and competitive business landscape.

Here are some examples to consider, especially for Product Managers ✏️Example 1: Imagine you have a list of survey responses from students in your school. To anonymize the data, you would remove their names and any other personal details that could identify them, like phone numbers or email addresses. This way, when using the data for projects or analysis, nobody knows who said what. 📇Example 2: Let’s say a company collects feedback from customers about their products. Before using this data for analysis, they remove any information that could reveal who the customers are, like their names or addresses. This anonymized data still helps the company understand what customers like or dislike without risking their privacy.

From the business perspective such as a Product Manager consider: 🤔 1. Relevance of data: Ensure collected data aligns with ML objectives to avoid unnecessary storage or processing. 2. Potential risks: Assess the likelihood of data breaches or misuse, ensuring measures are in place to minimize such threats.