What’s actually holding most product leaders back? It’s not strategy. It’s not process. It’s the voice in their head — and the relationships they haven’t learned to navigate yet.

Rosalee Gordon is a product leadership coach with 20+ years of experience growing from IC to executive across startups, scale-ups, and big tech. She holds three coaching accreditations and has coached product leaders at more than 50 companies. She’s also the founder of Product Leaders Exchange and the Product Calgary Association, and serves on the board of APM Canada.

In this episode, Rosalee doesn’t just talk theory — she coaches Marcus live on the mic, walking through the inner critic and inner leader framework in real time. Then we get tactical: the stakeholder languages every product leader needs to acquire, why finance is the one most people skip, and why even senior leaders need to get hands-on with AI tools right now.

What We Cover

The inner leader vs. inner critic framework — and how to tell which one is running the show

Why you can’t banish the inner critic (and what to do instead)

The role of vulnerability and psychological safety in product leadership

How Rosalee went from PM to product leadership coach

Signals that tell you which career path in product is right for you

Why CPOs and VPs need to get hands-on with AI — and how to do it without looking like you’re micromanaging

The stakeholder languages you need to acquire at every level: engineering, sales, finance

How to speak to the board in financial terms (and who to recruit as your teacher)

New logos vs. retention: how to push back when leadership wants both

Timestamps

00:05 — Introduction

01:15 — What the inner leader actually is

04:16 — The inner critic: why you can’t banish it

08:08 — Vulnerability in leadership: risk and upside

09:31 — Rosalee’s path from PM to product leadership coach

12:21 — Career signals: IC track vs. leadership track

13:44 — Getting hands-on with AI as a senior leader

15:30 — How to frame it so your team doesn’t feel micromanaged

15:40 — The timeless message: learn the language of finance

17:00 — Stakeholder languages at every career level

20:21 — New logos vs. retention: how to prioritize

21:37 — Closing thoughts on strengthening your inner leader

Connect with Rosalee

Website: https://launchbright.com LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/rosaleejgordon Substack: https://substack.com/@rosaleejgordon

About Product by Marcus

Product by Marcus is a weekly podcast hosted by Marcus Polini — conversations with product leaders, operators, and builders on the craft and career of product management.

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