What do great product leaders do differently? Christian Idiodi (Partner, Silicon Valley Product Group)

Christian Idiodi, Partner at Silicon Valley Product Group, and Co-author of the valuable product book Transformed, dismantles some of the most persistent myths in product leadership.

Drawing from his global perspective and work across Africa’s fast-emerging tech ecosystem, Christian makes the case for a new kind of leadership, one grounded in clarity, context, and radical trust.

Chapters 00:00 — The environment, not the people 02:00 — Building product leadership in Africa 06:00 — Stories of impact 10:00 — What real leadership means 14:00 — Managing minds, not hands 19:00 — The “first team” mindset 23:00 — Focus, not prioritisation 25:00 — Scaling and the myth of process 29:00 — AI and the redefinition of excellence 35:00 — Creating space for practice 40:00 — Product crits and leadership feedback 41:30 — Inspire Africa Conference

Key Takeaways — Better outcomes start with better environments. Leadership is about designing the conditions for people to do their best work — not managing their output. — Africa is building for Africa, by Africans. The Inspire Africa Conference is catalysing coaching, capital, and community to accelerate meaningful innovation. — Strategy defines focus. If prioritisation is hard, the strategy probably isn’t real. — Leadership is a different sport. Managing people’s minds, not hands, requires context, clarity, and trust — not control. — AI won’t replace good leaders. But it might replace bad leadership. Judgment, product sense, and curiosity are the new differentiators. — Create practice space. Growth requires safety to make mistakes, experiment, and learn — at every level of the organisation. — Critique is culture. Teams that coach and critique together develop sharper thinking and stronger product judgment.

Featured Links: Follow Christian on LinkedIn | Silicon Valley Product Group | Inspire Africa

We want to hear from you! Help make The Product Experience podcast even better. Share your feedback in a quick form: Share your thoughts here! It takes 2 minutes, and your input will help shape future episodes. 🙏 Our Hosts Lily Smith enjoys working as a consultant product manager with early-stage and growing startups and as a mentor to other product managers. She’s currently Chief Product Officer at BBC Maestro, and has spent 13 years in the tech industry working with startups in the SaaS and mobile space. She’s worked on a diverse range of products – leading the product teams through discovery, prototyping, testing and delivery. Lily also founded ProductTank Bristol and runs ProductCamp in Bristol and Bath. Randy Silver is a Leadership & Product Coach and Consultant. He gets teams unstuck, helping you to supercharge your results. Randy's held interim CPO and Leadership roles at scale-ups and SMEs, advised start-ups, and been Head of Product at HSBC and Sainsbury’s. He participated in Silicon Valley Product Group’s Coaching the Coaches forum, and speaks frequently at conferences and events. You can join one of communities he runs for CPOs (CPO Circles), Product Managers (Product In the {A}ether...