Press Kit

Looking for Petras’s bios and headshots or some book related content? You’ve come to the right place! Need something else that you don’t see here? Then please get in touch!

Book related content - STRONG Product Communities

QUOTES FROM EARLY READERS

“I’ve seen first-hand the transformative power of active product communities. These vibrant hubs of collaboration and learning have consistently proven to elevate the quality of product work in organizations. I encourage more companies to foster such communities, and this book is the perfect guide for those embarking on this path.”
— Christina Wodtke, Author, Speaker and Core Lecturer at Stanford University

“Petra’s books are not just academic masterpieces, but practical guides to putting theory into practice. That’s what has made ‘Strong Product People’ the ultimate guide for any product leader. And that’s what makes ‘Strong Product Communities’ a truly valuable step-by-step guide to building a solid product community in practice. I can’t wait for the next chapter in the ‘Strong’ series.”
— Tobias Freudenreich, Product Coach & Consultant

“As part of assessing product organizations or giving general advice on how to train product managers, I always advocate for a Community of Practice. The next question of course, is “How do I do that?” Before, there was not a simple guide on how to do this. With Strong Product Communities, Petra has now finally made that guide and I can’t wait to hand it out.”
— Melissa Perri, Author, Founder & Product Management Expert

“Active Communities of Practice in product are game-changers in every organisation. They significantly improve product outcomes by catalysing innovation, collaboration, and shared learning within organisations. More companies should tap into the power of CoPs, and this book provides the roadmap to do just that.”
— Martin Eriksson, Product Partner at EQT, Creator of the Decision Stack, Co-Author of Product Leadership, and (former) Co-Founder of Mind the Product

Book related content - STRONG Product People

Learn More About The Book

• Need some general description of the book and it´s content? Have a look at my overall book page.

• I’ve put together a press release style blog post about the book. You can read it here.

• Wondering more about what’s inside? Check out the book’s table of contents here.

• The book is full of useful illustrations and templates. Find downloadable versions of all the images here.

Help spread the word

As a first-time author, I’m working hard to get the word out about my book. If you’d like to help, please share the book on social media. You can use the copy below as is or feel free to rewrite it in your own words. 

Petra Wille’s new book, STRONG is the how-to guide for product leaders. It’s full of useful tips and templates to help product managers reach their full potential. Learn more here: https://strongpp.link/c75b6 Tweet this

Quotes from early readers

"More and more leaders are realising the value of empowering their teams - and STRONG is the book we all needed on how to coach and develop our teams to embrace that empowerment!"
- Martin Eriksson, Product Leader, Co-Founder of Mind the Product, CPO-in-Residence & Best-Selling Author

"STRONG is a must-read for everyone managing product managers. Developing your individual PMs well is the biggest lever you have to create impact for your organization. Based on many years in coaching and developing PMs and heads of product, Petra Wille has created a hands-on guide that is full of firsthand experience and actionable advice."
- Arne Kittler, VP Product Management at XING

"STRONG is the encyclopedia for product leaders. It’s bursting with knowledge, hard reality checks, and actionable advice. If you want to build a great product team, this is the place to start!"
- Shaun Russell, Product Coach

"STRONG is not a book you read once and set aside—it is a reference to return to again and again as you hone your coaching skills. It is an essential guide for product leaders at all stages! Being intentional in leadership practices makes all the difference when building high-performing product teams. STRONG helps leaders reflect on their own skills and provides a practical guide for coaching your team. It is a must-read for any product leader."
- Emily Tate, Chief of Staff at Mind the Product

"STRONG puts the focus on the root cause of weak products: a weak product organization that does not help their product managers grow. And that almost always starts with the head of product. This book gives you all the tools you need to change this."
- Alexander Schardt, Director Product Management B2B at Engel & Völkers

"STRONG was wonderful to read. I would have killed for something like this three jobs ago! It has given me a lot to think about for my current role, I will definitely go back and reflect on how I am doing some aspects of my team management, and will invest in areas that, at the moment, I am not prioritizing enough."
- Luis Cascante | Head of Product at Star Stable Entertainment

"It’s exactly that kind of book I wish I had read when moving from PM to HoP. And even though I’ve been working as HoP for some time now, it is super helpful and will for sure become one of the books I will refer to frequently. It’s a great and well-balanced collection of experience, best-practices and theoretical grounding which makes it very valuable for me."
- Tobias Freudenreich | Product Coach and former Product Director at XING

"I think we need a handy guide for Head of Products on how to help their product people grow! So happy Petra has written this book." Tweet this
- Gabrielle Bufrem, Manager, Product Management at VMware

Quotes from the book

I asked early readers to share a few of their favorite quotes or takeaways from the book. Here is a small selection:

• “Master this fundamental management skill [coaching] or prepare to watch as your best people leave for better opportunities and your organization begins its inevitable decline.”
  From Chapter 7: The Power of Coaching

• “What a company is not is a family. Yes, we may be friendly with one another, may meet after work for drinks or dinner, and the CEO may sometimes act like a proud parent of her employees. But families don’t typically have a common goal—especially not an economic one. A company cannot function without common goals, and these goals in many cases ultimately lead to economic outcomes. Companies are all about creating value together, and every employee who receives a salary must make a real contribution to this effort.”
  From Chapter 8: Monitoring Performance and Giving Feedback

• "I personally believe that you don't need to motivate people—they are already motivated when they show up for work each day. They have joined your team or your organization for a reason. What you do need to do as a manager is to avoid demotivating your people."
  From Chapter 9: Motivation Do’s and Don’ts

Podcast interviews/appearances

Author Headshots

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Author Bios

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MEDIUM

Petra Wille is an independent product leadership coach, speaker, and author passionately dedicated to helping product people get better at what they do.

After the success of her coaching card deck #52questions and her first book, STRONG Product People: A Complete Guide to Developing Great Product Managers, she recently released her next book, STRONG Product Communities.

Since 2013, Petra has been helping product teams enhance their abilities and guiding product leaders to build outcome-oriented product organizations.

In addition to her coaching and writing endeavors, Petra co-organizes Product at Heart, a conference for curious product people in Hamburg, Germany.

LONG

Petra Wille is an independent product leadership coach and author who's been helping product teams boost their skill sets and up their game since 2013.

Petra started her career as a software developer in one of Germany's largest publishing houses (Hubert Burda Media) and quickly realized that she had a talent for the conceptual part of the job. During her tenure at SAP and the business network XING, she developed her product management expertise by working with great product thought leaders like Marty Cagan and Jason Goldberg.

After her time at XING, Petra first became Head of Product, and later Managing Director of the translation startup tolingo.

In 2013 she started to work as an independent product management consultant and product discovery coach.

Petra loves helping her clients build great products and form high-performing product organizations by focusing on the personal growth of each product manager. Through this work, she developed her toolkit for coaching product people. Her first publication around this topic is a deck of self-coaching cards for product people, #52questions.

Her book, STRONG Product People: A Complete Guide to Developing Great Product Managers, was published in January 2021. The book has been read and loved by product leaders worldwide.

Petra recently released her next book, STRONG Product Communities. This guide provides readers with essential tools and insights to create and nurture thriving product communities of practice. Drawing from her extensive experience, in-depth interviews, and a quantitative survey of product practitioners, Petra aims to enable product leaders to unlock even greater potential in their teams through the power of community.

Alongside her freelance work, Petra teams up with Arne Kittler to co-organize and curate Product at Heart, a conference for curious product people in Hamburg, Germany.

Social Plattforms I’m using:

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