Namrata SarmaH -Being a Change Agent CPO

A while back I realized that I hadn’t had a CPO on the series so I put the word out on social media that I was looking for one. I’m so happy Namrata Sarmah, CPO of INTO University Partnerships reached out to me in response. We talked about what it’s like being the newest exec, being a change agent as CPO and the most difficult part of strategy (it may not be what you think). 

Can you introduce yourself and share a bit of your background?

Absolutely. My name is Namrata, everyone calls me Nam. I live in London. I've got two small boys. I work as a chief product officer at a higher education company based out of the UK. This is my second CPO role. My first CPO role was a few years ago at a health tech company. So very different sectors, industries, and challenges. I started my career as a software engineer and then moved into product after business school. I’ve been in product for about 15 years.

Was business school the reason you moved into product? 

Yes and No. Up until business school, I was just a software engineer, very strong technically but no understanding of the commercial world. Business school ignited the business acumen in me and I wanted to do something where I can use both my technical as well as business skills, and at that time a new type of role called “product manager” was in vogue. I wanted to explore this role….and the rest is history. This was in 2012. 

When you went the product path was being a CPO something you thought about as a goal? 

Back then there wasn’t really a CPO role. Typically, the CTO was the top job for anybody in digital, product, or technology. So there was no role to aspire to. At that time, most product people would work within the CTO org. So during my early career, most of my bosses were CTOs. I think somewhere down the line, the CPO role was born and that became my (then) goal post. 

Courageous leadership is important for CPOs. You have to be VERY resilient and thick-skinned. You can't solve all the problems. Pick the problems that have the highest impact, and be remembered as the change agent that every organization deserves.

I love to ask that question because I'm curious about whether people look to be in a leadership position. 

I always aspired to be in a C-suite role. It's just that the CPO role did not exist back then. Even when I was very little, I wanted to be a CEO, though I didn't really know what a CEO does.

Has being a CPO scratch the itch of that childhood dream of being a CEO? 

Haha! Nope I don't think so. Life has just started. I'd love to be a CPO for a few more years and then change gears. I’m enjoying the current phase and the challenges. 

How was it different from what you expected?

There is no guidebook. No one can really say this is how you become a CPO; there is no template or guidelines as such. I learned most things by doing. My career graph has been step by step. I have done different roles from an analyst, product manager, head of, director, and VP. When I became CPO I was extremely excited and felt fortunate to achieve that. I was also a bit nervous. 

I use books on leadership and management to fill my cup. Being a good listener, being empathetic towards people around you, and being a good decision maker has helped me along the way. Also this role is not the same in every company, so much depends on the size and the nature of the business. My current CPO role is quite different (and broader in remit) from my previous one. But both times I was the first ever CPO that the companies hired. 

The CPO role is fairly new in the C-suite for most companies. You have to explain your role, and why this role is important and how it adds value to the company. But being “new” can be exciting too. Anything new also represents a fresh opportunity for the company. Setting expectations early on is important and focusing on the why. 

Being the first one, it sounds like you came into the role open.

Yes, absolutely. I was all-in for the challenge and ready to take on anything really. It's important to keep an open mind and learn everyday. “Listen, Learn, Act” - that's my mantra when I join any new role. 

I think also being the first of a role especially in leadership can be interesting. We have to help others understand our role and how it changes the organization because somebody was doing product in some way shape or form before that.

Yes, absolutely. It's interesting but also quite hard. Lot of times you have to explain your role, and why this role is important and how it adds value to the company. But being “new” can be exciting too. Anything new also represents a fresh opportunity for the company. Setting expectations early on is important and focusing on the why! 

The CPO role is fairly new in the C-suite for most companies. You have to explain your role, and why this role is important and how it adds value to the company. But being “new” can be exciting too. Anything new also represents a fresh opportunity for the company. Setting expectations early on is important and focusing on the why.

You sound so much like the product people I know. They all love challenges. It’s a good attitude to have with product because there are so many moving parts that you can’t necessarily control and so much luck in the market. Product is an incredibly complex role that I don't think we quite understand enough. I have deep respect for product people. 

Yes, not many people understand this role, and it's often quite thankless too. Product people need to be extremely resilient and optimistic - it's a HARD job! 

I tell my teams to learn to “pick your battles”, especially if you're a product person, because you'll have 10 challenges or 10 problems a day. You cannot solve all 10. So pick the top three you’re going to solve today and also the problems you’re not going to solve at all.  

Can you share more about your work as CPO at Into University Partnerships? 

I joined less than 2 years ago. We’re a global higher education company, working with 30+ universities in the US, UK, and Australia. We recruit international students from different markets – Asia, Africa, Latin America, et cetera – and place them for undergrad and grad programs in the US, UK, and Australia in top 100 universities. We run pathway programs that help students get into our partner universities. We've also recently started helping our students in securing their first internship. Our focus is on our students’ academic and career success. 

It’s so needed. About how big is the company and how big is the area you run? 

The company has close to 2000 employees globally. I run product, design, data, market research, insights, CRM, community, and INTO’s startup business. It’s a very diverse team in terms of skills and experiences. 

You have a wide remit. What’s it like running a cross-functional team? 

It’s a LOT of context-switching. One moment I’m in a product strategy meeting, and the other moment I’m discussing community or CRM campaigns. I love it because I get such a broad perspective, and this helps a lot in decision making and understanding the overall business and market better. 

I tell my teams to learn to “pick your battles”, especially if you're a product person, because you'll have 10 challenges or 10 problems a day. You cannot solve all 10. So pick the top three you’re going to solve today and also the problems you’re not going to solve at all.  

What's the biggest challenge of being a CPO at a large-scale organization like the one you're at now versus smaller companies?

My first CPO role was at a mid-sized company. I’ve found that it's much easier to land a strategy/idea/vision with a small-ish team than a larger globally-dispersed organization. It’s quite complex. Communication plays a big role. Over-communication becomes a necessity and its important to make sure that the vision & strategy are not lost in translation. Getting everyone on the same page is hard but absolutely mandatory. 

I love that you point this out because everyone thinks building strategy is the hard part. Getting everybody else on board and moving in the right direction is just as hard or harder.

Completely agree. Buy-in is important. Even if the strategy comes from the top, people still need to be bought into the idea. People need to be motivated and empowered to be able to implement that strategy or else no one's going to execute anything. Creating a strategy is the easy part in many ways. The hard part is influencing, getting the buy-in, and execution. 

Right. There are so many more parts that are perilous in the process besides just creating the strategy.

But also strategy changes. Think about all the five-year plans & strategies that companies wrote in 2019. Who knew that  COVID would completely disrupt all those?

It’s good to have 3-yr or 5-yr plans but things change all the time, we live in a very volatile and uncertain socio-economic climate. Markets, customer needs & behaviors could change drastically too. 

an excellent point. I want to go back to something that we touched on a little bit earlier. Sometimes being a product leader is about being a change agent and pushing the organization in a different direction. How do you navigate that?

It's quite funny, you know, I think I was just meant to be a change agent because my first job after business school was a business “transformation” analyst. Transformation was in my job title. (laughs) 

Then I moved into product, and along the way transformations re-entered my life. Today, I identify as a transformation-focused CPO. Companies hire me to change things and as the change agent in the exec team. I have been part of 3-4 transformation programs so far, they are bloody hard, but SO fulfilling! I love to see organizations change and become a better version of itself. Change is hard, but change is also the only constant. Organizations that can embrace change can thrive. The CPO role is definitely the key actor in bringing about that change and in driving an organization to the right direction. 

What's most rewarding about being a CPO?

It’s those aha moments….like a stellar customer review after a long exhausting day! I also like looking back (6-12 months) and realizing how far we have come as a team and as an organization - that feeling is magical. I love building a product from scratch and seeing that product achieve great heights and add tangible value to the business.

What advice would you have for other product leaders who find themselves as a change agent? 

First, hang in there, it’s going to be tough! 

Second, be bold! 

Courageous leadership is important for CPOs. You have to be VERY resilient and thick-skinned. You can't solve all the problems. Pick the problems that have the highest impact, and be remembered as the change agent that every organization deserves.