It is often written that PMs are in the business of alignment, and communication is the craft.

But I have to say - almost universally - PMs hate it.

In this time of politics, and without being political - I want to note that it is worthy to observe how professional politicians work - and, maybe an obvious statement along these lines - that PMs need to be good at politics.

It isn’t to say that PMs need to be political in the low-integrity sense of the word - but rather in the positive construction - that “the body politic” of your company and your customers is your terrain - the human terrain. You must be good at the things that make great politicians great. To be a good PM is to be good at influence and persuasion.

One signature of a good politician - of any stripe - is repetition. Watch a political campaign closely and you will grow tired of it. Spoiler alert - they say the same thing in every campaign stop, every podcast, every interview, every debate

This is an object lesson for PMs - you need to repeat yourself A LOT. You need to repeat your strategy A LOT. You need to give the same presentation over and over and over again. Way way WAY more than you think need you need to.

I hear PMs and even executives say - “but I have given this presentation twice” - and my observation is - you don’t need to just deliver it 2 times, you need to deliver it 200 times.

The way you know that you have given your presentation enough? People start mimicking you and making fun of your delivery - it means you are starting to break through.

Is it boring? Yes.

Is it necessary? Also yes.