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Reading product management books are a great way to supplement your knowledge, learn about new topics and grow your skills. The following books will guide you in creating a reading list that will elevate your career to the next level.
Product managers are multifaceted professionals who must continuously advance their skills to be effective and stay competitive. This makes professional development a necessity. While there are many ways to elevate your skillset, like taking courses and attending conferences, there are also simple ways, like reading product management books.
Product management books offer you a way to tailor your learning experience. You can select topics that interest you and apply them directly to your goals and areas in which you want to grow. There are many product management books to choose from, so your biggest problem isn’t finding options; it’s knowing where to start.
We created the following list of books for product managers to help you build a well-rounded reading list. You’ll find selects that can help you sharpen your skills, acquire new ones, and advance your career in product management.
You can check out the entire list or skip to the section that interests you the most:
- Product management career books
- Management and leadership books
- Product management skills and advice
Project Management Career Books
The following books can help you improve your resume and interview skills so you can land your dream project management role.
1. Product Management’s Sacred Seven: The Skills Required to Crush Product Manager Interviews and Be a World-Class PM
Product Management’s Sacred Seven was authored by authored by three product managers from Facebook, Google and Microsoft. It distills insights from interviews with 67 product leaders across diverse industries and top companies. It identifies seven essential skills that distinguish exceptional product managers: product design, economics, psychology, user experience, data science, law & policy, and marketing and growth. While many PMs excel in just a few of these areas, this book explores how mastering all seven can elevate your career. With real-world examples and practical advice, it’s a valuable resource for those looking to refine their expertise and succeed in the competitive field of product management.
2. Cracking the PM Interview: How to Land a Product Manager Job in Technology
Cracking the PM Interview is a practical guide for anyone seeking a product management position in the tech industry. The book covers the wide-ranging expectations of the PM role, from startups to large tech companies, and explains how these roles can differ. It offers detailed advice on translating your experience into a compelling PM narrative, crafting standout resumes and cover letters and excelling in the interview process. You’ll learn how to tackle various interview questions, like how to design an alarm clock for people who are blind and how you would launch a video rental service in India. Whether transitioning into product management or aiming to refine your approach, this book provides the insights you need to succeed.
3. The Product Manager Interview: 167 Actual Questions and Answers
The Product Manager Interview is a valuable resource for anyone preparing for a PM role in top tech companies. With 167 practice questions and fully solved solutions, this book helps you sharpen your product management skills and master the interview process. It covers many essential topics, such as product design, pricing, metrics, and estimation. The book also offers tailored 30- and 36-day study plans for companies like Google, Facebook, Amazon and other poplar companies, making it a practical guide for PM candidates looking to excel in their interviews.
Management and Leadership Books
The following books offer insight and advice on how to become a better manager or leader. If you are interested in advancing your career, they are a great source of information and inspiration.
4. Be the Greatest Product Manager Ever: Master Six Proven Skills to Get the Career You Want
Be the Greatest Product Manager Ever offers a strategic guide for advancing in your product management career, whether you’re just starting out or already in a leadership role. The book introduces the ESTEEM Method™, a new framework that outlines six essential competencies for success: Execution, Superior Communication, Tactical Awareness, Mental Toughness, Team Building and Visionary Thinking. These skills will help you excel in your current role and prepare you for the next step on the PM career ladder. Ideal for product managers at any level, this book provides actionable insights to help you achieve your career goals.
5. Product Leadership: How Top Product Managers Launch Awesome Products and Build Successful Teams
Product Leadership offers a deep dive into what makes a successful product leader in today’s fast-paced tech environment. Through interviews with nearly 100 top product managers worldwide, the authors explore the qualities and strategies that distinguish effective leaders from the rest. This book is divided into three parts, providing valuable insights into building and leading high-performing teams, guiding product development through various stages of company growth, and effectively collaborating with customers and stakeholders. Whether you’re a seasoned product manager or aspiring to step into a leadership role, this book can help you become or sharpen your leadership skills.
6. How to Lead in Product Management: Practices to Align Stakeholders, Guide Development Teams, and Create Value Together
How to Lead in Product Management is a practical guide for product managers looking to enhance their leadership skills. Drawing on the author’s extensive experience, this book provides actionable strategies for aligning stakeholders, guiding development teams and creating value collaboratively. It covers key topics such as choosing the right leadership style, building trust and empathy, increasing your influence and resolving conflicts effectively. With engaging examples and actionable advice, this book is an invaluable resource for product managers who want to lead with confidence and grow in their roles.
You can learn on the go with the audio version.
7. Strong Product People: A Complete Guide to Developing Great Product Managers
Strong Product People is an essential guide for product leaders who want to nurture and develop their teams to reach their full potential. This book provides actionable insights on empowering, coaching and inspiring product teams, ensuring they excel in their roles. You’ll learn why personal development is crucial for both individual product managers and at the team level. It also shows you how to coach and assess your team members effectively. With practical advice on giving valuable feedback, enhancing people skills, and refining your own coaching approach, this book equips you with the tools to help your team thrive.
8. The Coaching Habit: Say Less, Ask More & Change the Way You Lead Forever
The Coaching Habit offers a straightforward approach to making coaching an integral part of your daily routine, enabling managers and their teams to work more effectively with less effort. Michael Bungay Stanier, drawing on his extensive experience coaching over 10,000 managers worldwide, introduces seven key questions that help unlock potential and drive results. By focusing on saying less and asking more, this book teaches you how to get to the point quickly, stay on track, and tackle challenges efficiently. Combining insights from neuroscience and behavioral economics with practical tools, this book transforms coaching from a task into a powerful habit, elevating your leadership and your team’s performance.
This book is also available as an audiobook.
Product Management Skills and Advice
The following product management books offer practical advice and insight to elevate your skills. If your goal is to expand your skill set and gain practical knowledge, these books are great options.
9. Influence without Authority
Influence Without Authority is an essential guide for product managers that often need to achieve goals through collaboration rather than direct control. The book introduces the Exchange Model, a proven strategy for cooperation by understanding and offering what others value. It provides helpful advice on how to put this model to work at personal, team, and organizational levels, helping you navigate complex situations where authority is limited. Mastering these techniques will enhance your leadership skills and drive successful outcomes through effective influence and cooperation.
10. The Lean Product Playbook: How to Innovate with Minimum Viable Products and Rapid Customer Feedback
The Lean Product Playbook is a hands-on guide for creating products that resonate with customers. Whether you’re in a startup or a large company, this book offers clear, step-by-step instructions to help you build successful products using Lean Startup principles. It introduces the Lean Product Process, a straightforward methodology designed to help you achieve product-market fit through rapid iteration and customer feedback. You’ll learn how to identify your target customers, uncover their needs, develop a solid product strategy and design and test your Minimum Viable Product (MVP). Ideal for teams looking to effectively apply Lean principles in their product development process.
You can listen to it on the go with the audiobook.
11. Productize: The Ultimate Guide to Turning Professional Services into Scalable Products
Productize is a practical guide for leaders of professional services firms looking to grow, improve valuations and compete with digital-first challengers through productization. It outlines the “Seven Deadly Productization Mistakes” that can derail a product strategy and then provides a clear blueprint for avoiding these pitfalls. This shift requires a new mindset and approach for companies accustomed to delivering highly customized services. Productize offers real-life case studies, tools and templates to help organizations successfully develop scalable products. You’ll learn how to foster a product-focused culture, determine suitable investments, validate market demand and work effectively with developers and data scientists.
12. Inspired: How to Create Tech Products Customers Love
Inspired offers valuable insights into how leading tech companies like Amazon, Google and Tesla consistently create products that billions of people love. Marty Cagan, a well-known thought leader in technology product management, shares practical guidance on building a successful product organization. The book covers everything from assembling the right team and discovering the right product to implementing an effective process and fostering a strong product culture. Whether you’re a startup seeking product-market fit or an established company aiming to rekindle innovation, this book provides actionable advice to elevate your product efforts and drive customer engagement.
13. The Product Mindset: Succeed in the Digital Economy by Changing the Way Your Organization Think
The Product Mindset offers a fresh perspective for product management professionals navigating the demands of the digital economy. The book challenges outdated IT practices that often stifle innovation, advocating for a unified approach that brings together all levels of an organization. By focusing on speed, collaboration, and a shared vision, this mindset enables teams to develop products that truly meet customer needs. Ideal for those looking to drive cultural change and enhance product strategies, this book provides practical guidance for thriving in a fast-paced, competitive environment.
Learn on the go with the audio version.
14. Escaping the Build Trap: How Effective Product Management Creates Real Value
Escaping the Build Trap highlights the importance of shifting from a feature-focused approach to one that prioritizes real customer value. Melissa Perri explores how many companies fall into the “build trap,” where meeting deadlines overshadows addressing customer needs. This book provides a roadmap for creating a product culture that emphasizes outcomes over outputs, ensuring that your efforts align with both business goals and customer satisfaction. You’ll learn how to structure a scalable product organization through practical principles and strategies, connect product strategy to company vision and build a culture centered on delivering true value.
15. Product Roadmaps Relaunched: How to Set Direction while Embracing Uncertainty
Product Roadmaps Relaunched is a practical guide for creating and maintaining an effective product roadmap that drives organizational success. This book teaches you how to craft a roadmap that aligns stakeholders and helps prioritize ideas and requests. It provides actionable advice for anyone involved in product development—from product managers to designers and entrepreneurs—on articulating a clear vision, prioritizing effectively and aligning your team and sales. With this book, you’ll learn to navigate uncertainty while ensuring your product strategy is customer-focused and adaptable without overcommitting.
16. Build: An Unorthodox Guide to Making Things Worth Making
Build is a unique guide for anyone looking to grow in their career, whether you’re just starting or making high-level decisions as a CEO. Written by Tony Fadell, the visionary behind the first iPod and iPhone, this book offers a blend of personal stories and practical advice drawn from his extensive experience in product design, leadership, and mentorship. Through concise, engaging chapters, Tony shares insights on navigating challenges like securing startup funding, making career shifts and managing difficult coworkers. Each entry builds on the last, offering valuable lessons for tackling the real-world problems you face at work.
17. B2B Innovators Map
B2B Innovator’s Map is a practical guide designed to help you navigate the challenges of bringing new enterprise software products to market. The book addresses a common reason why many products fail: they don’t solve a genuine market need. By following the six stages outlined in this guide—Strategic Alignment, Market Discovery, User Discovery, Solution Planning, Prototyping and Early Adopter—you’ll learn how to develop products that customers are eager to purchase. Packed with actionable tools and techniques, this book is essential for B2B strategists, product managers, investors and founders looking to create profitable, market-driven products.
You can take the Mastering B2B Innovation Workshop to learn about the principles taught in this book.
18. Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products
Hooked explores the secrets behind why some products capture our attention and keep us coming back. It introduces the Hook Model, a four-step process many successful companies use to build habit-forming products. By embedding this model into your product, you can subtly influence customer behavior and create products that users engage with out of habit—without relying on expensive advertising. Based on years of research and practical experience, Hooked is a practical guide for product managers, designers, marketers and startup founders interested in the psychology behind user engagement and building better products.
Being a successful product manager requires continuous learning and growth, and one way to achieve this is by reading product management books. The books in this list offer valuable insights, practical strategies, and the experiences of seasoned professionals, all aimed at sharpening your skills and expanding your knowledge. Whether you’re starting out or refining your approach, these resources can help you navigate product management’s complexities, lead confidently, and create products that resonate with customers.
