The art of influence: The single most important skill that AI can’t replace | Jessica Fain (Webflow, ex-Slack)
Mar 22, 2026 · 1h 34m · YouTube
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EP · Lenny's Podcast: Product | Career | Growth · The art of influence: The single most important skill that AI can’t replace | Jessica Fain (Webflow, ex-Slack)1:33:33
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0:00As product managers, one of our best sets of skills is curiosity and empathy and trying to understand our users.
0:06But the moment that we're talking to an executive, we forget those skills and those talents.
0:11It's your fault if the leader didn't buy into your idea.
0:14People completely misunderstand how executives make decisions, what is going on in the head.
0:20So I describe an executive's calendar as a strobe light going off.
0:24You wake up at 8 a.m., you've already got a huge list of urgent things going on.
0:29They have not had the time, the energy, the wherewithal to center your problems.
0:34What are their goals?
0:35What are they trying to do?
0:36How are they measured?
0:37Connect the thing you're pitching them with that success.
0:39There's ways for us to ask much more interesting questions of our executives.
0:44Tell me what the board is pushing you on.
0:46Execs want to be successful too.
0:48They want to be good at their jobs.
0:50Sometimes you have the best idea and they just don't buy it.
0:52One of the biggest things you can do to build trust is kill things, deprioritize things.
0:58If you're thinking about how do you be more senior, how do you show up in a way that is in a leadership mindset, you get paid to be a domain expert.
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