L;DR – Leading by Intent: what great Product Owners actually do

“Leading by Intent” is more than just explaining goals—it’s about giving purpose. Product Owners must not only define objectives but actively communicate the intent behind them, in a way that connects with the team and builds trust.

Core insights:

• Intent drives intrinsic motivation—people need to understand why they’re doing something.
• Simply stating goals isn’t enough—Product Owners must translate intent across functions and roles.
• Common blockers include:
  • Lack of empathy: not tuning into what the team actually understands.
  • Missing method: no structured way to derive or communicate goals.
  • Low domain interest: a team senses when the PO isn’t genuinely engaged.

Effective Product Owners act as narrators of strategy, not just backlog managers. They shape context, not just tickets.

Intent-Led Leadership – What’s It About?

We talk about intrinsic motivation and aim for all participants in the company to possess this. Employees should be motivated, independent, and creative on their own initiative. However, this only works when everyone knows why they are doing something and what purpose it serves.

Simply expressing the desire for increased sales and profits is not enough. Financial indicators only partially assist in this matter. They serve to show whether the company’s objective was correct. In other words, they demonstrate whether our activities are adding value – meaning customers or users are collectively willing to pay more than we invest.

“The real work begins not with the definition but with conveying the goal.”

The primary responsibility of leaders is to clarify and communicate the purpose to the organization or team, whether leading in content or disciplinary terms. The concept of leading with a mission is not new and was discussed in the 19th century by Karl Bernhard von Moltke and Carl von Clausewitz in the context of military operations.

Eine moderne Form des Ansatzes findet Ihr von David Marquet bei Youtube:

That is the crux of the matter. Simply defining the goal and purpose or even acting as a visionary is not enough. The real work begins with explaining the intent – specifically to those who will implement the vision. This part is demanding and laborious, and must also be tailored to the needs of various recipients, departments, and disciplines. But why is Leading by Intent actually so challenging?

We’ve already explained it

In a company where I worked as an Agile Coach, the product management explicitly excluded this task for themselves. Their rationale included the belief that teams should motivate themselves intrinsically. This perspective fundamentally misinterprets the role of the Product Owner. The aim is not to be the team’s cheerleader but to persuade them of the overarching purpose and intention of the goal.

“If a Product Owner fails to inspire their team, they are not fulfilling their role.”

In another scenario, there was a restructuring of the product areas, coinciding with the transition to self-organised teams. These teams were tasked with defining their roadmaps based on yearly objectives. The management presented the objectives as a directive during a kick-off session, with progress to be reviewed at the midway point.

The outcome? Confusion, uncertainty, and a tangible lack of trust between management and the teams. On one hand, neither the Product Owners nor the teams were mentally and methodically prepared for the new way of working. On the other hand, they did not grasp the underlying intention – the Intent.

Why is this so difficult?

If a goal is clear, it should be straightforward to communicate it, right? The response to such questions is nuanced, as always. Three potential explanatory approaches.

Lack of empathy towards Leading by Intent

The Product Owner, who I also view as a leader, lacks the necessary empathy. What? Yes, empathy indeed. The primary role of a leader is to engage with topics such as vision, strategy, and goals, gather and assess the required information for them. Conversely, the main task of a team is to develop the right products for these purposes.

“The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.”

George Bernard Shaw

It is not feasible for everyone in the company to access and correctly interpret all these contents and insights at all times. The Product Owner, who regularly operates at this level, eventually loses track of what his team knows and what they do not. To quote Paul Watzlawick: The biggest danger in communication is the illusion that it has occurred.

This leads to a fracture and renders the goal-setting meaningless. Consequently, a conflict between the Product Owner and the team may arise. Therefore, the Product Owner’s task is to be aware of who in his ecosystem needs what information and when. Only then can he build trust in his role and, by extension, trust in the company’s leadership. To do so, he must be capable of empathizing with his environment.

Lack of methodology for Leading by Intent

Many Product Owners and executives I’ve encountered lack the necessary methodical skills. They struggle with deriving goals and effectively communicating them. Derivation demands expertise and experience in strategy development (see also 7 Steps to a Great Product Strategy).

“Leaders often lack the methodological skills to derive and communicate goals effectively.”

Goals often arise from intuition or wishful thinking rather than from a structured assessment, such as using Kenichi Ohma’s 3C’s model, which systematically examines the three forces of Customer, Company, and Competition.

Many get stuck at the tell phase in communication, where the approach is to inform people of the goal and expect them to come up with the best solutions. However, the world is not that simple. While this approach may work in some situations, it often takes more to convince a team and unite them towards a common mission. Approaches like the Seven Levels of Authority or Situational Leadership can provide a good starting point for this.

Insufficient interest in the topic for Leading by Intent

A team can detect whether its Product Owner is fully supportive of the subject matter. This might be evident through their overall demeanor or by providing evasive responses when questioned about the goals. This often stems from a lack of alignment between the Product Owner and their role – potential reasons being:

• The Product Owner doesn’t understand the intent behind the goal:
  In this case, it is their absolute responsibility to actively seek out the necessary information—if needed, directly from management—and to do so persistently and with determination until they can confidently align and motivate the team around the objective.
• The goal conceals a “hidden” agenda:
  Sometimes, the true purpose behind an objective is strategic in nature—such as a planned company sale. This presents a difficult situation, as the team executing the work may not be allowed to know the real intent behind their efforts.
• The Product Owner lacks connection to the product’s domain:
  While one of the golden rules of product management is “Don’t fall too much in love with your product” (Marty Cagan), the Product Owner must still show genuine interest in the subject matter—and, more importantly, in the real problems of the target audience that need to be solved.
• The Product Owner is an external contractor:
  Freelancers can bring tremendous value to clearly scoped and time-bound projects. However, a deep sense of ownership—toward the product or the company—should not be expected. If most of the product team consists of external contributors, this can become a long-term challenge for both the team dynamic and the product’s success.

Leading by Intent – Fazit

One of the key responsibilities of the Product Owner is to provide inspiration to the team, reminding them consistently of the reasons for their tasks and the value they bring to the company.

Many of his operational and tactical responsibilities may eventually be delegated to the team, provided a certain level of maturity is reached. However, what the team may find difficult to handle is the constant interaction with stakeholders and management at a strategic level, as well as defining the derived product goals and communicating them.

If the Product Owner does not comprehend or is unwilling to comprehend this role, he questions his own value.

Book Recommendation

Click, buy, and enrich me – my literature recommendation on the subject and an enlightening read on Leadership by Intent: The Turn The Ship Around! Workbook: Implement Intent-Based Leadership In Your Organization: Implement Intent-Based Leadership In Your Organisation

Hero Image: school class in Riga (Lettland) by Martin Heckmann