One of the worst things you can do as a Product Leader is to be on autopilot when giving feedback - freely sharing your unstructured opinions without regards to the final outcome or the personalities involved. I’ve heard a name for the type of executive who does this often: a seagull - someone who swoops in, poops on ideas, and leaves.
Giving feedback with situational awareness and consistency is a complex skill - it’s helpful to have a name for it. I call it embracing an Editor’s Mindset. In a newsroom, journalist writes articles - it’s their name on the byline. Yet the newsroom editor plays a critical role - establishing standards, connecting the big picture, and owning the tiebreaker when necessary.
As 2026 is now at full speed, I’ve found myself needing to be an editor of key work - product strategies, exec presentations, budgets, marketing pillars, conference logistics. It’s got me reflective on what I’m like when I’m at my editorial best. Here’s a few things I try to keep in mind.
Nudge towards a team outcome
Your job as an editor is not to share the right answer - it’s to drive the right behavior so that the team self-owns the path forward. First, decide on the outcome you want - how you want the team to act, the final product success, the alignment among disciplines in the organization. Then, with that outcome in mind, figure out the right feedback that will nudge the team in the right direction.
Example: If I know a cross-team dependency will be tricky, I will ask “Is the other team onboard yet?” and offer to make intros to cross-team leaders. I do this instead of listing all the gotchas I think might exist. The outcome is to build the x-team bonds and let the team discover, own, and work the issues.
Tailor to the receiver
The best feedback is tailored to the people receiving it. How do they like to receive feedback? How blunt do you believe you can be? Does a certain discipline respond better to certain language? This often requires a “stop and pause” moment in yourself - to not only think about the outcome and your insights, but how to phrase them in a way that’ll be best received.
Example: I’ve got colleagues who I know need validation before feedback. I’ve got others who prefer blunt 1:1’s to hash things out, as they believe conflict breeds conviction. Some of my team prefers to be told what I want them to do; others prefer loose operational guidelines. And for new people to the organization, I try to provide more context than normal to frame the rationale behind a suggestion. Rather than one specific example, the point is to go through the editorial process with recognition on how to speak to each person in a way that’ll have the most impact.
Less is more
There is a “Schrodinger’s cat” element to feedback: If you give a second piece of feedback, it impacts and often dilutes the first piece of feedback that you give. Lots of feedback can muddy the water - or leave the most important feedback hidden. Sometimes your role is to leave line-level comments on a document, but don’t let that be the only altitude you work at.
Example: One tactic I use in some situations is to limit myself to two or three top nuggets of feedback. It forces me to prioritize and home in on what I hope will be the biggest unlock.
Uplevel the storytelling
The role of an editor involves giving advice on how to frame and deliver the story. Beyond just the ideas themselves, an editor gives feedback on the way it’s communicated to stakeholders. It’s good to have intentionality on when you are giving feedback about the ideas/plans/goals and when you are giving advice on how to communicate it.
Example: One phase I use often is, “I think we are aligned on the goal - now let me give you some thoughts on how we can best communicate it to stakeholders.” I’ve established a contract on my team that I often rely on them for the best ideas, and they can rely on me to know the dynamics of the company well enough to know the best way to sell it.
Force the team to use first principles
Most meetings jump ahead to focus on the “problem being discussed today” or “to recap last time, now we only have to dig into these remaining issues.” This approach is often efficient and useful.
However, there is another tactic I see used frequently, especially by very senior and busy execs. They intentionally broadcast ignorance about a topic - even if they’ve met on it before - to force the subject matter expert to explain it from first principles. A cousin to the ELI5 communication style (Explain It Like I’m Five Years Old), this forces a presenter to think about the assumptions they are making and do the prep work to be able to communicate the end-to-end picture to someone smart and on their side, but not deep.
Example: We have quarterly strategy reviews with higher management and often I show run them on behalf of the team. Explaining our product and strategy to busy people who have not been in the weeds with us is a gift. Every time, we use it as an opportunity to hone the craft of explaining what our product is hired to do & de-jargonify our presentation style.
Give a grade
Part of the job of the editor is to give clarity on how far away from the finish line the work is. Great editors learn to give a grade that is not about judgment but is rather an empathetic signal to the team about expectations. Many people struggle with this because friends don’t give friends grades. But an editor is not a friend. So, it’s a recognition that you have to use your authority to drive clarity in a way only you can.
Example: I have two methods for this. First, if appropriate, I give letter grades - especially if it’s not about an individual document but rather collective effort (e.g. “Collectively, we’ve done a B+ job of embracing industry standards here.”). If it’s about a particular work product, I use a % complete assessment - “What I saw today feels about 60% complete, you’ll get there once you address X and Y.”).
Use rituals to give feedback early
The most stressful type of feedback is the feedback that comes too late - the type of feedback that is right but costly because it requires the team to unwind things that have already been put in motion.
A “culture of safe, early feedback” is a norm you can set as an editor using rituals and operating rhythms. Official pre-reviews. Core Design Sessions. Repeatable Budget Reviews. Well-run teams don’t hide behind “needing to move fast” to skimp on the feedback forums that set norms.
Example: Our org sets an expectation that important work will need multiple forums to hone the idea. We codify “pre-reviews” and “hot issues” to work something urgent and set expectations that ideas are not final in those forums. Likewise, we have official forums for reviewing final plans, to give that sense of completion and sign off.
Wrapping up
Embracing an editor’s mindset is different than mentorship, as it is fundamentally about being “in the arena” with the team and co-developing strong plans and work product. But it shares a lot of characteristics - often it’s about teaching, not telling, and it involves removing the ego from your communications. It’s one of the most powerful ways you can signal that you care about a culture of high performance.
Give it a try - especially if you catch yourself seagulling.
That's some great advice Adam, and I think it works for all relationships to some degree, even with families.