I would like to become a people manager and a strategic leader, whatever the attached title may be, from a senior PMM that I currently hold. How can I achieve this?

How much do you trust your manager/management chain?

I’ve had direct reports who share their career aspirations with me, even if it’s a role outside of my team, and I count myself lucky that they trust me enough to share that. When they did, I would put them on projects that would expose them to the opportunity to build those skills. When I was at Google, they offered 20% projects and that allowed my direct report to experience what the other role would be like. I believe in nurturing people’s passions and leaning into their core competencies.

I’ve also had team members or mentees who want to be managers and they knew in their gut that there was no upward path for them (because of headcount, their peers’ leveling, and their skillset) so they went to a smaller-sized company to be the first PMM or Dir of PMM (team of 1-2) to get the title before making the jump to a larger company. That’s another option.

If you are truly invested in becoming a people manager, please start by telling your manager or skip level so they can keep an eye out for opportunities (this is assuming that you have a reputation as a high performer and you have a good relationship with your management chain). If you are in a company that invests in their employees (read: great culture), they would be able to offer alternatives such as managing an intern, leading more junior employees, or orchestrating a larger initiative.

I also nominate people for managerial-type learning courses or support supplemental development - companies usually have an education/learning budget allocated for this. You just need to ask if these opportunities exist and if you can be considered for it.