As a product leader do you want to have a team that is there for the paycheck or the product and the customers? Does the product team you lead consist of missionaries or mercenaries?
As Marty Cagan puts it: “Teams of missionaries are engaged, motivated, have a deep understanding of the business context, and tangible empathy for the customer. Teams of mercenaries feel no real sense of empowerment or accountability, no passion for the problem to be solved, and little real connection with the actual users and customers.” – https://svpg.com/missionaries-vs-mercenaries/
Great products are built by product teams made up of missionaries, and these teams are formed by strategic product leadership who can see the business value in these types of high-impact teams.
