Coaching with Ken Norton
Described by Reforge and OnDeck as the top product leadership coach in the world, Ken Norton brings more than 25 years of product operating experience to helping his clients navigate the complexities of leadership in high-growth environments.
A few short questions, then we’ll set up a call.
Tap Into Your Strengths
Increase Your Leadership Capacity
Become a Conscious Leader
My Coaching Philosophy
I believe the best leaders aren’t just strategic thinkers and execution machines. Great leaders are self-aware, emotionally intelligent, and can navigate complexity with a deep understanding of themselves. These human-centric skills are becoming even more essential in a world dominated by AI. My coaching is shaped by three powerful themes.
10x Thinking
Too many smart leaders get stuck in growth plateaus where they are simply tweaking rather than transforming. I will challenge you to think bigger: What’s the bold move you’ve been avoiding? What if you could be even more than you imagined? I don’t believe that 10x Thinking requires hustle culture, “996,” or burning your people out. 10x can activate your imagination and help your teams create bold outcomes that match your values and purpose.
Conscious Leadership
Like our ancestors, we’re constantly scanning our environment for threats. It’s human to slip into blame, control, or defensiveness in high-pressure situations. And it’s natural to believe the world is out to get you. Indeed, this is how most leaders operate most of the time. I will help you recognize when you’re leading from this threatened state. You’ll learn to shift back into presence, responsibility, and curiosity. You won’t be perfect all the time, because you’re human. But you can choose how you lead, rather than being captured by old habits and unconscious belief systems.
Emotional Intelligence
Leadership isn’t just the doing, it’s also the being, and self-awareness is your foundation. I will help you notice your patterns, understand what’s really driving you (and others), and build the emotional range to lead with purpose and vision rather than reactivity. You can’t scale your leadership if you don’t know yourself first. Let me work with you to gain this awareness.
You deserve an ally in your corner
It’s not you. This is hard. And as the saying goes, What got you here won’t get you there. To thrive in a new or growing role, you’re going to need support to become a more fully expressed version of yourself.
A few short questions, then we’ll set up a call.
- Become a creative, visionary, conscious executive
- Improve your communication and self-awareness
- Develop your emotional intelligence
- Transcend fear and ego and operate from presence and vision
- Build a world-class team and deliver winning products
- Connect with your authentic values and sense of purpose
How Executive Coaching with Ken Norton Works
2× Monthly Sessions
We’ll meet twice a month for an hour, at a regular day and time. That’s the heartbeat of our work together. I also make time between our regular sessions for the occasional ad hoc call if needed, and I enjoy providing this extra level of service. All coaching sessions are fully remote.
Unlimited Async
I’m always here for you. If you would like to share a win, need a sounding board, or have a challenge between our coaching sessions, please feel free to email or text me as often as you like.
360° Leadership Assessments
Early in our relationship, I’ll likely do a 360° assessment, which solicits feedback from your peers. We will conduct fresh assessments periodically to reflect on your growth and identify new developmental areas. All costs are included in our engagement.
90-Minute Kickoff Session
In our first session, which is longer, we’ll spend time designing how we’ll be working together. We’ll also identify your thought patterns, behaviors, belief systems, and the primary focus areas for our coaching. This is your big vision for transformation.
Open-Ended Partnership
No annual contracts or obligations. I encourage you to mentally and emotionally commit to at least six months to create the space for transformation. But you’re free to wrap at any time. My average client engagement lasts longer than two years… and counting.
Paid for by Your Company
I work on a monthly retainer, not a per-session fee. My retainer fee is usually paid by the companies my clients work for. My rates start at $4,000 per month and scale based on company funding stage. I invoice monthly, but alternate arrangements are available if your company prefers.
I work with Chief Product Officers, Founders, CEOs, and other product leaders at companies of all shapes and sizes, from early stage pre-seed startup to publicly-traded household names. I’ve coached hundreds of leaders, including executives from these top companies.
Whatever you’re struggling with, coaching can help
Discovering your values, purpose, and authentic leadership voice
Setting powerful long-term product strategy and a vision for success
Identifying, understanding, and appreciating emotions
Overcoming burnout, stress, plateauing, and mid-career crisis
Communicating effectively while navigating drama and conflict
Building enduring relationships with your boss, board, customers, and peers
Evolving from a reactive to a creative leader
Designing your own vision for a fulfilling life and career
Finding confidence and growth in the face of inner critics and impostor syndrome
Hiring, coaching, mentoring, and supporting others to greatness
Becoming more effective at leveraging your time, attention, and energy
Leading through chaos, confusion, uncertainty, and inertia
Nurturing psychological safety and innovative, empowered product cultures
Identifying self-defeating patterns, stories, and belief systems
Conscious leadership, presence, and mindfulness
Get a product-minded executive coach in your corner to unlock your full capacities as a leader
A few short questions, then we’ll set up a call.
“Ken’s coaching improves the quality of the decisions I make.
He has a deep understanding of how product-minded individuals think, which was crucial for me. It’s like working with an incredible Zen product leader who knows how to ask the right questions to get me to the right answers. He’s helped me gain clarity and confidence in taking action instead of feeling paralyzed by choices.”
Dennis Xu
Co-Founder of Mem Labs and Adaptive
“Working with Ken has changed the way I approach not only my job, but my personal relationships.
When I was promoted to VP, I experienced a bit of an existential crisis. I questioned my abilities and whether I deserved to be in that role. Ken’s helped me build confidence, recognize my unique strengths, and internalize that I deserve my job. He’s able to push me, and also be in my corner.”
Kate Estep
Chief Product Officer at Flatiron Health
“I love having Ken in my corner rooting for me. He’s like my professional big brother or uncle.
I reached out to him because my new role as the most senior product leader in the company was pressure-testing me in a way I’ve never encountered before. It felt lonely and I knew I needed to become a better version of myself. These days, I actually look forward to the emotional ups and downs I experience in my role, because I know I’m going to generate a meaningful insight working through that emotion with Ken.”
Amit Rozeman
VP Product & E-Commerce at Whole Foods Market
“Ken’s never going to get rid of me as a client.
Working with him has been transformational. I’m finally clear about my goals and values, more satisfied in my role, and more present in my life.”
Kirk Miles
SVP & GM of AI at Asana
Ken Norton on Lenny’s Podcast
To learn more about my coaching approach and leadership philosophy, check out my conversation with Lenny about helping product leaders break through.
Read more »
Top Product Leadership Coach
Ken was named the #1 product leadership coach in the world by Outpace, Reforge, On Deck, and Products By Women.
Leaders who tend to be a good fit for my coaching…
- Founders, CEOs, Chief Product Officers, Chief Technology Officers, and other senior builders in startups and high-growth companies.
- Recognize that “what got me here, isn’t going to get me there.”
- Are open to being curious, taking responsibility, feeling their feelings, being wrong, and exploring new perspectives.
- See leadership as more than a means to an end but as being in service of a deeper calling or purpose.
- Are willing to be honest, emotionally vulnerable, self-aware, and daring.
- Understand that growth requires a values-driven whole-person perspective and are keen to examine all parts of life, not just their job.
- Are open to exploring the inner work as much as the outer work.
- Are willing to be playful and find the humor and joy in leadership.
- See the potential in leading more from a place of purpose and presence than from a place of fear and reactivity.
- View coaching as an investment in their long-term growth and development as a leader and as a human being.
- Are capable of prioritizing themselves and putting in the effort to learn and grow, especially in the face of discomfort.
- Have full conviction from their CEO and/or board of directors in support of their coaching.
To learn much more about what executive coaching is and isn’t, including what kinds of clients tend not to be a good fit, see this FAQ.
I get it. I’ve been there.
I’m Ken Norton, an executive coach specializing in guiding senior product and technology leaders through the complexities of leadership in high-growth environments. With over 14 years at Google, I led product initiatives for Google Docs, Calendar, and Mobile Maps, reaching over three billion users worldwide. I also supported and coached startup founders and leaders at GV (Google Ventures). I’ve trained extensively as a coach, and am credentialed by the International Coaching Federation and certified by the Co-Active Training Institute.
I believe the best leaders aren’t just strategic thinkers and execution machines. Great leaders are self-aware, emotionally intelligent, and can navigate complexity with clarity and courage. My coaching focuses on three powerful lenses: emotional intelligence, conscious leadership, and 10x thinking.
Climb this high and it’s easy to get dizzy
Being the most senior product leader is different — and often disorienting. At other stages in your career, you could follow rules set by someone else. Now it’s up to you. The world is complex, your job is complex, and it’s harder to keep up than ever. If your internal operating system doesn’t grow and change to meet these challenges, you’ll stagnate or stall.
A few short questions, then we’ll set up a call.
- A sense of increasing pressure
- Second-guessing yourself
- Feeling lonely or isolated in your role
- Decision paralysis
- Doubting you deserve your position
- Intensity you don’t know how to cope with
- Wondering if you’re up to the task at hand
- Feeling like you’re checking boxes and chasing carrots without really knowing what you’re solving for
