I'm a staff PM trying to move into director. I don't have people management experience. What do I do?

People management is a hard gate for director roles — it's much harder to get into director without it than with it. If an opportunity comes up at your current company to manage even a small team, take it seriously. Even six months of direct people management can unlock director conversations that were previously closed. A year is ideal. If that opportunity comes up, negotiate compensation alongside it — treat it like an internal offer. Discuss base, bonus, equity, and a one-time grant before accepting the scope increase. Don't accept expanded responsibility without exploring compensation. Then, once you've had the experience, the path to director becomes significantly cleaner. You can continue interviewing for external roles in parallel, but be strategic — director roles without people management on your resume will be blocked at most companies.