5 Lessons for Data Leaders
All of our challenges and experiences are more alike than you think
Last week, I found myself at Capital Grill having dinner with Vice Presidents and Chief Data Officers of Fortune 500 companies. While I may have felt a little out of place, I always advocate for everyone to get themselves into rooms like this. You never know what will come from them.
After all, finding myself at a Capital One-sponsored hackathon with zero coding skills is how I first made my way into the data world, but that’s a story for another time.
The words and wisdom that came from these leaders were surprisingly similar to my own experiences as a Senior Analytics Engineer. It turns out, no matter where you lie on the org chart, all data people face the same challenges.
If you want to lead data strategy in your own organization, here are the top lessons I’ve learned in my own work and from others in the industry.
Most people don’t really understand AI.
You’ll hear executives say they want to implement AI where ever they can, but they don’t necessarily know what it entails. All they know is that “everyone else is doing it” and they’ll be “left behind” if they don’t.
AI isn’t a magical solution that will solve all your problems. It’s a strategy to help you solve your problems faster.
I’ve found that the teams that want to turn everything agentic are the the teams lacking the most process. AI won’t create processes that don’t exist. In fact, it’ll probably make it messier.
This is why, when sales teams come to me to accurately predict the revenue they’re bringing in, I’ve asked them how they work before even touching their data. If there’s no clear process for how they are tracking deals, there is no clear process for modeling this data and using it to predict future revenue.
AI doesn’t work until structure is first created under the hood. Keep that in mind when you learn about your company’s AI initiatives. They most likely don’t understand all the data work that first needs to happen and all the processes that need to be put into place even before that.
The hard things are usually the things that are worth the struggle.
There’s a reason companies hire more senior engineers. Not only do they have experience solving the most challenging of problems, but they aren’t afraid of the hard things. It’s easy to say yes to every stakeholder and move with speed while forgoing fundamentals like data quality and documentation.
However, solving the most challenging problems, the ones people before you didn’t attempt, is where the real change happens. You can’t be afraid to disagree with how the data team is currently operating.
My biggest successes have come from calling out the processes that weren’t working for the business, whether it was how they were using a tool like Stripe or Hubspot, or the data modeling that wasn’t being given proper time to do. If you want to make a difference, you need to spot these things and bring attention to them.
Stop talking about yourself and ask more questions.
When you are working on a team that is so central to an organization, relationship building is important. You should want people to not only respect you, but enjoy working with you.
You aren’t a good analytics engineer if people dread working with you because you are:
a) unfriendly
b) a know-it-all who refuses to listen to the opinions of others
c) hard to work with
The best way to get people to like you is to ask them questions about themselves. Take the time to get to know your stakeholders on a personal level but also understand their pain points and biggest challenges. This will help you get some easy wins under your belt.
Also along these lines- if you go to a networking event, don’t just talk about yourself 😉 Show interest in the other person no matter their age or experience level. You never know what could come from a positive interaction!
Working in data is basically the same as working in politics.
I never chose a career in politics, but I guess a career in data is one and the same. I find analytics engineers (and managers) are often interwoven into the politics of a company. You’ll find yourself advocating for the direction of a company’s strategy or calling executives out on their fiddling of metrics.
My last role (fortunately or unfortunately) showed me how much you need to play the game to lead real change in a data organization. It became clear that many people didn’t understand data on the level that they needed to support it. With this realization comes meeting people where they are at.
You need to advocate in baby steps, careful not to rock the boat too much at once. Slowly but surely, you need to show stakeholders the path that will help the company truly become data-driven.
Every person is a leader in their own way.
No matter your experience level, age, gender, or industry knowledge, you opinion is valid. Everyone has a unique perspective on life and data.
One of the reasons I love analytics engineering and data so much is the diversity of the people you meet. I have worked with product leaders, teachers, those working at the same company straight out of school, those in different countries, and those with 20+ years of experience. Along the way I’ve learned something new from everyone.
Working with all kinds of people allows you to give and take a little bit of each of their experience and expertise. It makes you a stronger analytics engineer.
Don’t be afraid to share your opinion and listen to those of others. You never know what new perspective you will gain!
Happy Thanksgiving! Whether you are cooking today, or just eating, I hope you enjoy a day with the ones you love. Don’t forget to say all of the things you are grateful for!
I am grateful for the Learn Analytics Engineering community and you who listens to what I have to say each week. I appreciate you and hope I’ve positively affected your life in some way 💛, because you have mine!
Madison