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Data leaders need to harden up. I’m not speaking in terms of mental health or resilience though. I’m talking about how we interact with our colleagues and peers throughout the business.

We need to be more assertive with them 💪🏻

If you’re a data leader, you’ve likely felt like your team is treated as a service desk function rather than a strategic partner. Other business divisions dictate your priorities, and leadership expects you to react, rather than contributing strategically.

It’s frustrating, but it’s also a problem you can solve.

When data leaders take control of their own priorities, they gain influence, drive meaningful change, and position themselves as indispensable. They shape how data is used to create value for the business rather than being stuck in an endless cycle of reactive, low-impact work (we’ve all been there!!).

Sadly, many data leaders never break out of this cycle. They continue to be sidelined, their expertise overlooked, and their teams undervalued.

_{(last week’s poll results are down below)}

If you don’t take control of your team’s priorities and assert yourself as a strategic leader, you can expect to experience some or all of the following:

Instead of working on high-impact initiatives, you’re constantly responding to ad-hoc requests. This means that there is little-to-no room for proactive, value-driven work, aka the good stuff!

If you’re seen as someone who simply executes other teams’ demands, you won’t be viewed as an executive peer. Your voice in leadership discussions will carry little weight.

Top data professionals want to work on strategic, meaningful projects. If your team is stuck doing low-value tasks, they’ll look for opportunities elsewhere.

If you’re not demonstrating leadership and impact, you’ll struggle to advance to higher roles. Executives who drive strategy get promoted—those who only execute do not.

The good news? You can change this. But it requires you to step up, develop a thick skin, and take control.

To transition from being seen as a service function to being recognised as a strategic leader, you need to take deliberate action:

You must decide what’s important, not just take orders. This means pushing back on low-value requests and aligning your team’s work with business strategy. If you don’t know what the strategy is - ASK!

Challenge stakeholders who treat your team as a reporting factory. Educate them on the strategic impact of data and negotiate priorities accordingly. If you’re working on something big and important, then their “little” dashboard tweak can wait!

Identify and execute high-impact data projects that clearly demonstrate business value. Once leadership sees the results, they’ll be more likely to respect your decisions and give you the autonomy you need to make them.

The more executive stakeholders see you as a strategic partner, the less they’ll try to dictate your team’s work. Engage them in conversations about data’s role in business growth. Start by understanding their business challenges and frame your value add around helping to solve those.

Many data leaders struggle with these changes on their own. That’s why I coach data leaders 1:1 to help them navigate tough conversations, build influence, and take control of their team’s priorities. If you’re ready to stop being pushed around and start leading strategically, let’s talk!

Book a free 1:1 call with me here

For this week’s week’s community I bring you news of the Second Edition launch of Jason Foster and Barry Green’s incredible book: Data Means Business: A practical guide to creating value from data and AI

This updated edition goes deeper into AI, culture, ethics, and the key principles of building a high-impact data strategy. It's also packed with practical insights to help you make data work for your business.

If you’re interested in checking it out, you can find it here:

📖 Paperback version

📺 Kindle version

Note: the Kindle version is only 99p until the end of today (27th March 2025)

Last week I asked you:
What is the biggest reason why data products (like dashboards) go unused?

Here’s how you responded:

Tristan Burns

Find me on LinkedIn or Book a 1:1 call