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🤔 Ever wanted to kill your bosses?

Me too.

Obviously I’ve never gone through with it, and neither should you. But I’ve certainly had bosses that have pissed me off on the odd occasion (as I’m sure you have).

Luckily for them, cooler heads prevailed.

One painful leadership challenge I’ve encountered a lot recently is when members of the executive team are actively hostile towards data and data teams.

It seems that despite the potential for value-add that well run data teams can provide, these execs have decided to keep data at an arms length, or to straight up ignore it.

Fixing this is a do or die problem for ambitious data leaders who want their organisations to benefit from the power of data in the ways they know are possible.

Ignoring the problem will mean that you are either butting heads eternally with buttheads in the exec, OR accepting the fate that data will play a diminished role in the organisation.

Which is less than ideal 🙅🏽

😡 Why are some execs so anti-data?

Besides carried over baggage from not quite getting their head around Excel’s ‘SUM IF’ function in their uni days, some execs feel genuinely threatened by the role data plays inside organisations. Here are a few examples of why:

• Data may challenge their existing assumptions and biases

• Data may prove previous decisions to have been the wrong one

• They feel threatened that data may expose incompetence in their leadership

Basically, as far as they’re concerned, your data leadership and the data you bring threatens their world view and triggers their insecurities. Instead of embracing data and it’s value-add potential, they dismiss it, and us along with it.

(Check below for last week’s poll results)

👎🏼 The sucky part

Working for a exec that is openly hostile towards data (whether they are your manager or not) …. ain’t great. Not for you, not for your data team, and it’s certainly not great for the overall business.

Here are some of the impacts of having data-phobic executives:

• 📉 Limited Decision Making Impact:

  When executives ignore data, decisions rely on intuition rather than evidence, reducing accuracy. This obviously weakens the organisation’s ability to make informed, competitive choices. This further erodes your value as a data leader.

• 🕳️ Erosion of a Data Culture:

  Dismissive attitudes from leadership devalue data and discourage its use at all levels, org wide: “If they don’t use data, why should I?” Over time, this fosters a culture resistant to data driven practices and innovation.

• 💥 Stalled Initiatives:

  Without executive support, data projects lack funding and prioritisation, stalling their progress. This inhibits the organisation’s ability to leverage analytics effectively.

• 😫 Frustration and Burnout:

  Facing repeated resistance, data leaders can feel undervalued and demotivated. This leads to decreased morale, inefficiency and potentially, attrition.

Working with these people can be a pain in the neck. It basically leaves data leaders with three choices:

🚪 Head for the door and hope for a better outcome elsewhere.

🙇‍♂️ Go along to get along - not great career wise.

🥊 Fight the good fight for data and do battle with these lunkheads.

The first 2 options blow, so let’s take a look at option 3 👇🏻

💥 Fight the power!

Let me start by saying, this is not an easy problem to deal with.

Finding ways to deal with hostile and data phobic execs and nullify their hostility could be make-or-break for your data leadership career.

But this newsletter wouldn’t be called, “Strategies For Effective Data Leadership” if we gave up too easily.

Essentially, this is a stakeholder management challenge, and while every individual and organisation will be different, here are a few approaches to try if you find yourself battling tough cookies:

1.🦷 Understand the Root Cause

• Why It Helps: Hostility often stems from past negative experiences, misunderstandings, or a fear of change.

• Action Steps:

  • Have a private conversation with the individual to understand their concerns, frustrations, or objections.

  • Listen actively and acknowledge their perspective to build trust.

  • Identify any specific incidents or systemic issues that may have caused their skepticism toward data.

  • Uses the opportunity to ask questions rather than to drive your own agenda. This should be a fact finding mission - not an argument.

2.💰 Demonstrate Tangible Value

• Why It Helps: Showing how data directly benefits their goals can turn resistance into curiosity or support.

• Action Steps:

  • Focus on small, high-impact projects aligned with their priorities.

  • Share clear, actionable insights that address their pain points or demonstrate measurable improvements.

  • Use storytelling to frame data’s role in helping them achieve their desired outcomes.

3.🏆 Engage Allies and Champions

• Why It Helps: Having other leaders advocate for data can reduce perceived bias and shift the dynamic.

• Action Steps:

  • Collaborate with data-friendly executives to amplify success stories and endorse the value of data.

  • Present insights as a team effort, with cross-functional support, to diffuse direct conflict.

  • Gradually involve the hostile executive in low-stakes discussions or wins, fostering a sense of inclusion.

Sadly, hostility towards data and data teams is not uncommon. What is uncommon is influential data leaders that are willing to do something about it.

Are you?

📧 If you’ve experienced this and come through the other side, I’d love to hear from you. Please reply to this email and let me know you story!

🖤 Black Friday Promo Continues!

From now until December 2nd (GMT) you will get 20% discount on my self-paced digital coaching products👇🏻

⚡️ Last Week’s Poll Result:

Last week, I asked How do your rate your org's data culture maturity?

As you can see, results were fairly mixed… 50% of respondents didn’t think very highly if their org’s culture when it comes to data.

Check in next week for the results of today’s poll from up top!

Tristan Burns

Find me on LinkedIn or Book a 1:1 call