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If I have to open excel, I’m not doing my job.

I once worked with an incredible Head of Design.

He was always cool, calm and collected with an incredible strategy brain and vision.

I was the polar opposite.

I was always frazzled and playing catch-up. Running from one meeting to the next and, in the few moments in-between, trying desperately to make progress on some piece of analysis or another.

I never saw him produce designs or run demos - it was ALWAYS his team. Yet I was super hands on and very often presented insights and analysis that either I’d done, or on behalf of my team.

So, I asked him, “When was the last time you designed something?”

He told me that it had been years since he designed anything, and added, “If I have to open Figma then I’m not doing my job”.

Was Excel the data equivalent of Figma for design? Am I not doing my job if I’m stuck all day in excel??

It wasn’t long before I realised the enormous number of downsides I was banking by being so tactical and hands on.

I was letting myself down

I was letting my team down.

I was a player-coach.

The Player-Coach Trap

Data leaders are often sold the idea that they can – and should – be both strategic and hands-on.

It sounds noble. It even feels productive. You're leading the team and contributing alongside them. But the reality? It’s a trap that kills your focus, slows your team’s growth, and limits your leadership potential.

Getting stuck in player-coach mode is one of the biggest blockers to becoming a truly effective leader.

Unfortunately...
The longer you stay stuck in tactical execution, the less effective you’ll be at the leadership part of your job. You might feel useful – but you're actually holding both yourself and your team back.

BUT! Before we go any further - this week’s poll👇🏻

_{(check out last week’s poll results below)}

😬 What this does to you and your team:

🔹 Doing half of 2 jobs makes you sh*t at both
Constant context switching erodes your thinking time, planning capacity, and execution speed. You can’t do deep work when you’re bouncing between code reviews and exec updates.

🔹 You block your team’s development
By taking on the complex tasks yourself, you rob your team of opportunities to learn, grow, and prove themselves. You’re doing their job for them – not yours. They will wonder why and potentially resent you for it.

🔹 You reinforce technical dependence on you
If you're always the go-to for the hard stuff, your team and the business becomes reliant on you. That’s not support - YOU ARE A BOTTLENECK. It also reduces your likelihood of receiving a promotion. If you’re a bottleneck then you’re relied up. They’re unlikely to move you on from that role if you’re crucial to it.

🔹 You undermine your leadership credibility
Most senior leaders in the business aren’t hands-on. If you're still knee-deep in dashboards and pipelines, you're not seen as a peer – you’re seen as a technician. In the eyes of our senior leadership peers - you’re not one of them.

You’re just the highest paid analyst.

🥎 Game plan:

Fixing the player-coach trap doesn’t mean becoming completely “hands-off”. It means being intentional about how and where you show up. Here's what this looks like:

✅ Audit your calendar
Track how much of your time is spent on tactical tasks vs leadership and strategic activities. You’ll be shocked at the ratio. Ruthlessly cut or delegate. Determine what a healthy ratio looks like.

Hint: it should be far lower than 50% on tactical tasks.

✅ Stop solving the hard problems yourself
Instead, bring your team in. Coach them through it. Let them struggle a little. Give them permission to fail. If they fail, guide them rather than straight up correcting them. This is how they’ll grow in to people you can trust which will allow you to let go a little more.

✅ Build the confidence to say no
Just because you can do it faster doesn’t mean you should. That dynamic turns into a vicious cycle that you’ll never get out of.

Prioritise long-term team capability over short-term speed.

✅ Redefine your role in your own mind
Your job is not to be the smartest technical person in the room. Your job is to build a team of people who are better than you at delivery – and to make sure they’re set up to win. Be the dumbest on in the room!!

✅ Act like the leader you want to become
Want to be seen as a Director? Start behaving like one. Protect your focus. Delegate properly. Make strategic thinking part of your weekly rhythm.

You can’t lead effectively if you’re still clinging to your old IC identity.

Let it go. Step up.

And let your team step in.

📸 Will you be my insta-friend?

I’ve recently started out on Instagram but my following is woefully pathetic. Help change that by dropping me a follow! I’ll be sharing data and strategy gold, but close to 0 thirst traps.

My handle is @tris.j.burns.data

Find it here!

Data Leadership Coaching

I work with data leaders all over the world to help them become better leaders.

I help them to:

🔹 Gain influence

🔹 Build strategies

🔹 Increasing their visibility

🔹 Repositioning data teams as value adds

If you’re interested in exploring what a coaching relationship with me might look like, feel free to book time with me for a fee 1:1 intro call here.

📌 P.S. My coaching rates will increase in July - anyone who books me for an intro call before July 1 will benefit from Q2 pricing!!

Tristan Burns

Find me on LinkedIn or Book a 1:1 call

⚡️ Previous poll results

Last week I asked you: What’s your biggest challenge staying close to business problems as a data leader?

Here’s how you all responded: