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👩🏼‍💼 Entrepreneurs? Nah, Datapreneurs!

So, you wanna be a kick-ass data leader? Figures - why else would you be here?

As much as Elon (and a few others) have become a little a little scary of late, there is still much we data leaders can learn from entrepreneurs like him.

Entrepreneurs are wired to spot opportunities, take calculated risks, and relentlessly focus on delivering value. Adopting this mindset as a data leader will monumentally transform the impact you have on your organisation, make you more strategic and supercharge your career.

All good things, really.

Unfortunately, many data leaders fall into the trap of operating reactively. They wait for requests, focus solely on execution, and miss the chance to lead strategically. This limits both your personal growth and the value your team delivers.

It’s not enough in this day and age to just show up. You have to think strategically, you have to take risks.

You have to think and act like an entrepreneur.

(check out the results from last weeks poll below👇🏻)

💥 The impacts of not thinking entrepreneurially:

1. Missed opportunities to create business value: When you don’t proactively seek opportunities, valuable insights and innovations go unrealised. You and your team are also not seen as valuable to the org.
   

2. Perceived as a service provider rather than a strategic leader: Reactive data teams often get sidelined from critical business decisions, further limiting our ability create meaningful impact.
   

3. Low engagement and morale within your team: Without a compelling vision, your team may feel like order-takers rather than innovators - been there, hated it. Avoid like the plague.
   

4. Stalled career progression: When you don’t lead strategically, it’s harder to be seen as someone ready for senior leadership roles. If you keep the lights on by pumping out reactive data output then they are quite likely to keep you where you are.

The good news? You can adopt an entrepreneurial mindset without quitting your day job. Let’s take a look 👇🏻

Here’s how to do it:

1. 🐞 Spot opportunities before they’re handed to you: Entrepreneurs are constantly looking for unmet needs. As a data leader, this means staying curious, understanding business challenges, and proactively identifying where data can drive value. For example, if customer churn is a problem, can your team develop a predictive model to flag at-risk accounts?

2. 🪂 Take calculated risks: Entrepreneurs know that innovation comes with risk. While data leaders must be responsible with data, don’t be afraid to test new approaches. If there’s a new analytics tool that could halve your team’s reporting time, run a small pilot to prove its value.

3. 🤑 Act like you own the business: Entrepreneurs have skin in the game. Start treating your data initiatives like your own business, measuring success by the impact they have on the organisation’s bottom line. For example, frame your success metrics around revenue growth, cost savings, or customer experience improvements—not just dashboards delivered.

4. 🏰 Tell compelling stories: Entrepreneurs know how to pitch their ideas and win buy-in. As a data leader, this means translating technical outputs into meaningful narratives that resonate with business stakeholders. Share success stories that showcase how your team has driven results.

5. 🪄 Foster a culture of innovation within your team: Encourage your team to think creatively, propose new ideas, and experiment. One data leader I coached created a monthly “Data Innovation Hour” where team members pitched and explored new data use cases. This initiative not only boosted engagement but also generated several impactful projects.

By thinking like an entrepreneur, you’ll not only increase your influence and value as a data leader, but you’ll also create a more engaged, innovative team that drives real results for your organisation.

You’ll probably get a better bonus, too! 😜

⌛️ Taking new clients for March

I work with data professionals like you looking to supercharge their careers and grow into influential and unstoppable data leaders.

If you’re curious or you’ve been thinking about working with me, make sure you book in your free 1:1 intro call right now. Availability for starting in March is limited.

To book in your free 1:1 intro session click here - availability limited!

⚡️ Previous poll results

Last week I asked you what you thought some of the challenges were that kept your business stakeholders awake at night?

This is how you responded:

Looks like most of the challenges relate to operational inefficiencies within our organisations….

Tristan Burns

Find me on LinkedIn or Book a 1:1 call