Do not downplay your skills
The first thing is that data professionals often seem to downplay their skillsets or focus on areas that they are weakest in. As one member from the retail industry pointed out, “you do not need to be an expert in everything to be a successful leader”, in fact, it is often to the strength of a leader that they know where their weaknesses lie. The contributor added, “I know that there are people in my team that have better coding skills than me, or can understand new technologies faster than me, but that does not mean my skills are not valuable. It just means I need to know what to ask from my team.” It was highlighted that being able to ask the right questions – and being brave enough to ask for something to be explained – is key to being a thriving leader.
Everyone can experience a crisis of confidence, especially when taking on new roles. I am sure we have all felt that pang of dread and the thought “will I be found out as a fraud?” when moving into a more senior position with responsibility.
Letting go
Chances are, if you are in the position of being able to move into a leadership role, you have been working in the sector for multiple years, meaning you have a set routine and day-to-day tasks. When you change roles and go on to become a team leader, active at the top level of an organisation, you need to be able to step back from the day-to-day tasks and trust your team – and your management of the team – that these tasks will be completed. “It was difficult for me to step away,” said one member from an electronics retailer. “I know I am very good at these jobs and suddenly not being able to thrive at them meant I needed to find new ways of demonstrating my value and worth.”
One way data professionals can ensure that the tasks they have had to step away from continue being achieved is by focusing on a talent pipeline and succession management. If you know that stepping away from being a team member to a team leader will leave a talent gap, find new members that can be trained to fill that void. “One way in which I have achieved this is through mentoring,” said a member from a government-funded organisation. “I work with junior and senior members of the team, identifying areas where they thrive and need improvement to ensure the dynamics of the team cover all the bases for successful data.”
It is also important to provide training opportunities for your colleagues, particularly if your absence from the team will lead to a brain drain in a speciality. This is more of a concern for smaller teams that are still early in their data journey but losing an experienced member of a team can have lasting impacts which are exacerbated by the ongoing struggle to hire data staff and retain them.
Just do it
It is not very data-driven, but when it comes to career progression a gut feeling for what it is you want to achieve can go a long way to dispelling uncertainty and ambiguity. The caveat is that this only works for you and your personal ambitions. “A leader needs to have a certain amount of get-up-and-go about them, which can be partially put down to gut feelings,” said one member from the maritime industry. “If you know your current position is not giving you the satisfaction you want from your job and there is an opportunity to take the reins and lead, then you owe it to yourself to try.” It can be difficult to leave a position where you feel comfortable and confident, but progression and reaching for a role at the top of the organisation requires a certain amount of bravery and conviction that this move is what you want.
It was acknowledged by the team that making the move to a top-level position is not easy or an overnight task, but it is necessary for the growth of the data team as well as personal satisfaction and development.
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