Are you good at receiving as well as giving?

There is a period early on in any new data leadership role when enthusiasm is at its peak.

You want to connect to more people, have great discussions, and understand the company, your team, organizational set-up, the data platforms, processes, and analytics areas.

You are always asking how can I help, how can we make this better, how can what we do within the data group resolve a problem or improve the process.

A “Giving” focus…

Yes, we do ask our stakeholders where they need the most, which projects to select, ask them for funding, etc.

But, we do not ask for one thing enough.

Their help.

We do not co-sign them and bring the leaders, stakeholders, and functional leaders to our core teams. Not just to provide us inputs, but as true sources of help when needed.

When you co-sign your stakeholders and sponsors, the level of engagement goes up.

This is not just a shared interest in outcomes. It becomes a shared interest in working.

Often, the journey is the reward.

By asking for help, to be a working partner in helping you with the program, you have rewarded the stakeholder before seeing the results impacting their teams.

Who says no to early rewards?