The Critical Role of Data Analytics in Leadership

Illustration of analytics and monitoring with business team on monitoring reporting dashboard

Introduction

Based on what I’ve seen over many years, data is like the blood flowing through modern companies. But data analysis tools also change how leaders think, not just by giving useful business information. I’ve noticed leaders now steering companies as much using data as motivational speaking.

This means that managers at all levels must seriously consider how much growing data impacts decision-making at its core. Specifically, how do data skills combine with leadership smarts when balancing data findings with human judgment? What dangers come from relying on data too much? And what changes turn companies into data-driven organisations?

In this article, I’ll explore data’s potential to transform leadership and the challenges that come with it, based on my experiences helping leadership teams across different industries use data to solve big problems while improving their data skills. Let’s look at this new way of making choices that change organisations.

The Growing Data Flood

Before planning data optimisation, leaders must grasp the escalating complexity emerging from four simultaneous accelerations I often see:

1. Digital tracking of operations now creates trillions of data points on performance, way more…