The Data Driven Leader

Chapter 4EARLY DISCOVERIES

ONE WEEK POST OFF-SITE: FEBRUARY 18

In the week following the team off-site, as Marcus and Chloe began requesting data access from Exalted leaders, Pam’s early concerns regarding peer reactions were confirmed. While David had backed her up as expected, she still ended up in conversations with peers suspicious about why she needed the data, what she planned to do with it, and in what timeframe.

Pam chose to view these conversations as opportunities to deepen relationships and establish trust, always through partnering and never confronting, so she was in good spirits as she headed down the hallway for an 11 a.m. meeting about the data initiative with the chief marketing officer, Anne Rodriguez.

“Anne, great to see you again,” Pam said, entering Anne’s office and striding over to shake her outstretched hand. They’d had good rapport at their breakfast meeting just after Pam started at Exalted, but there was a definite tension in the air.

“Thanks for taking time to chat about your data project,” said Anne, removing her stylish red reading glasses as she took a seat across from Pam at the small meeting table in her office. “I wasn’t quite sure I read the email request from Marcus and your consultant correctly.”

“Yes, it’s a new frontier for Exalted, but I’ve seen how essential analytics can be to turnarounds elsewhere,” Pam agreed with enthusiasm. “As you know from our initial leadership team meeting with David, he sees potential for Exalted to get back ...