{"id":1041,"date":"2020-02-06T15:49:31","date_gmt":"2020-02-06T11:49:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.techxmedia.com\/?p=1041"},"modified":"2025-04-16T15:43:43","modified_gmt":"2025-04-16T11:43:43","slug":"becoming-a-data-driven-business-leader","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/becoming-a-data-driven-business-leader\/","title":{"rendered":"Becoming a Data-Driven Business Leader"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By <\/strong>Claude Schuck, Regional Manager – Middle East at Veeam<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

All\nhuman beings have instinct. It\u2019s something every one of us possesses. For some\nof us it\u2019s a case of our hearts ruling our heads. Sometimes it\u2019s a case of\nmaking decisions when we don\u2019t have all the right information to go on.\nRegardless, gut-instinct is an underrated asset in business. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nold adage of \u2018sometimes you just know\u2019 stands many business leaders in good\nstead. So, what if all of the right information becomes available? When the\nbest course of action can be proven with data, do we abandon instinct? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\ntruth is business leaders are getting more data. It\u2019s coming to them and\nthey\u2019re searching for it. But data doesn\u2019t always present answers. That\u2019s where\nthe combination of experience, instinct and consultancy meets data, information\nand numbers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rational versus\nemotional<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To\nunderstand leadership, you have to understand people. Myers Briggs\u2019 personality\ntyping model suggests that humans have four energies: emotional, rational,\nemotional, introvert and extrovert. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s\nusually easy to identify whether people make decisions based on rationality or\nemotion; the same way that it\u2019s usually easy to identify whether people gain\nenergy from being alone or being around people. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\nare also certain characteristics we associate with certain personality types.\nThe archetypal emotional leader would therefore base more decisions on\ninstinct. They may dismiss data and follow their heart. Whereas rational\nleaders are analytical. They will pore over all the available information\nbefore making a call.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\ndanger in stereotyping people, particularly those in leadership positions, is not\naccounting for balance. All humans have the ability to analyse, alongside more\ninstinctive tendencies. A scientist can be superstitious the same as an artist\ncan obsess over his\/her sales numbers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Modern\nbusiness leaders of all personality types are faced with a new challenge, but a\nhuge opportunity: data. Information is no longer the preserve of the analyst,\nbut those who analyse the data at their disposal will make superior decisions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However,\nin business it\u2019s not always enough to identify the right course of action, but it\nis necessary to do so at the right time. This brings us to the issue of speed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thinking fast\nand slow<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nmore traditional school of thought is that businesses that make decisions fast\nwin. Slow decision making has been labelled as a business killer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However,\nthere is a prevailing counter-theory which suggests that businesses need to\nthink slower. That it\u2019s more important to decide correctly than to decide\nquickly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nlatter accounts for the always-on nature of data in the modern, digital\nenterprise. Businesses who are ignoring the data will be found out eventually,\neven if they realise short term gains by acting fast. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\navailability of data in the modern business means it\u2019s not simply about speed\nof decision making, but speed of thought. Quick thinking is different to\ndecisive action. You can decide quickly but decide badly. Whereas quick thinking\ninvolves weighing up your surroundings, abilities and options in a short enough\nspace of time that you gain an advantage. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This\nis where rationality meets emotion and where thinking fast trumps thinking\nslow. Businesses that learn to think fast and smart will be the disruptors.\nIt\u2019s about analysing the available data in a way that accelerates decision\nmaking. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For\nthe data-driven business leader, the mantra is come to exactly the right\ndecision and do it faster than everybody else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The data-driven\nbusiness leader<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Business\nleaders are at different stages when it comes to how invested in using data\nthey are. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 2019 Veeam\nCloud Data Management Report <\/a>surveyed\nbusiness decision makers from across the globe, 93% told us that decision\nmaking needed to change as Cloud Data Management is deployed within businesses.\nOver a quarter (29%) said there needed to be a complete overhaul. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Data\nwill absolutely change business leadership, but it will not subordinate it.\nThere will still be a place for emotion. There will still be a place for \u2018I\njust know\u2019. Business leaders have an expansive pool of experience, expertise\nand acumen to draw on before they get to the data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\ndifference is that modern business leaders will go to the data. Some will do so\nsooner and more readily than others, but those who refuse to will struggle to\nsurvive. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Furthermore,\nbusiness leaders will set about creating a data-driven culture. Almost\nthree-fifths (59%) of business decision makers said that company culture must\nchange to view new technology entering the workplace as a co-worker.\n\nThis\ncollaboration between humans and information is what will shape the modern\nbusiness. As Cloud Data Management permeates every enterprise, business leaders\nwill incorporate data into their decision making more and more.\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The availability of data in the modern business means it\u2019s not simply about speed of decision making, but speed of thought. Quick thinking is different to decisive action. You can decide quickly but decide badly.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":1079,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[25,9618],"tags":[],"contributor":[],"class_list":["post-1041","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-c-suite-watch","category-editors-pick"],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Capture1.png","author_info":{"display_name":"Rabab","author_link":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/author\/rabab\/"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1041","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1041"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1041\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1079"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1041"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1041"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1041"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=1041"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}