"Leverage data"? Cool, but what if the data is saying one thing and leadership is saying another? I'd love to be a data-driven manager but when I’m presenting facts and my higher-ups, they're still making decisions based on personal preference and office politics. How do you push for logical, data-backed decisions without stepping on toes? https://www.inc.com/peter-economy/the-art-of-decision-making-a-leaders-handbook/91104473
Humans are irrational in nature. If you are trying to convince your leadership on info that the data is already telling them, they really don’t need you there. This is something AI can takeover in a heartbeat.
Your value here should be understanding the relationship and other info outside of the data and interpret it in a way that will benefit the leadership and/or business.
You can be a data driven manager and still follow orders on rolling out initiatives you don’t always agree with. Part of the job. Agree with previous poster that your value is more in how you handle and navigate the nuances of your job and teams and the roll outs than presenting data. Leadership will always do what they want to do, you’re there to help facilitate, some day you might be in that seat and you can remember how you wished your leadership would have valued your input more … and maybe they do! They must if they have you presenting to them, but again… until you are that leader that gets to make those decisions you are there to help facilitate rollout regardless of the decision.