Customer Insight Leader podcast

Well, it had to happen eventually. Yes, this episode is all about me, sorry.

In my defence, several of my very kind guests suggested it over the years; that a fitting way to complete this podcast was for the final episode to be an interview with me.

Many thanks to my very kind host, Robin Huggins from MBN and his fellow interviewers, Michael Young and Graeme McDermott. Their questions really helped paint a more interesting picture than I could have done by myself.

I hope what I share is of interest to you all. More than that, I hope this podcast has been helpful to your development. Many thanks to all who have listened to and recommended this podcast over the years.

Finally, many many thanks to my wonderful guests over the years. This podcast would literally have been nothing without you. It has been a pleasure to work with you all.

God bless and have a wonderful career,

Paul

For this penultimate episode of the Customer Insight Leader podcast, I am joined by Lori Mazan author of "Leadership Revolution". She is another outsider from the data leader community whom I believe nonetheless has a lot to teach us.

Lori is co-founder and president of Sounding Board in the USA a business that delivers coaching and mentoring software and services, to manage, scale and measure your leadership development. Before leading that exciting business, she has over 28 years of experience coaching a wide variety of leaders, from those in the largest “Fortune 100” companies to pioneers of fast-growing tech start-ups.

Relevant to you the audience of this podcast, Lori has plenty of experience with coaching technical leaders. Discovering over the years the support and challenge that enables them to grow and flourish in today’s fast-changing business environment. What’s more, she has shared a lot of that wisdom in her new book “Leadership Revolution” which we will explore during this conversation.

Join us as we consider the power of mentoring and the kind of development support that today's leaders really need.

For episode 10 of our second series, I am joined by Adam Candlish from Data Leaders.

As a change from our normal program, Adam is not himself a data leader but has for many years worked with our community to support data leader development.

In our conversation, you will learn not only about his career journey but also Adam's perspective on today's data leader community. Plus he helpfully calls out some of our potential blind spots.

Many thanks to Adam & I encourage us all to be willing to learn from the outsider's perspective as valuable feedback.

For episode 9 of our new season, I'm joined by Dr. Simon Jury who is Vice President of Data & Analytics at ASDA (a leading retailer here in the UK).

Simon has decades of experience in the industry and learned his trade at some of the leading names in the world of CRM and data analytics. During this conversation, you'll hear us explore Simon's technical and commercial leadership roles and why he moved globally to perform such roles.

Beyond Simon's extensive knowledge of how to help retailers drive value from data analytics & data science, we will focus on a new softer skill. He shares the heretical thought that it helps as a leader to develop & use your instincts too.

Grounded in the commercial skills he has honed and his years of experience, he reveals when "good instincts" can help a data leader not be constrained when he does not have all the data to make a decision.

Simon is well worth hearing as his track record speaks for itself. I recommend that all those who are currently focussing on developing their technical skills to achieve career success also hear from Simon's "tribe" of data leaders.

Plus you can hear why data scientists should be joining retailers as a "sexy" career move (instead of focussing on tech companies).

Sometimes it helps to learn from the long view. Dr David Merrick can offer such a perspective. He is an expert in marketing analytics with decades of experience in the field, so I was delighted that he joined me for episode 8 of this second season of our podcast.

Many years ago he was co-author with the later great Prof Bob Shaw of the classic text “Marketing Payback” (which I have praised before on my blog). He is also the founder of specialist modelling & analytics agency Quantalise, whose econometric models and software set a gold standard in that discipline.

In this conversation, he shares a wealth of practical experience, both technical and commercial. Unlike so many on social media, David has genuinely been there and done that, plus he has stood the test of time regarding the value he's added to his clients. He is a great Analytics leader for us all to learn from before he chooses to hang up his boots.

I hope you enjoy this chat & can learn from his emphasis on mastering his content & argument. Effective presenting isn't only about style, confidence & visual display.

For episode 7 of season 2, I am very excited to welcome my new guest, Tony Saldanha.

Tony is the CEO & co-founder of Inixia, a global standards and certification body for the Shared Services industry. Before that, he ran Procter & Gamble’s famed multi-billion-dollar Global Business Services (GBS) division and IT operations across every region. So, he comes to us with a wealth of commercial & senior leadership experience.

Importantly, Tony has also put his time into educating others and is the author of an excellent book on leading digital transformations, called “Why Digital Transformations Fail” and more recently the co-author of a new book: “Revolutionizing Business Operations: How to Build Dynamic Processes for Enduring Competitive Advantage”.

In our conversation, we explore both lessons from those books (and Tony's career) as well as what these mean for data leaders. What could it mean for data leaders to focus on processes not just data products? Why should data leaders see their main calling as delivering use cases?

Plenty of wisdom for data professionals with all levels of experience. Well worth considering Tony's challenge to not be a bureaucrat but rather transform your processes to change your team & organisation.

For episode 6 of series 2, I am joined by Tristan Mobbs who will be known to regular readers of our Customer Insight Leader blog.

Tristan is Kite Packaging's Data and Analytics Manager and has over 10 years experience of working in data-related roles. He started out in energy forecasting before moving on to roles within construction, pharmaceuticals, and now packaging. Tristan focuses on ensuring that we use data effectively for business benefit without getting too distracted by all the shiny new technologies.

In this conversation, Tristan & I explore his career story, focus on business processes and the value of simplifying the technical. He honestly shares with us both his triumphs and his challenges. Tristan really brings to life the value of data leaders developing the skill of simplification.

For episode 5 of this second series, I am proud to welcome Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic as my guest. She is most famous as the globally praised author of 'Storytelling with Data' (SWD).

For over a decade, Cole and her team at SWD have delivered interactive learning sessions sought after by data-minded individuals and organizations all over the world. Now she has published a new book, Storytelling with You, which we explore in this episode alongside hearing her own back story.

Listen out for tips on introducing yourself, getting better as a presenter or trainer and why presence matters. Cole's wealth of experience shines through as she helps us realise the need to also develop ourselves if we are to be effective communicators.

For episode 4 of our new season, Rob Winters joins me from the Netherlands. Rob has been working in data for almost 20 years (across both the USA & the Netherlands) at businesses including Miro, Naval, Travel Bird & Spil Games. He's also led data programmes for over 12 years in multiple companies across several industries. His hands-on data roles have included data analyst, data engineer & data scientist. Plus, Rob has recently made the transition (that many data leaders dream about) starting work as an independent consultant. Today he helps businesses develop a higher proficiency in data.

During our conversation, we explored the softer skills which have been key to Rob's development as a data leader. He cites examples of the importance of negotiation, tailoring your approach to each person, prioritisation and saying no. He also shared his personal experience as to the effectiveness of journaling. But the unifying theme of this conversation was the power of data leaders joining the dots. How to see the big picture in terms of commercial needs and join those dots. How to get to know your stakeholders & team members, to join some more dots between commercial and personal development needs.

Rob concludes by explaining what he means by even joining the dots that aren't there yet (the need for a specific data vision, rather than vague wishes). Plenty of practical wisdom to prompt us all.

For episode 3, I am joined by Brian O'Neill who is the self-styled "UX for Data Products guy". He's the founder of Designing for Analytics, an independent consultancy helping data leaders turn their data into valuable data products. Through his UX consulting, speaking and design training, he’s helped launch several enterprise software companies (Apptopia, Dispatch.me, Akorri) and has worked with businesses including DellEMC, Tripadvisor & Fidelity. 

Brian hosts the Experiencing Data podcast & advises for MIT’s Sandbox Innovation Fund. Plus, he leads a double life as a professional percussionist where he's played with The Who and Donna Summer. So, a unique personality to talk with as we explore the "real skills" that data leaders need.

During our conversation we explore the need for softer skills in data leaders, beyond their technical expertise. This includes the challenge of hiring for such skills not just technical screening. Brian focusses on getting to know the person you are serving with your work. Not just as a set of requirements or role, but as an individual. What is in it for them personally? How can your design effort help them achieve that too? Empathy in Design thinking if you will.