Execution Is Easy. Leading People Is Hard.
Your roadmap is solid. Your team is burning out. These two facts are connected.
In my last post, I introduced a four-quadrant model of leadership: Strategy, Execution, Culture, and Development. Every leader naturally gravitates toward certain quadrants while unintentionally neglecting others, creating subtle but persistent issues. That’s not a personal flaw—it’s human nature. But in data and tech, the imbalance is especially sharp. We focus almost entirely on execution and assume the rest will work itself out. It doesn’t. And eventually, it breaks everything you’re trying to build.
Where Data Leaders Fail Most Often
Every leader naturally gravitates toward certain quadrants while unintentionally neglecting others, creating subtle but persistent issues. For tech and data leaders, who typically excel in the measurable, work-focused areas of Strategy and Execution, recognizing this tendency is essential. With this broader leadership model in mind, you might begin to see your own bias clearly—favoring tangible achievements and immediate outcomes at the expense of the equally crucial people aspects, Culture and Development. Addressing these blind spots is not optional; it's vital for sustained leadership effectiveness and organizational health.
Yet true leadership isn’t just about completing tasks—it’s about creating an environment where people flourish. Neglecting Culture and Development isn’t merely an oversight; it's a critical leadership failure with profound long-term implications. Persistent retention issues, disengagement, lack of internal leadership growth, and unrealized team potential all stem from neglecting these areas. The damage is slow but insidious, creating invisible barriers to lasting success.
Many ambitious leaders assume employees will develop naturally, mirroring their own self-directed paths. But without structured development programs, teams stagnate. Leaders frequently discuss vague ideals like hiring the "right people" but fail to create systems that genuinely support them.
Dismissing people-focused work as "unproductive" or delegating it entirely to HR is disastrous. Organizations overly reliant on a handful of key individuals collapse when these pivotal team members leave. Leadership blind spots, when unaddressed, become major vulnerabilities. The solution is intentional investment in culture and development, building resilience and sustained success beyond any one individual.
Lessons from Experience: Effective Hiring & Development
The principles outlined above provide a robust framework for balanced leadership, but practical implementation can be challenging. Real-world experience has shown me that effective hiring and team development don't happen by accident. They require deliberate, structured efforts that integrate directly into your daily leadership practices. Here are some practical lessons and methods I've found most successful in building strong, cohesive teams:
Recruiting
This is extremely important so I am repeating it: hiring and developing your team is your direct responsibility, not HR’s. Your team's success depends on specialized skills and context-specific hiring, something HR is almost never equipped to handle. Also, their incentives differ from yours, often oriented toward organizational consistency, cost efficiency, and speed of hire.
Move beyond generic job descriptions, they get generic teams. You’re not hiring a generic "data analyst" or "data engineer"; you’re looking for someone who can deliver specific results within a clearly defined context. Clearly outline the top two or three critical projects the role needs to complete in the next 12-18 months. From there, explicitly define the skills required to succeed for those project1. Be as specific as possible. Then interview for those specific capabilities, acknowledging the best candidates will come with other weaknesses and warts.2
Finally, transparency about your work environment and management style is vital. Hire people who will thrive in your team’s structure and your management approach. If your team is small, agile, and still establishing credibility, avoid hiring someone who requires extensive structure and predictability. Similarly, if your leadership style is giving broad goals and trusting your team to manage the specifics, don't bring in someone who expects detailed instructions upfront. You goal is to maximize productivity and minimize destructive friction.3
Onboarding
Onboarding starts the moment a candidate accepts your offer. Don’t disappear until the first day. Maintain consistent communication (at least weekly) to build excitement and ensure a welcoming, productive first day.
Make day one productive and welcoming by providing structured resources for practical needs (e.g. system access, workflow processes, and team dynamics). Consider creating a directory of important people to know and meet as a cheat sheet for the internal (and informal) company structure. Pair new hires with experienced mentors or buddies4, fostering quick integration and lasting confidence. Early, consistent engagement reinforces your commitment to their success, creating immediate loyalty and belonging.
Development
Development isn’t HR’s domain; it’s yours. HR lacks the technical expertise required for specialized team development. Proactively create tailored growth programs addressing critical skill gaps, such as business acumen, financial literacy, and stakeholder management.
Effective development combines practical experience with structured learning, utilizing books, case studies, hands-on projects, and consistent feedback loops5 to cultivate versatile professionals equipped to contribute broadly.
Conclusion
Effective leadership integrates Strategy, Execution, Culture, and Development. Ignoring the people dimension isn't just inefficient; it's naive. Your blind spots aren't minor inconveniences; they're ticking time bombs. Using this framework, confront your biases directly. You don't need perfection, but ignoring significant gaps in your approach means you're rolling the dice on your team's future and your future. Strengths won't save you if your overlooked weaknesses become fatal flaws.
Start by being honest with yourself: where are you strong, and where are you coasting? If this hit a little too close to home and you want to talk it through, DM me. I’ve been there—and working through it is easier (and less painful) with someone who gets it.
No vague requirements like years of experience or general degrees
Unless you are FAANG, every good will have a “but.” That’s OK and expected. If they didn’t you couldn’t hire them
Because there is good friction you need in high performing teams, but that is for another post
And reinforces to your existing team members the importance of helping each other and growing together
If the only time you talk with people individually is for status updates, you're doing it wrong