Welcome to the Sunday edition of the Analytics Ladder.

But first … I spent the weekend painting our house. Well — not the entire house — a pro is painting downstairs, but we painted upstairs. My wife and I literally rolled up our sleeves and got to work.

We have painted before but are very far from professional - it took much longer than it should have. Doesn’t matter all that much though - we got the job done, hardly anyone will see upstairs.

Were there disasters? Uh yes - at one point standing on a ladder I yelled out “hey check this out I’m painting with my left hand!”… while the paint I was holding in a small plastic lunch box was dribbling out of the corner onto my shorts, the ladder, the wood floor.

But it was all an enjoyable learning opportunity and something we can giggle at in the future. Don’t worry - if we ever sell, we are most likely getting the whole house done by a Pro.

So - whats that got to do with this weeks newsletter? AHA!

Painting our house made me think of a great topic for this week.

Stop waiting.

When you see an opportunity to do something valuable - take it.

That promotion you've been eyeing? That leadership role you deserve? That recognition that never seems to come?

Here's the truth not many people will tell you: You're already qualified. You just haven't started acting like it yet.

Start practicing what you can, when you can - to make mistakes. Level up. Get better. Add value.

The people shooting past you aren't necessarily smarter. They're not working so much harder. They're just playing a different game—one where they earn their next role by how they show up today.

You don't get promoted, then lead. You lead, then get promoted.

The Hidden Game 

Look, I reckon your current job has at least three invisible promotions built right into it.

No reorganisations needed. No new headcount. Just better ways to show up—with more intent, more clarity, and more business impact, right in your current role.

Im thinking that most people miss these entirely. They're too busy being good employees instead of becoming indispensable assets.

But once you see these hidden levers? Thats when everything can change.

You stop being the person who executes tasks.

You become the person executives ask for by name.

(Ive been there myself. Ive coached and mentored people through this.)

The Three Invisible Promotions 

Ready to stop being overlooked? Here's a roadmap, i’ll try and make it super clear..

1. The Strategic Operator 🧠

What most people do: Execute the brief. Deliver on time. Check the box.

What you should do: Rewrite the game before it starts.

When someone asks for "a report on customer churn," don't just pull the data. Ask the question that separates order-takers from strategists:

"What business decision are you trying to make?"

“Whats at stake?”

Because here's what they won't tell you:

Most stakeholders don't know what they actually need. They ask for what they know how to ask for. (This is such a common thing in the world of business intelligence - we literally built our methodologies around it in the late ‘90s)

The Strategic Operator hears "Can you analyse our customer segments?" and thinks:

• What's the real business risk here?

• What decision is hanging on this analysis?

• What's the cost of getting this wrong?

• What company targets are on the line?

• How is the owner of that problem being affected if that goes wrong?

This one shift—from task executor to decision architect—changes how leadership sees you.

You're no longer support staff. You're shaping direction. Make your work reflect the questions behind the ask.

2. The Trusted Translator 🔄

Every company has that one person who "gets through" to senior leadership.

They're not always the smartest. They're not necessarily the most technical.

But when they speak? People listen. 

Why? Because they've mastered the art of translation—turning complex insights into business clarity. I can definitley write a whole newsletter issue (probably a few actually) just on this topic itself.

Most analysts try to impress with complexity. The Translator does the opposite. They strip away 80% of the noise and lead with impact.

Read that again- They strip away 80% of the noise and lead with impact.

Next time you present findings, try this: Write it like a news headline first.

"Customer retention dropped 15% because our onboarding process confuses new users."

Not: "Analysis of customer lifecycle data indicates a correlation between onboarding friction points and churn metrics across multiple cohorts."

The business case? If you can package messy, nuanced data into something a GM can digest, understand and act on in 30 seconds, you've just become the most valuable person in the room.

3. The Internal Consultant 🎯

Now we're talking proactive leadership. Just like a great analytics practice has relationships with business champions - its also awesome when analysts get on the front foot on interesting, hard and valuable business problems.

The Internal Consultant doesn't wait for assignments. They hunt for business pain—even when no one's complaining yet.

They treat their role like a product. They go where the value is highest, not where the requests are loudest.

You know you've stepped into this role when you start bringing solutions to problems the business didn't even know it had, didn’t know could be solved, didn’t have the clarity of thinking or runway to devote a little analytic-time to it.

Here's your starter move: This week, if you cant already identify something super valuable to solve - ask three department heads: "What's one decision your team is making right now that feels more like guesswork than strategy?"

Then go build the answer. Not perfect. Just useful. Just early.

I have seen small one-off side projects like this balloon into multi million dollar projects delivering millions in value per annum. Imagine being the person that instigates something like THAT.

Your Move 

Pick one invisible promotion. Choose one current project. Apply the lens ruthlessly.

Don't just deliver what's asked for. Deliver what's needed.

Don't just report the numbers. Report what the business should do about them.

Don't just wait for the next brief. Go find the next opportunity.

The shift happens fast. And so does the recognition.

Oh hey .. my buddy Tris has an excellent newsletter for once you hit that leadership position. Check it out to see what sort of shenanigans you can look forward to once I help you get there! Nothing like getting a head start.

Lets wrap it up - The Real Promotion 

Promotions aren't titles handed down from HR.

They're reputations built quietly, earned consistently, and recognised long before the paperwork gets filed.

Your next role isn't waiting for you in some future org chart. It's hiding in plain sight—in how you show up to the work you're already doing.

The ladder's under your feet right now. 🪜

Time to climb it with intent.

Because the people who move up fastest? They don't wait for permission to lead. They earn their authority by making everyone around them more successful—starting today.

Best,

Tom.