Your Job Title Won't Save You.

New here? So glad you found your way here. I've been thinking about this stuff for a long, long time, and my goal is to share what I've learned—the good, the bad, and the stuff that actually works—to help you climb that ladder.

Enjoy!

The Cheat Sheet: What Your Competition is Reading This Week

OK.

Let's talk about the elephant in the room.

Microsoft. 9,000 people. Gone.

And this wasn't some failing company running out of cash. This is a giant, a whale, swimming in profits, while throwing billions of dollars at AI. If that news doesn't make you sit up and think, "uh oh," I don't know what will.

It's so easy to see that headline and get that pit in your stomach. To look at your own job and feel like you're just a name on a spreadsheet, waiting for a finance person to draw a red line through it.

Look, here's the deal, plain and simple. Companies are shifting massive budgets to AI. That money has to come from somewhere. And your technical skills? As amazing as they are, they're becoming a commodity. An algorithm doesn't ask for a raise or take vacations. If your main value is just executing technical tasks, you're on shaky ground.

A brutal truth? Most data professionals are invisible. They're brilliant at SQL, Python, and building dashboards, but they're terrible at one thing: making their value obvious to the people who sign the checks.

Have you been in that spot; Head down, crushing tickets, building the best dashboards anyone has ever seen. And then watching someone else—someone who couldn't write a line of SQL to save their life—get the promotion because they could tell a good story in a meeting. That stings right?

But this is a choice. You can worry about being replaced, or you can start playing a different game. It's not about working harder. It's about working smarter and making sure the right people see it.

So, how do we do that? Time for an infographic!

Step 1: Stop Being an Order-Taker. Start Asking the Million-Dollar Question.

This is the biggest trap in our field. A stakeholder asks for a report, and we jump to build it. We get so good at the how that no one ever trusts us with the why.

We have to flip that script.

The next time you get a request, ask this simple question: "Just so I understand, what business decision will this help us make?" (all analytics should ask this question super early anyway - make it a habit).

But here's the advanced move: Follow up with, "And what would success look like for that decision?"

This does three things:

1. It forces the stakeholder to think strategically (most haven't)

2. It positions you as a strategic partner, not a service provider

3. It gives you the ammunition to measure and communicate your impact later

Oh - and the biggest reason for asking those questions - (that comes later in todays issue!!!) (I know, sneaky, right??)

Step 2: Master the 30-Second Impact Story.

In this kind of environment, being quiet is the same as being invisible. I'm a book-hound, and one thing I've read in a dozen business books that actually works is telling simple stories.

You don't need a PowerPoint deck. You just need to connect the dots for people.

Here's the simplest formula in the world to use:

• The Problem Was: [Specific pain point with a number]

• My Analysis Found: [What you discovered/built]

• So That We Can: [Business outcome with a metric]

Example: "The problem was we were losing 15% of potential customers because our lead scoring was broken. My analysis found the issue was in how we weighted engagement data, so I rebuilt the model. Now we're converting 23% more leads, which translates to about $180k in additional revenue this quarter."

That's it. Thirty seconds. But it tells a complete story of business impact that sticks in people's minds.

Think its too elementary an example? Look around you - this stuff happens all the time, people working on things and not understanding the basics of why (that align with what the CEO cares about).

Step 3: Become the Source of Truth for Something That Matters.

When uncertainty looms, leaders crave clarity.

They’re desperate to know what’s really happening in their business. And here’s the kicker: AI can churn out reports and crunch numbers, but it can’t provide the human insight—the why behind the data—that executives need to make bold decisions.

If you can be the person who delivers that clarity for your corner of the business, you become irreplaceable, no matter how many algorithms a company deploys.

Pick one critical business metric. Own it completely. Dive deep into every factor that influences it. Build the sharpest reporting around it. But don’t stop there—become the person who can explain why it’s trending up or down, what it means for the future, and how it ties to the company’s survival in an AI-driven world.

Your human judgment, your ability to connect the dots, is something no machine can replicate. Document it. Disaggregate it. Use a MECE framework or a fishbone chart to map out the information flow. Geek out on it, but own it.

When executives have a question about that metric, your name should be the first one they think of.

You’re not just a data analyst; you’re the human sense-making machine that stands between raw numbers and real strategy—a role AI can’t touch.

Step 4: Archive Your Wins Like Your Career Depends on It. (Because It Does.)

Okay, this part is critical. All those amazing stories of your impact? They are career gold. But they have the shelf life of a banana. In three weeks, you'll forget the details. In three months, you'll forget the story entirely.

You need a system to capture these moments. A private document. A "Career Briefcase," if you will.

This isn't for your boss. This is for YOU. It's a simple Google Doc titled "My Impact Log." Every single time you have a win, no matter how small, you write it down using this format:

This log becomes the raw material for every future success. It's where you'll go to pull bullet points for your CV. It's the script you'll practice from for your next job interview. It's the evidence you'll use to justify that $25k raise.

When a recruiter calls out of the blue or a promotion slot opens up, you won't be scrambling, trying to remember what you did last quarter. You'll have a documented history of your value, ready to deploy.

Step 5: Turn Your Weekly Report Into a Career Accelerator.

Most people send status updates. Leaders send impact reports. There's a huge difference.

Actionable Tool: The 3-Bullet Weekly Impact Report Every Friday, send this to your boss:

• This Week's Key Outcome: I [specific action], which resulted in [quantified result]. (Example: "I automated the sales forecasting process, reducing manual work from 6 hours to 30 minutes weekly and improving accuracy by 15%.")

• Next Week's Priority: My main focus will be [high-impact project] to help us [achieve specific business goal].

• One Strategic Insight: I'm seeing [trend/pattern] in the data. This could [opportunity/risk] for [business area].

That third bullet is where some magic happens. It positions you as a strategic thinker, not just a task executor. Someone thinking ahead a little, sideways a little. You know what i mean!

After you hit send, copy that first bullet point directly into your private "Impact Log." You're building your career case in real-time.

Step 6: Practice Your Elevator Pitch Until It's Muscle Memory.

Here's a quick little excercise for you - you get cornered in the elevator and: You need to be able to articulate your value in 30 seconds, cold. Can you do it justice?

This is a useful thing to have up your sleeve riight? Not just for job interviews, but for hallway conversations, networking events, and unexpected opportunities.

Use your Impact Log to craft a simple story: "I help companies make better decisions with data. Last quarter, I built a customer retention model that identified why we were losing high-value clients. The insights led to changes that saved us over $300k in revenue. I love turning complex data into simple business wins."

Practice this until you can say it naturally. It's your career insurance policy.

Thats it.

Hit reply and tell me: What's the #1 thing that makes you nervous about proving the value of your work? No judgment, just curious.

This mini system is just a start, of course. If you want to go deeper on how to build a rock-solid business case for your work, the Mini MBA for Data Leaders I'm putting together has a whole section on it. Plus templates for everything—impact logs, interview scripts, salary negotiation frameworks. No pressure, just letting you know it's coming. (So much work)

Next Sunday: I dont know yet!! Send me ideas.

Best,
Tom.

P.S. If you have a teammate who's feeling a bit jittery about the state of things, maybe send this their way. We all climb better together.

Best,

Tom.