Giving up control
“Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”
You control one side of the equation.
Things you can’t control
How the business thinks about you as a data team
What other people expect from the data people
If leadership just wants you to build reports
When stakeholders will reply to meeting requests
If a peer leader wants your collaboration or not
Whether leadership approves your budget request
How often you have to explain the same data report to the business.
They are out of your control. Wash your hands of all of them. Move on. Give up.
Many things are out of your control.
And when you do give up trying to control those things you can acknowledge the things you do control.
What do you control?
How you show up as a data team to the business.
The level of empathy you display when collaborating
What kind of requests you respond to from the business teams.
How you respond to requests for data that don’t make sense.
When and how to ask for budget and project approvals
If you want them to view you differently, you show up to the table differently.
When that happens, a huge ocean liner worth of freedom opens up when you step into the things you do control.
And all those things you don’t control? Well, after all Leadership isn’t about control at all.
It’s about influence.
You influence others, by your actions.
It was good to see you today,
Sawyer
