Getting Leadership Buy-In For Change Projects

I pitched a LOT of internal data infrastructure projects during my time leading data teams, and I was (almost) never turned down. Here is my playbook for getting executive buy-in for complex technology initiatives: 1. Research top-level initiatives: Find something an executive cares about that is impacted by the project you have in mind. Example: We need to increase sales by 20% from Q2-Q4 2. Identify the problem to be overcome: What are the roadblocks that can be torn down through better infrastructure? Example: We do not respond fast enough to shifting customer demand, causing us to miss out on significant selling opportunities. 3. Find examples of the problem: Show leadership this is not theoretical. Provide use cases where the problem has manifested, how it impacted teams, and quotes from ICs on how the solution would have greatly improved business outcomes. Example: In Q1 of 2023 multiple stores ran out of stock for Jebb Baker’s BBQ sauce. We knew the demand for the sauce spiked at the beginning of the week, and upon retroactive review could have backfilled enough of the sauce. We lost an expected $3M in opportunities. (The more of these you can provide the better) 4. Explain the problem: Demonstrate how a failure of infrastructure and data caused the issue. Clearly illustrate how existing gaps led to the use case in question. Example: We currently process n terabytes of data per day in batches from 50 different data sources. At these volumes, it is challenging to manually identify ‘needle in the haystack’ opportunities, such as one product line running low on inventory. 5. Illustrate a better world: What could the future world look like? How would this new world have prevented the problem? Example: In the ideal world, the data science team is alerted in real-time when inventory is unexpectedly low. This would allow them to rapidly scope the problem and respond to change. 6. Create requirements: Define what would need to be true both technologically and workflow-wise to solve the problem. Validate with other engineers that your solution is feasible. 7. Frame broadly and write the proposal: Condense steps 1-5 into a summarized 2-page document. While it is essential to focus on a few use cases, be sure not to downplay the magnitude of the impact when rolled out more broadly. 8. Get sign-off: Socialize your ideal world with potential evangelists (ideally the negatively impacted parties). Refine, refine, refine until everyone is satisfied and the outcomes are realistic and achievable in the desired period. 9. Build a roadmap: Lay out the timeline of your project, from initial required discovery sessions to a POC/MVP, to an initial use case, to a broader rollout. Ensure you add the target resourcing! 10. Present to leadership alongside stakeholders: Make sure your biggest supporters are in the room with you. Be a team player, not a hero. Good luck! #dataengineering

New Series: How to bring your team and stakeholders along for the ride — without sounding like you’re empire-building. Leading change comes with invisible resistance — especially at the top. In this 3-part series, I’m breaking down how to enroll execs, peers, and your team towards a strategy or new initiative without making it feel like a power grab. This is Part 1 → Earning executive buy-in (without the pitch deck parade). 🧠 You can’t lead change without trust. Here’s how I earned it. When we introduced our new team charter, I knew the strategy alone wouldn’t win buy-in. Especially at the exec level. Because here’s what senior stakeholders are really thinking when you propose something new: • Is this in service of the company — or your own fiefdom? • Are you building for ego, or customer impact? • Are you asking for resources... or making a case for results? So I made a choice early on: 📌 Take myself out of the equation. 📌 Center the conversation on the customer. 📌 Get ahead of unspoken doubts. How? Lead with external credibility. Before sharing our charter, I showed what “great” looked like: ✅ B2B and B2C brands that built legacies, not just fanbases ✅ Bold examples of customer-led innovation ✅ Programs that made people feel connected, not managed That shifted the lens from “Why is he doing this?” to: ➡ “Why aren’t we doing this already?” The key? Don’t lead with your strategy. Lead with your belief system. Execs don’t need every detail — they need to feel like you’re building for the future they care about and it's grounded in culture and values. 🔁 This is Part 1 of 3 in my series: How to bring your team and stakeholders along — without sounding like you’re empire-building. Next: How I enrolled my peers across functions — without it feeling political. #leadership #stakeholdermanagement #alignment #strategy #executivebuyin #customermarketing

Your management team says they’re aligned. Think again. You launch a change initiative. But instead of driving it forward, your managers are clashing. Suddenly, valuable energy is consumed. The organization goes in different directions. And failure becomes almost certain. Why does this happen? Because the change process was launched before securing full buy-in and alignment from the management team. Here’s the reality: 🔴 If managers aren’t aligned, nothing will change. So, what do you do? 🔵 Go back to step one of the change process: Fine-tune the Change Strategy Organize a workshop with the management team to: ➨ Clarify the vision, objectives, and strategy ➨ Learn how to communicate the strategy ➨ Build commitment to the change effort I once ran a workshop with a top team to create their change strategy. I budgeted six hours to align on the change objectives. The VP told me, “We’re already aligned, a 15-minute review will be enough.” Six hours later, they reached real alignment. Getting alignment is a long and challenging process. The most common cause of misalignment: top leaders overestimate alignment of their team. But here’s a critical point: this workshop shouldn’t be led by the top leader. Otherwise, you risk creating a false sense of agreement, with managers nodding in the room while holding back their real concerns. And you’ll end up back where you began back to where you were before the workshop. False alignment is the silent killer of change initiatives. To succeed, every disagreement needs to surface and be debated until genuine agreement is reached. This is best done with an external expert. I have seen management teams argue over a single word for two hours. That is what real alignment looks like. Plan to take between six hours and a long day to get there. Because only when managers are fully aligned and committed can the transformation succeed. Any other strategy will fail. How much time did you spend creating your change strategy? _____________   🔔 𝐅𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 Jacques Fischer for strategies to  ↳ Manage change  ↳ Evolve the culture  ↳ Improve leadership  ↳ Develop high-performance organizations 𝑴𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒀𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆 𝑰𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒂 𝑺𝒖𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔 #humanresources #culturechange #changemanagement