008: What Most Data Leaders Get Wrong: Lessons From a Top Data Coach w/ Tristan Burns

Want to stop being a dashboard factory and start driving real business impact? In this episode of More Than Numbers Live, Ollie Hughes and world-renowned data coach Tristan Burns dig into the art of building a data strategy that moves your team from reactive support to proactive growth. We explore how to align with stakeholders, master data storytelling, and coach leaders to boost collaboration and operational clarity. You’ll discover why data teams often feel like cost centers, how to break free from ad-hoc requests (and shadow analytics squads), and what it really takes to make data central to strategic conversations. Whether you’re wrestling with stakeholder alignment or hunting for ways to prove ROI from analytics, Tristan’s frameworks and Ollie’s Canvas-based BI tips offer actionable insights to turn your data function into an engine of growth.