Business intelligence is a combination of learned skills and intuition. Though you can certainly have a knack for leadership and many great ideas on how to take a business to the next level, there will always be a need to further your business intelligence and knowledge. The world is quite simply moving at too fast a pace, and data is driving it. With more powerful machines and more data than ever before in history, all at the click of a button, there is no time to make mistakes and learn as you go.
Mistakes happen, yes. You will learn on the job, yes. Taking a passive stance towards developing your business intelligence and leadership, however, is no longer an acceptable strategy. If you want to be excellent, and if you want your business to push the envelope and take smarter risks when the time calls for it, you need to look to the data and learn.
How to improve Business Intelligence
1. Expand Your Knowledge with Master’s Degrees
There are many master’s programs out there that can help brush up your skill set in the modern era. If it has been a long time since you were last in a higher education institution and you find that your skills are starting to fail you in this new world, then going back and earning another master’s can be just the ticket.
Don’t just look at the obvious choices like an MBA, either. Instead, you will want to first identify key weaknesses in your leadership style and capabilities and then work to find a degree that can help you smooth over those weaknesses and even build them into strengths.
2. Earn a Doctorate
There are many different kinds of doctorates. While you may assume that the only doctorate option for those in business is a Ph.D., you will be wrong. Ph.D.’s are best for those interested in a career in academia or research, while a DBA is designed for executives and has a greater emphasis on real-world ramifications.
It is important to remember that a doctor of business administration online is, in many ways, what you want it to be. You go in with the topic and goal. You are taught research skills and will then work with professional supervisors that will help guide you through your thesis. This means that your doctorate can be extremely specific to your career, goals, and passion, all while building up the skills and experience in research that can continue to help your leadership capabilities well into the future.
3. Earn Skill Certificates
You need to know the ins and outs of the tools that you use on a daily basis or the tools that your company uses on a daily basis. The good news is that many of the most popular tools offer free online courses and skill certificates upon completion. These courses are often available on various online learning platforms. This is a simple, effective way to stay up-to-date with the technologies that you use to change and update.
A great example is Google Analytics. While Google Analytics 4 is now the standard for those who start to use it today, there are many who are still using Universal Analytics. Google is set to sunset Universal Analytics by 2023, meaning you will need to know how to use the latest version of Google Analytics in order to continue to effectively analyze web traffic and the effectiveness of your marketing efforts.
Taking the free Google Analytics course by Google is a simple, easy way to prepare yourself and your team for the change.
Ensure that it’s not just you going through the effort of keeping your skills brushed and polished for the latest tool updates, either. Make training and skill gaining a key part of your employee development strategy to keep everyone on the same page.
4. Take Workshops
Know your weaknesses. This is the best way to identify where you still have to grow. While academic degrees can help build a strong, flexible foundation and skill certificates can keep skills sharp, workshops are perfect for interpersonal skill-building. Knowing how to lead, how to be more inclusive, and more can all help you run a better business in 2022.
It can be very hard to see outside of your own viewpoint. That is why going to workshops and hearing multiple approaches, ideas, and strategies can help you expand your ability to adapt and lead appropriately.
5. Go to Talks and Conferences
As for staying up to date with the pulse of your industry, talks, conferences, and similar events are the perfect source for information. Listening to these talks is important so that you know where the general consensus in your field currently stands. You may also learn new, interesting ideas and trends.
Those who host these talks are usually either top performers in their field or those who work in the research side of your industry. Staying up to date can ensure you never miss the latest theories, trends, and ideas.
6. Downtime Learning
Business articles, reports, and news are all great ways to stay on top of your field and give you the ability to properly lead your business. You can also listen to podcasts, vodcasts, audiobooks, and more if that is more your speed.
7. Ask for Feedback and Learn from Your Employees
Finally, look to your employees. You need to trust them and believe in their capabilities; otherwise, you aren’t leading, you’re babysitting, and babysitters do not grow successful companies.
Not only do you need to trust them to do their job well and to further their own skill set so that they stay at the top of their field, but you also need to trust them to take note of your own weaknesses and point them out to you.
This can be difficult. In order to encourage honest feedback, have an anonymous feedback system that employees can use to offer feedback and suggestions on how you can be a more effective leader.
Learning from each other is how you strengthen your teamwork and also how you can more accurately understand how to effectively manage your team as a cohesive unit.
