RBC Capital Markets

- Lead the requirements gathering and creation of data quality rules for a new regulatory initiative (T+1).
- Manage 2 contract workers in drafting requirements, reviewing data lineage and creating be-spoke data quality rules across multiple quality 
 dimensions.
- Built a Tableau report all data quality controls created with meta-data on schema and other useful data elements to help reduce the time in the drafting of new data controls by 20%
- Built a Python script to Extract Deeply Nested JSON from S3 and Tranform into a CSV format for easy processing and analysis. (Avg size of data set is 600MB across 10 different instances with over 10 different critical data elements)

Senior Data Analyst

• Resolved a data quality issue of missing maturity dates on outstanding loans with a material impact of 122 billion USD.
• Collaborated with finance and regulatory reporting stakeholders to implement business requirements, resulting in a 25% increase in data quality and adherence to compliance guidelines as part of an enhanced enterprise data governance framework.
• Utilized Tableau to create an intuitive schema and data quality report, leading to a 35% enhancement in departmental rule design efficiency at RBC Capital Markets.
• Engineered data pipeline processes using Airflow and Python, reducing data processing times by 30% for faster insights delivery and improved efficiency in strategic decision-making.
• Collaborated with Regulatory Reporting and Finance IT stakeholders to enhance data quality and efficiency using DBT, resulting in a 25% reduction in data-related errors.
• Developed SQL data models on a cloud data warehouse and administered a Dremio data lake, handling over 10TB of data.

Data Analyst

Data Achievers

•  Worked with a variety of clients to support business intelligence reporting and data quality assurance.
•  Monitored product performance and customer satisfaction metrics to identify areas of improvement, resulting in a 40% increase in user engagement and a 25% increase in revenue.  
• Developed and maintained product roadmaps and feature backlogs, resulting in a 30% increase in team efficiency and a 20% increase in project success rate. 
• Created and maintained product dashboards and reports for job seekers, resulting in a 25% reduction in decision-making time and a 15% increase in data accuracy.

Data Scientist

TALENT™ (Ontario Tech Talent)

• Supported a self-paced, self-directed skills development experience (“Self Paced Experience”) for students looking to upskill in data analytics;
• Asynchronously engaged with learners (e.g. discussion forum moderation) via email, chat, or LMS like Canvas
• Provided 1:1 learner support every week; offered as virtual appointments booked through Calendly
• Effectively and efficiently verified customer skill acquisition by way of reviewing all artifacts and other work products presented for verification by learners against approved standards
• Recorded skills verification decisions in TALENT’s system of records

Skill Coach

• Demonstrated exceptional communication skills and exercised diligence in identifying delinquent loans, credit cards, credit lines, or mortgages, and referred clients to Collections.
• Established and maintained relationships with individual or business customers by offering value through every interaction.
• Identify fraudulent transactions at the first point of contact and work with AML and Fraud teams to investigate the transaction to ensure minimal client impact.
• Actioned solutions relevant to client banking needs, with a 30% action rate weekly, to support team goals.

Client Data Analyst

IKEA

- Enhanced order fulfillment Tableau dashboards, improving operational visibility and increasing efficiency by 15%. 
- Analyzed operational data to optimize processes, leading to a 25% improvement in service levels. 
- Collaborated with teams to implement data-driven strategies, reducing inventory errors by 20%

Operations Analyst Intern

Walmart Canada

•	Provided exceptional customer service to clients on the sales floor, ensuring that all their questions are answered promptly and efficiently.
•	Acted as the first point of contact to customers' challenges with finding merchandise on the sales floor.
•	Contributed to team success by supporting colleagues with their workload to effectively deliver on customer promises.
•	Built and maintained a strong relationship with colleagues to improve the quality of work and increase customer satisfaction.
•	Managed safety risk on the sales floor by proactively identifying and removing potential safety issues.

Fulfillment Associate

Fond Regional Pour La Promotion de la Sante du Centre (FRPSC)

• Implemented an analytical framework that reduced transportation costs by 20% by determining the best delivery route for urgent medicine delivery across geographical regions.
• Built dashboards using Tableau to help track Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) thereby increasing visibility on key business metrics.
• Conceptualized a new service delivery design which when implemented improved service levels by 25%.
• Analyzed 6 business processes to collect measurable data.
• Improved the existing demand forecasting software performance by modeling data sources to be compatible with schema.
• Maintained inventory ERP system by ensuring consistency between inventory on-hand and inventory in the system

Logistics Analyst

Cam-Green

• Planned and developed content strategies.
• Built strong relationships with project team members and stakeholders to ensure the achievement
of set goals.
• Assessed business opportunities and develop strategies to attract venture capital.
• Responsible for drafting a business plan for validating the business model.
• Provided consultation on planning and starting new businesses.
• Prepared business proposals and reports for presentation to stakeholders.
• Conceived and implemented a sales development program for the launch of the project which led
to a 110% achievement of the sales target.
• Developed media campaigns across social media outlets and campus bulletins which galvanized
support from key government officials.
• Worked closely with the project manager to ensure that sales and marketing efforts are consistent
with project goals.
• Complaint with established guidelines set by the University Board sponsoring entrepreneurial
initiatives.

Social Media Manager

I help entry-level, non-technical professionals get their first data analyst role | Data Analyst @RBC | Data Career Coach

I love to identify hidden business opportunities that lie in data and bring them to life with compelling visualizations.  I spend time setting clear goals, plans of action, and risk mitigation strategies for data analytics projects before even collecting data. 

I am a data analytics professional with a strong background in supply chain and marketing. I am passionate about data engineering. I love a good journey🚘, be it a journey in an RV truck across country, a learning journey📝 , or a customer journey with multiple touch points, or a data pipeline from source system to end user application. I am always curious to know what I can learn about a customer's journey to ensure it is seamless.😊

At RBC I have developed my customer-focused problem-solving mindset at the awareness stage and consideration stages of the business's marketing funnel. I worked closely with partners across the delivery channels (branch and telephone) to deliver exceptional customer service to clients to meet their banking needs. 

At RBC Capital Market, as a Senior Data Analyst, I own the process of ensuring data sent to report owners are fit for purpose (without data quality issues). Build data quality rules using SQL. Build Tableau dashboards to monitor data quality of critical data elements (CDE's) in production 

My experience working with cross-functional teams and creating a sense of synergy in the achievement of a common goal has proven to be a valuable value add. I helped in the resolution of data quality issues by proposing changes to how data is transformed both upstream and downstream.

I am always on the lookout for technologies that improve my workflow; I will take a week or so and dive deep into a data technology to see if it’s a good fit for a side project I'm working on and put aside if not. 

When I'm not working I am with my family making sure we are living every moment and making it count. You can also find me with my headsets listening to the next big rising artist of our generation and exploring new genres of music - I am a big lover of Afrobeats and Cameroonian cuisine 🇨🇲 

---
Current Status: Helping folks get their First Data Analyst roles - DM me to learn more

Peter Ndiforchu

I’ll be honest: the hardest skill I had to learn in data had nothing to do with data.

It wasn’t SQL.
It wasn’t Excel.
It wasn’t even storytelling with dashboards.

It was learning to ask the right questions.

Early on, I’d rush to analyze data — build visuals, crunch numbers, automate reports — only to realize I didn’t actually understand what problem I was solving.

That’s when it clicked:
👉 Great analysts don’t just answer questions.
They help clarify them.

Now, before I open any tool, I ask myself:

What decision will this data inform?

Who needs this insight, and why?

What does success really look like?


Once I learned that skill, everything changed.

🎯 Your turn:
What was the hardest skill you had to learn early in your data journey?

---
📌 Some of the hardest skills in data are the most basic skills. RSVP for our upcoming event on Saturday 08/10 to learn more about how to stand out with these skills in a competitive job market: https://luma.com/wphk134i

#52DaysDataChallenge

I help mid/senior level, non-technical professionals get their first data analyst role | Senior Data Analyst @Autodesk |Top rated Data Career Coach on topmate.io

You don’t need a data job to start thinking like an analyst.

A few years ago, I wasn’t a “Data Analyst.”
I was working in warehouse operations and customer service — managing shipments, handling client issues, and keeping things running smoothly.

Back then, I didn’t even know “data analytics” was a career path.
But I noticed something:

Every decision —
How much to stock, when to reorder, which customers to prioritize — was driven by data.

And that curiosity changed everything.

I started asking:
🧠 “What story is this data telling us?”
📊 “How can I use it to make smarter decisions?”

That’s when I began my transition — not by quitting overnight, but by learning step by step:
✅ Mastered Excel and dashboards
✅ Took online data courses after work
✅ Practiced by analyzing data from my own job
✅ Built small projects and shared them online

Slowly, I went from tracking numbers to telling stories with data.
And that shift opened doors to a brand-new career.

If you’re in a non-data role right now, remember that you’re not starting from zero.

You’re bringing problem-solving, people skills, and business insight that analysts use every day.

You just need to layer on the tools and mindset.

So tell me!

💬 What did you do before data?

#52DaysDataChallenge

Most data analysts didn’t take the straight road. They built their careers from the detours.

Every week in this challenge, I meet people who stepped into data through the side doors: 

→Retail floors
→Call centers
→Warehouses
→Operations teams
→Customer service desks
→Every job that required GRIT before SQL.

Some of the most resourceful and business-savvy analysts I know didn’t start with a technical background. 

They started with:

→People 
→Problems
→Messy processes
→High-pressure decisions. 

The mindset came first.
The data skills came later. 

Live #3 will spotlight the career journeys that rarely get told:

→The self-taught
→The late starters
→The career shifters
→The “I didn’t study this” crowd


If you have ever wondered whether your background is an advantage waiting to be reframed, this session will reveal exactly how that transformation happens.

I want your input:

👉 Who should I invite next
Tag someone with an unexpected path into data
Or share the story you want to see featured

Let’s turn this Live into the most relatable conversation of the challenge.

The real test of my data career is not SQL or dashboards.

It is explaining my job to my family around the world.

I’ll jump on a call excited to share something meaningful about a new insight or a successful analysis.

Before I get two sentences in, someone immediately says,
“Peter, you are good with computers. My WhatsApp is acting strange.”

I have explained my work so many times.
Analytics. Forecasting. Helping teams make decisions.

Yet the official family definition has settled at:
“Peter works with numbers and computers. Ask him.”

My mom once introduced me to someone at church with pure confidence.
“My son works in technology. If your phone is not behaving, he can fix it.”

My brother once asked if I could check his internet history from Canada.
He really believed I had that level of power.

And whenever the holidays come around, one relative always waits for the right moment.
“Peter, since you understand computers, my WiFi has been slow since 2019. Can you take a look?”

At this point, I save my explanations for work.
With family, I just help where I can and smile while doing it.

Family: “So you are I.T.?”
Me: “Not exactly”
Family: “Great. The remote stopped working.”

Anyone else living this experience? 😅

#52DaysDataChallenge

🎙️ Essential Data Skills for Career Switchers

When I first started learning data, I had no idea where to begin.
I spent months jumping between Excel tutorials, SQL videos, and random courses — but nothing connected.
It wasn’t until I understood which skills actually mattered that things finally started to click.

That’s why I’m hosting Live #2 of the #52DaysDataChallenge:
👉 “Essential Data Skills for Career Switchers”

In this session, I’ll share:
✅ The foundational data skills every career switcher should master first
✅ Real examples of how these skills show up in the workplace
✅ The biggest learning traps that waste time and delay progress
✅ A simple roadmap to go from confused beginner to confident analyst

👥 Tag someone who’s learning data right now!
Let’s make this journey easier — together.

Darshan Patel, Bukola Oyinlola and 89 other attendees

🎙️ Essential Data Skills for Career Switchers

I didn’t start in data.
And most people who end up in analytics… didn’t either.

When someone asks, “How do I transition into Data Analytics from my old job?”
I always think back to the moments that quietly shaped my own journey.

Most of us made the switch long before we realized we were “doing data.”
We were the ones fixing broken processes…
…tracking numbers when nobody asked…
…building little spreadsheets to make life easier for our team…
…spotting patterns in chaos that no one else noticed.

Your old job didn’t hold you back.
It trained you.

→Teachers already understand assessments and learning outcomes.
→Bankers understand risk, trends, and financial behavior.
→Retail workers understand customer patterns.
→Healthcare workers understand process flow and documentation.
→Engineers understand systems thinking.
→Marketers understand experimentation and attribution.

Every role comes with analytical gold—you just need to translate it.

Here’s the part most people miss:

You don’t transition by abandoning who you were.
You transition by repackaging what you already did.

If you’re trying to break in:
• Identify the analytical parts of your old role.
• Show how you improved something with numbers.
• Highlight moments where you solved problems with data, even informally.
• Build 2–3 small portfolio projects that mirror the jobs you’re applying for.
• Tell your story as someone who’s already been using data… just without the title.

The door into analytics isn’t as far as it looks.
You’ve likely been standing in front of it for years.

What did you do before data?
Share below — your story might inspire someone else.

#52DaysDataChallenge

💻 If Excel had feelings…

It would probably file an HR complaint by now. 😂

Because let’s be honest

We’ve all done some questionable things to our poor spreadsheets:

1️⃣ Renamed the same file 8 times: “Final.xlsx” → “Final2.xlsx” → “Final_ThisOne.xlsx” → “Final_FINAL.xlsx”
2️⃣ Used “Merge & Center” like it’s a design tool 🎨
3️⃣ Written a formula so long even Excel gave up: #NAME?
4️⃣ Pretended we knew why the pivot table disappeared 😅
5️⃣ Watched Excel freeze… and prayed for our unsaved work 🙏
6️⃣ Copied data from a PDF like we were performing surgery with a spoon 🥲

Yet through it all, Excel stays loyal.
No subscription drama. No attitude. Just pure spreadsheet magic.

If Excel could talk, what do you think it would say after seeing your last file? 👀

#52DaysDataChallenge

It wasn’t love at first sight.
At first, data looked complicated. 

Rows. 
Columns. 
Chaos.

My journey started far from spreadsheets, on retail floors, in warehouse stores, and on countless customer service calls.

I didn’t have dashboards or SQL then, just conversations.
But every interaction had something in common: patterns.

I began noticing how certain products sold faster at specific times.

How customers’ frustrations often pointed to deeper issues.

How one small change in process could ripple across an entire team.

Back then, I didn’t call it data.
I called it paying attention to detail.

Over time, I realized those observations were data.
And once I learned how to analyze them, everything changed.

Data stopped being numbers.
It became stories, truths, insights waiting to be uncovered.

That’s what made me fall in love with data.
Its power to give meaning to everyday moments.
To show patterns in chaos.
To help people see what they couldn’t before.

💬 Now I’m curious.
What made you fall in love with data?
Was it a project, a person, or that one “aha” moment when it all clicked?

Someone needs to hear your story today.

Day 17 #52DaysDataChallenge

The most underrated data skill isn’t SQL, Python, or dashboards.

It’s empathy.

I’ve spent years across retail floors, warehouses, and corporate boardrooms… and one pattern always stands out:

The analysts who rise the fastest aren’t just technically strong.

They care enough to understand the human on the other side of the data.

Empathy helps you:
• Ask sharper questions because you understand the real pain behind the request
• Build dashboards people actually use
• Translate complexity without making stakeholders feel small
• Design solutions that fit the workflow, not fight it
• Notice when a number feels “off” because you understand the story of the process

People think empathy is “soft.”
In reality, it’s a strategic advantage.

Every insight we deliver impacts someone’s job, decision, or customer.

When you remember that, your work becomes sharper, more relevant, and significantly more trusted.

The most underrated data skill: empathy.
Agree?

If you took away these 5 tools, my entire week would fall apart.

Here are the core platforms I rely on as a Senior Data Analyst — and why they matter for real business impact:

1. SQL
My decision engine.
This is where I validate narratives, challenge assumptions, and uncover the signals leaders don’t see yet. When the story is unclear, SQL brings the truth to the surface.

2. dbt Labs
Where chaos becomes structure.
Testing, documentation, lineage, and version control — this is how analytics scales beyond a single analyst. dbt turns insights into reliable systems the whole business can trust.

3. Power BI / Looker 
The boardroom translator.
Dashboards aren’t about charts. They’re about influence.
This is where I refine the message, highlight the “why it matters,” and drive decisions that move revenue, cost, or risk.

4. Cursor
The accelerator I didn’t know I needed.
Reusable SQL templates, automated documentation, workflow shortcuts — it’s helped me reclaim hours and reinvest them into deeper, strategic analysis.

5. Jira/Confluence by Atlassian
The operational glue.
Intake, alignment, prioritization, cross-functional visibility — without these, even the best insights get lost in the shuffle. These two keep the work moving and the team aligned.

These tools cover the full lifecycle:

Question → Data → Transformation → Story → Delivery.

Which one should I demo next?

#52DaysDataChallenge

5 Essential Data Analytics Workflow Tools 

Some days, being a Data Analyst feels like being a translator…between English and ‘Data.’

Stakeholder: “I want a dashboard to show user satisfaction — so we can see how pleased our users are with our product.”

Me: “Absolutely! I can build that. Are there any specific KPIs that interest you?”

Stakeholder: “You mean… metrics?”

Me: “Kind of! Metrics are the raw numbers like number of promoters or rate of positive feedback. KPIs are the key ones that tell us if we’re actually meeting our goals like NPS or CSAT.”

Stakeholder: “Got it. Then I’d like to see our NPS and CSAT.”

Me: “Perfect! Those are great KPIs for user satisfaction. What grain would you like to see on the dashboard visuals?”

Stakeholder: “Grain? Like... rice? We’re not an agricultural SaaS, you know.”

Me (internally): Deep breath. Smile. You’re the data whisperer, remember? 😅

Stakeholder: “Not sure what you mean, but I trust your expertise.”

Me: “Fantastic. I’ll take it from here.”

That conversation reminded me that Data Analysts are part translator, part therapist, part magician.

You’re not just building dashboards.
You’re bridging two worlds: business and data.

The best dashboards aren’t the flashiest,  they’re the ones your stakeholders actually understand.

So the next time someone says:

“We need a dashboard!”

Ask them:

→ What decision will this dashboard help you make?

→ Which KPIs matter most?

→ What level of detail (not rice 😄) do you want?

That’s how you turn confusion into clarity — and earn the words every analyst loves to hear:

 “I trust your expertise.” 🙌

#52DaysDataChallenge

Every data pro you admire once stood where you are — at the bottom of the same ladder.

When I first stepped into data analytics, I thought there were only two levels:
✅ “Beginner”
✅ “Expert”

Turns out… there’s an entire ladder in between.
And understanding it changed how I learned, applied, and grew.

Here’s how I now see the Data Career Ladder 👇

1️⃣ Data Curious — You’re exploring what data even is. Watching YouTube videos, reading posts, trying to understand what analysts do.

2️⃣ Data Learner — You’ve picked your tools (Excel, SQL, maybe Python). You’re following tutorials, taking courses, and building your foundation.

3️⃣ Data Doer — You’re applying skills on small projects. You clean messy spreadsheets, build dashboards, or analyze a dataset from Kaggle.

4️⃣ Data Storyteller — You connect insights to impact. You can explain “what the data means” in a way business people understand.

5️⃣ Data Strategist — You go beyond reports. You influence decisions, set up frameworks, and help define what to measure in the first place.

💡 Every step builds on the last — and you can’t skip steps.

When I recognized where I was on this ladder, I stopped comparing myself to others…
and started focusing on the next rung.

---
Your turn:
👉 Where are you on this ladder right now?
👉 What’s one skill helping you climb to the next level?

#52DaysDataChallenge

The Data Career Ladder

Sharing with my network! I've once interviewed for this role and they are a solid team I must say!

Célia Bru is a great data leader!

📈 We're hiring a Senior Data Analyst at KOHO! 📈 

My team needs someone rare: someone who lives at the intersection of deep business thinking and hands-on technical mastery.

You'll own data models in DBT, and create dashboards, but that's just the baseline. What really matters? You understand what drives our business forward and can draw clear connections between technical work and strategic business outcomes. 

The cherry on top: You would get to work with the most caring and fun team I know! ❤️ 

#hiring #dbt #dataanalytics

View the open to hiring details of Célia

The Power of Storytelling in Data Careers. 

This one skill has helped me grow my data analytics career in so many unexpected ways.

What's that one unexpected skill you didn't know would serve you well in your career?

#52DaysDataChallenge

Dashboards behave perfectly… until they sense a stakeholder within 10 feet.

Have you ever tried to convince a toddler to sit still for ONE photo?

That's my relationship with my dashboards before a stakeholder demo

You line up the filters.
You fix the labels.
You triple-check the KPIs.

And for a brief, glorious moment… everything behaves.
Until—
You hit Publish and the dashboard decides to express its true personality.

Suddenly:
→A number you didn’t touch is different.
→A filter you tested 12 times stops working.
→A chart decides today is the day it wants to be “creative.”

And then a stakeholder pops in like:
“Is the data… supposed to do that?”

If you’ve ever had this love–hate relationship, you already know the feeling.

Describe this with ONE emoji.
(I’m ready for the chaos.)

Who can relate?

#52DaysDataChallenge

Unconventional Paths Into Data Analytics 

Most analysts didn’t start in data.
They came from retail, banking, customer service, logistics, hospitality, and so many other places that taught them how to solve real problems long before they touched SQL.

This Live breaks down how people with unconventional backgrounds successfully pivot into analytics — and how your past experience might already give you an edge.

In this session, you’ll learn:
• How to spot “data moments” in your past roles
• Why non-traditional paths often create stronger analysts
• Real stories of pivots that worked
• Practical steps to position yourself for a data role

Date: November 22nd, 2025
Time: 12:15 PM EST

If you’re transitioning into data or guiding others on the journey, this one is for you.

Join us and bring your questions.

Rinu Francis, Bukola Oyinlola and 30 other attendees

Unconventional Paths Into Data Analytics 

If your insight doesn’t change a decision, it’s not an insight. It’s a recap.

How do you write insights that make execs listen?

Most analysts write insights to explain data.
The best analysts write insights to move decisions.

Here’s the pattern I’ve seen across product, finance, and capital markets:

1. Lead with the headline, not the homework.
Your first sentence should answer: “Why does this matter right now?”

2. Translate metrics into money, risk, or time.
Executives think in trade-offs and outcomes—speak their language.

3. Create tension before you reveal the punchline.
Show the gap between the current state and the opportunity.
Tension fuels attention.

4. Strip out every detail that doesn’t change the recommendation.
If it doesn’t move the decision, it doesn’t belong in the slide.

5. End with a clear call: decide, approve, prioritize, or pivot.
Your insight should point to an action—not another meeting.

This simple narrative shift consistently takes conversations from:
“Nice dashboard.”
to
“Okay—what do we do next?”

What’s your storytelling trick when presenting insights?

#52DaysDataChallenge

How Communicate Actionable Insights to Execs

Some days the hardest part of being an analyst isn’t the data… it’s the tools.

We all have that one platform that tests our patience, derails our flow, or sends us straight to Google with a desperate “why isn’t this working?”

So let’s find out:

Which tool frustrates you the most?

I’m running this poll because every frustration has a story behind it — the refresh that never finishes, the merge conflict that ruins your morning, the notebook that suddenly refuses to run the same cell it ran an hour ago.

Vote — then share the specific tool and one thing that really gets under your skin.

Your comment might help someone realize they’re not alone… or point them to a solution you wish you had sooner.

What’s the one tool that tests your patience the most?

#52DaysDataChallenge

Data without context is noise.
Context without curiosity is wasted.

Lately I’ve noticed something across teams I support:

People aren’t short on dashboards.
They’re short on situational awareness.

You can have perfect SQL, clean models, and beautifully designed visuals—
but if you don’t understand the “why behind the numbers,” your insights never move the room.

Executives don’t act because you showed a metric.
They act because you showed meaning.

The strongest analysts I know do three things exceptionally well:

1. Anchor every number to a business moment
A spike doesn’t matter until you explain what triggered it.

2. Pull in what’s not in the data
Market dynamics, customer sentiment, operational constraints, timing.

3. Translate insights into consequences
“If we don’t fix this, here’s what happens.”

That’s when noise becomes narrative.
And narrative becomes action.

What context are you missing lately?

Read any ERD and join tables like a pro — SQL fundamentals

Helping execs in new roles accelerate impact, build credibility fast and avoid costly transition mistakes | xIBM Consulting | xPwC | Certified Executive Coach

You’ve just landed your next big executive role - congratulations!

Now comes the part no one prepares you for: making it successful.

The hard truth is, 40% of executive transitions fail within 18 months.

And the cost is staggering:

2.5x to 30x the executive’s salary in lost productivity, turnover, and disruption.

Career damage for the executive that can take years to recover from.

Maybe it's your first time at the senior leadership table. 
Maybe you've done this before, but this time, the stakes feel higher. 
Different company, industry, department or role.

Either way, you know this first year will define your reputation and your results.

Tell me if this sounds familiar:

You've inherited a team that doesn't fully trust you yet. 
You're navigating company politics, shifting priorities, and sky-high expectations. 
Everyone's watching, but no one's guiding. 
You're smart, experienced, and capable. 
But the pressure to prove yourself is relentless.

This is exactly where I come in.

I help new executives thrive where 40% fail by guiding them through the high-stakes first year.

My coaching is confidential, personalized, and focused on helping you:

✔ Earn trust quickly and secure early credibility
✔ Navigate politics and hidden organizational dynamics
✔ Build and align your leadership team for quick wins
✔ Make high-impact decisions without costly missteps
✔ Lay the foundation for long-term success and legacy

 Why Trust Me?
• 25+ years in Fortune 500 consulting, partnering with senior executives 
• Led $30M+ transformation portfolios and 250+ person practices at IBM 
• Led risk strategy for $100M+ proposals and complex transformations 
• Built and delivered IBM's top global executive coaching programs 
• Certified executive coach with 300+ leaders coached

If you’re ready to accelerate your impact and avoid costly missteps,

let’s make your first year your strongest. 

📩 DM me “Executive Transition” and let’s talk.

Dora Vanourek

"I found a better opportunity."

Translation: I found a leader who values me.

I've coached hundreds through resignations.

The real reason they leave: 
it's rarely what they say at first.

Behind "better opportunity" or "career growth" is something deeper:

They don't feel valued.

Nobody says thank you.

Their ideas get ignored. 
Their skills go unused. 
They've stopped learning.

If you want to keep your best people:

- Truly listen
- Say thank you
- Seek their ideas
- Appreciate them
- Provide flexibility
- Make time for them
- Ask for their opinions
- Share timely feedback
- Ask how they really are
- Involve them in decisions
- Provide growth opportunities
- Communicate with transparency
- Trust them to make the right decisions

You don't need a budget for any of these.

Just intention, and genuinely caring for your people.

Be the leader you wish you had.

♻️ Repost to inspire others
➕ Follow Dora Vanourek for more

Changing jobs doesn't mean you're unstable.

It means you're brave enough to admit you want more.

Too often, career moves are seen as betrayals.

But the real betrayal to yourself is staying
somewhere that no longer serves your growth.

5 signs it's time to make your move:

1. Your work has lost its meaning
→ You go through the motions, but the spark is gone

2. You've outgrown your role
→ What once challenged you now feels like autopilot

3. You know you're wasting your potential
→ That nagging voice keeps saying "you're capable of so much more."

4. Sunday night dread has become your reality
→ The anxiety starts earlier each weekend

5. You don't feel seen or valued
→ Another quarter, another "great job" that leads nowhere

Loyalty isn't about staying in one place.
It's about staying true to your potential.

Choose growth over comfort.

You'll never regret betting on yourself.

♻️ Repost to inspire someone
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If you're not growing in your job, you're shrinking.

But shrinking feels like stability.

Like patience.
Commitment.
Paying your dues.

So you start telling yourself:

'The market's tough right now.' 
'I'm lucky to have a job.' 
'Maybe next year will be different.'

And while you're being 'patient':

Someone with half your experience gets promoted.

Someone who started after you becomes your boss.

The job-hopper is making 40% more.

If your company isn't investing in your growth, 
you're not building a career -
you're maintaining theirs.

They get your best years. 
You get a review that says 'meets expectations.'

Growth isn't just about moving up.

It's about expanding your skills.
Taking on challenges that scare you.
Working with people who believe in you.

Ask yourself:

- When did you last learn something that changed how you work?

- Who's invested in your development this quarter?

- What skills are you building for your next role?

If it's tough to answer these, you're not stable.

You're stuck.

And stuck is just shrinking in slow motion.

The riskiest career move isn't leaving too soon.

It's staying too long.

How will you feel next year if nothing changes?

Your growth doesn't need permission.

♻️ Repost to help your network
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The most painful part of growth:

The people closest to you will try to stop it.

And the faster you grow, the more uncomfortable others become.

It's not personal - it's human nature:

- People prefer the version of you they're used to
- Some feel threatened by your progress
- Others try to keep you "safe" in your comfort zone

Here are 5 powerful ways to protect your growth:

1. Audit Your Circle 👥 
↳ Who celebrates your wins vs. who diminishes them?
↳ Distance isn't betrayal, it's boundaries

2. Stop Explaining Yourself 🤐 
↳ You don't owe anyone a justification for growth
↳ Let your results do the talking

3. Track Your Progress 📈
↳ Screenshot encouraging feedback and messages
↳ Celebrate small victories, they compound into big changes

4. Find Your Growth Squad 🔗
↳ Seek people 2-3 steps ahead of you 
↳ Invest in mentors who've walked your path

5. Trust Yourself 💪
↳ Your intuition knows before your mind does
↳ Bet on yourself when no one else will

The people who truly belong in your life will celebrate your growth. 

Don't shrink yourself to make others comfortable.

♻️ Repost to help your network
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Your title doesn't make you a leader.

How you treat your team when no one's watching does.

After 25+ years helping leaders retain talent, 
I've seen the same pattern:

Great employees will tolerate bad systems and broken processes.

But there's one thing they won't forgive:

A manager who stopped caring.

5 ways leaders lose their best people:

❌ Taking people for granted
↳ Not feeling valued is a top reason people disengage and leave

❌ Rewarding high-performers with more work
↳ Watch them burn out and leave for other companies

❌ Tolerating low performance from others
↳ High performers feel like their efforts don't matter

❌ Not matching salaries for loyal employees with those of new hires
↳ This disrespects your loyal employees and damages trust

❌ Ignoring employee feedback
↳ Dismissing insights signals that their voices don't matter

How to keep your best people:

✅ Recognize impact and contributions
↳ Build a habit of consistent, genuine appreciation

✅ Provide growth opportunities
↳ Before hiring externally, see if you can promote from within

✅ Help them connect the dots
↳ Discuss how they can grow and advance to the next level

✅ Ask for their input when making decisions
↳ Listening to their opinions and feedback lets them know they matter

✅ Ensure fair compensation
↳ Regularly review and adjust compensation and benefits

Be the leader you wish you had.

Because loyal employees don't leave companies.

They leave managers who stopped caring.

♻️ Repost to promote healthier workplaces
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Fear-driven leadership works fast.

But the damage works faster.

Too many leaders obsess over hitting this quarter's numbers.

Meanwhile, their best people are quietly updating their resumes.

When people are afraid, they choose:

- safety over success
- silence over solutions
- survival over growth

What to avoid as a leader:

❌ Threatening job security
↳ "Many people would love to have your role."

❌ Using subtle threats
↳ "We need to talk about your career here."

❌ Manufacturing fake urgency
↳ "This needs to be done by EOD" (when it doesn't)

❌ Keeping people guessing
↳ Unclear expectations, moving goalposts

❌ Weaponizing performance reviews
↳ Don't treat reviews as threats

What to do as a leader:

✅ Recognize and appreciate often
↳ Ensure your employees feel valued

✅ Invest in their growth
↳ Create clear paths for career advancement

✅ Share the bigger picture
↳ Help them see how their work creates meaningful impact

✅ Give your team ownership
↳ Trust them to make decisions and take risks

✅ Stand behind your team
↳ Protect them from politics and have their backs

Fear might get you compliance today.

But trust gets you people who care.

♻️ Repost to inspire people-first leadership
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I'm turning 50 this week 🎂
Grew up in communist Czechoslovakia
where entrepreneurship was illegal.

Success meant getting a job at a prestigious company.

And staying there until retirement.

So that's what I did.

At 48, I looked at my life and realized:

I'd followed every rule.
Done everything "right."
And I still felt trapped.

So I built my escape route.

One LinkedIn post at a time.

A year later, at 49, I left.

Now I have freedom and flexibility I didn't know was possible.

But when I started writing,
my biggest challenge was coming up with ideas.

Staring at a blank screen every day:

- What do I even talk about?
- Will anyone care?
- How do I stay consistent without burning out?

This is why Stanley (Your Content Coach) matters so much to me.

It's the tool I wish I'd had earlier.

It helps me: 

- Give me honest feedback when I need it
- Flag when my audience is tired of a topic
- Turn one coaching session into 4 different posts

My posts created with Stanley outperform my others by 35-40%.

No matter how stuck you feel.

No matter your age.

No matter what you were taught about "safety" and "success."

You can move forward.

It’s never too late.

If you're building your escape route,
try Stanley for free today: https://lnkd.in/g9nvAJzJ

#stanleypartner

Most resignations start the same way.

With a manager who never notices.

People check out long before they officially leave.

Their disengagement builds slowly - one overlooked issue at a time.

High performers notice everything.

They see who contributes and who coasts.

When you tolerate mediocrity, you're telling your best people their standards don't matter.

They deserve better.

And so do you as a leader.

Great leaders do these 5 things differently:

1. Set the bar clearly
→ Define what success looks like - no guessing
→ Write the rules so no one's confused

2. Address issues early
→ Small problems turn big when ignored
→ Have tough conversations before things escalate

3. Be present, not just available
→ Prioritize 1:1s so people know they matter
→ Truly listen, and catch problems early

4. Do what you say, every time
→ Keep every promise. No exceptions
→ Show visible progress to build trust

5. Celebrate what matters
→ Recognize the behaviours you want more of
→ Skip "good job" - say exactly what worked

What you tolerate becomes your culture.

Make sure it's one your top performers want to stay in.

♻️ Repost to help your network
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People won't remember your job title.

They'll remember how you made them feel.

Because true happiness at work isn't about being employed.

It's about feeling valued.

The best leaders live by this.

They don't just manage tasks.
They empower people to grow.
They appreciate them genuinely.

Be that leader:

- Listen without judgement
- Provide stretch assignments
- Genuinely ask, "How are you?"
- Be kind, even on the tough days
- Open doors to new opportunities
- Acknowledge their unique strengths
- Empower others to explore and learn
- Share feedback that helps others thrive
- Invite input in decisions that impact others
- Show appreciation - it means more than you know
- Believe in someone before they believe in themselves

Leadership isn't just about budgets or targets.

It's about kindness, respect, and leaving people better than when you met them.

Have you had a great leader?
Tag them to thank them ⬇️ 

♻️ Repost to inspire your network
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Leadership isn’t earned with a title.

It’s built when people feel safe.

Safe to speak up.
Safe to fail.
Safe to rest.

Build a culture where taking time off doesn’t come with guilt.

What to do as a leader:

✅ Be a role model for taking time off:
↳ Take time off - and talk about it. Normalize rest

✅ Recognize efforts: 
↳ Acknowledge achievements that promote well-being rather than appreciating health sacrifices

✅ Encourage flexibility: 
↳ Trust your team to deliver in ways that work for them

✅ Prevent post-vacation overload: 
↳ Plan ahead to make returning from time off manageable

✅ Conduct meaningful check-ins: 
↳ Make 1:1s safe spaces to talk about well-being and workload

What to avoid as a leader:

❌ Praising work while sick:
↳ "Thank you for working even though you don't feel well" 
↳ This sends the wrong message about your company's values

❌ Neglecting feedback: 
↳ Ignoring employee feedback about workload and stress

❌ Discouraging time off:
↳ Making employees feel guilty for taking breaks

❌ Setting unrealistic goals: 
↳ Targets that require overwork are unsustainable

❌ Promoting an "Always On" culture: 
↳ Expecting 24/7 availability, even on weekends or vacations

Be the leader you wish you had.

♻️ Repost to promote healthier work cultures
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Image credit: Adam Grant

Most leaders obsess over the wrong things.

They chase better processes.

Refine strategies.

Restructure teams.

And when results don't improve:

They apply pressure.
Tighten timelines.
Use fear as a tactic.

Meanwhile, the people who care the most, stop caring.

The best leaders do the opposite:

✅ Know their names and their stories
↳ "How's your daughter's soccer season?"

✅ Treat everyone with equal respect
↳ The intern's time matters as much as the VP's. Act like it

✅ Follow through on their feedback
↳ Actually listen and act. Or explain why not. Silence kills trust faster than "no"

✅ Share your own mistakes first
↳ "Here's where I messed up" opens doors to honesty

✅ Replace "Who did this?" with "What can we learn?"
↳ One question assigns blame. The other builds resilience

✅ Address toxic behaviour quickly
↳ Every day you wait, good people update their resumes

You don't need another framework.

You need to look up from your spreadsheet and see the humans in front of you.

Before the best ones stop caring completely.

♻️ Repost to inspire people-first leadership
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The healthiest teams argue the most.

Because they trust each other enough to disagree.

Most leaders get this backwards.

They think psychological safety means:

→ No disagreements
→ Everyone is comfortable all the time
→ Keeping things polite

But that's not safety.
That's silence.

Real psychological safety looks different:

- Disagreeing doesn't end careers
- Failed experiments = learning
- "What went wrong?" not "Whose fault is it?"
- Leaders admit mistakes first
- Bad news doesn't get hidden
- People bring their real selves

How to start building it:

1. Model it first
→ Next meeting: admit something you got wrong or don't know

2. Reward the messy truth
→ When someone brings bad news early, thank them

3. Change one question
→ Replace "Who screwed this up?" with "What can we learn from this?"

Conflict isn't the enemy of safety.

Silence is.

What does psychological safety look like on your team?

♻️ Repost to help your network
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McKinsey: 89% of leaders miss critical warning signs

76% learn too late; 34% never learn at all.

Incredible carousel from my friend Malay Matalia 🔥
Check him out for more insights like this.

Harvard found:
- Great leaders catch these signs early
- The average ones learn from exits
- The poor ones never learn at all

11 wake-up calls leaders need to hear today:

1. When bad news stops flowing:
→ You haven't built trust
→ You've built fear

2. When the calendar is full but the impact is minimal:
→ You're managing time
→ Not driving results

3. When you blame the team but claim wins as yours:
→ You're not leading
→ You're just taking credit

4. When you're the smartest in meetings:
→ You're hiring for comfort
→ Not for growth

5. When decisions only flow down:
→ You've created soldiers
→ Not future leaders

6. When resumes are getting updated:
→ Your open-door policy
→ Was just empty words

7. When challenges stop coming:
→ Your team has already given up
→ You don't listen anyway

8. When celebrations are louder without you:
→ You're limiting your team
→ Not the catalyst

9. When you speak more than listen:
→ You're leading by power
→ Not valuing your team's insights

10. When no one outgrows their role:
→ You're creating ceilings
→ Not empowering your team

11. When being right matters most:
→ You've stopped leading
→ You've stopped growing

Remember:
Listen to what your team is saying.
And what they aren't saying.
Their silence speaks volumes.

What other wake-up calls would you add?

♻️ Repost to help someone
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11 Wake-Up Calls All Leaders Need to Hear

If you're not willing to fight for your team,
you don't belong in management.

I'll never forget watching my manager 
in a senior leadership meeting:

"You're asking my team to do 3 top priorities. 
Pick one.
Or give me more people."

The room went silent.

Then they picked one.

That's when I learned:

Real leaders don't just manage work - they protect people.

10 ways great leaders protect their teams:

1. Block Burnout Triggers
↳ Kill the root causes before exhaustion turns into resignation letters

2. Stop the Fake Urgencies
↳ Everything can't be urgent. Push back on manufactured crises

3. Eliminate Useless Work
↳ Cut low-value tasks such as creating reports that nobody reads

4. Push Back on Deadlines
↳ Negotiate realistic timelines. Say no to deadlines that require overtime

5. Require Priority Trade-offs
↳ Ask stakeholders to remove something else before adding new work

6. Cut Through Bureaucracy
↳ Push back on unnecessary approvals and processes that slow down your team

7. Protect Deep Work
↳ Create distraction-free times and keep "quick requests" from destroying focus time

8. Defend Their Reputation
↳ CC their wins to skip-levels. Stand up for them when they're not in the room

9. Shield from Office Politics
↳ Handle the organizational drama so your team can focus on real work

10. Limit Meeting Madness
↳ Prevent endless meetings that destroy productivity and focus

Your team doesn't need another manager.

They need a leader who truly has their back.

Be that leader.

PS: What's one thing you wish more leaders did for their teams?

♻️ Repost to help your network
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75% of people fear public speaking more than death.

Yet it's the no. 1 skill that accelerates careers.

Glossophobia, the fear of public speaking, held me back for years.

I avoided roles where I'd need to speak a lot. 

Declined podcast invitations.

Fear was costing me too much.

Then I found Ultraspeaking

Here are the 8 techniques that transformed how I speak:

📌 Save these for later.

1. The Accordion Method 
→ Compress your talk to 60s, then 30s, then 15s 
→ Expand back, keeping only what matters 
→ Forces you to find your actual point

2. The Bow & Arrow 
→ Your Arrow = the ONE thing to remember 
→ Your Bow = supporting evidence

3. The Power Pause 
→ Stop for 3-5 seconds after key points 
→ Gives your audience time to absorb 
→ Silence is powerful, not awkward

4. The 2-3 Word Bookmark 
→ Create 2-3 word triggers, don't memorize scripts 
→ "Customer save" → your problem-solving story

5. Never Break Character 
→ Don't apologize for nervousness or mistakes
→ Your anxiety is invisible until you reveal it 

6. The Pushback Pivot 
→ Pause and acknowledge: "That's an important point" 
→ Reframe: "Here's how I see it..." 
→ Use challenges to strengthen your message

7. Use Clarity Prompts when Stuck
→ "The most important thing is..."
→ "If you remember one thing..."

8. The Opening Rule 
→ Rehearse your opening 3x more than the rest 
→ Early confidence will carry you through

These 8 techniques are just the beginning.

Ultraspeaking is different: 
live practice, speaking games, and real-time feedback from world-class coaches.

If communication is holding you back, 
join this FREE executive workshop (only 9 spots):
https://lnkd.in/gVibVu3G

#Ultraspeaking

Being smart isn't always an advantage.

It'll keep you stuck if you fall into these traps.

You work twice as hard.

You know you're capable of more.

But others still seem to get ahead.

It's not a lack of talent.

It's these traps holding you back:

1. The Overthinking Trap 🌀
↳ You spend months researching instead of taking action
↳ Avoid analysis paralysis with the 24-hour decision rule

2. The Comfort Zone Trap 🏝️
↳ Being the top performer in a small pond limits your growth
↳ Commit to one project that scares you every quarter

3. The Knowledge Hoarding Trap 📚
↳ Your bookshelf grows while your results stay the same
↳ Match every hour of learning with action

4. The Solo Player Trap 🧑‍🚀
↳ You avoid asking for help, seeing it as a weakness
↳ Find mentors who've already achieved what you want

5. The Intelligent Excuses Trap 🦊
↳ You use smart logic to justify staying average
↳ The real danger isn't failing - it's staying the same

6. The Multi-Potential Trap 🎭
↳ You have many talents but never commit to any
↳ Choose 1 focus for 90 days and say no to everything else

7. The Perfectionism Trap 🎯
↳ Your high standards become an excuse to never start
↳ Lower the bar and avoid endless revisions

Don't let these patterns keep you stuck.

You already have what it takes.

♻ Repost to help your network
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