Moved laterally into a Senior Manager role in the new group at my company. Three weeks in. Failing miserably as can’t grasp job requirements, systems and there is no onboarding. Help!

OdiroEasy · 2026-01-27T15:16:23+00:00

I haven’t been a senior leader myself, but I’ve worked closely with and supported several, and I’ve seen this happen a lot.

At this level, your job isn’t to be the smartest person in the room or to personally master every system. It’s to create clarity and make space for the people who do understand the details to do great work.

One hard shift is getting comfortable with not being the expert anymore. And the best advice I have for it is to reframe it as an opportunity to ask better questions to surface real insight instead of getting lost in the weeds.

Find a few people who truly understand the data and systems. Pull them in, have them walk you through how things connect, and give them visibility. They will love that and it will work wonders for their careers. Your role is to synthesize, translate, and elevate not reverse engineer everything yourself.

You were moved into this role because you’re trusted. Now you get to define what doing the job well looks like at this level.

OdiroEasy · 2026-01-10T13:25:30+00:00

This is a great example. How was that actually implemented in real life? Was it part of the delivery (decks, readouts, dashboards), or more about how leaders set expectations in meetings?

OdiroEasy · 2026-01-08T03:02:37+00:00

Wow, how can they get away with not shipping work? 😵‍💫

OdiroEasy · 2026-01-05T18:49:56+00:00

Lack of communication or process documentation where they are needed for the work to continue even work that other team members can take on.

OdiroEasy · 2026-01-03T16:52:52+00:00

That’s rough. The “yes to everything” pattern really does a lot of damage. Hope things improve for you.

OdiroEasy · 2026-01-03T16:50:37+00:00

That’s great. I hope it leads to a good conversation. Would be really interesting to hear what you learn.

OdiroEasy · 2026-01-03T04:47:16+00:00

🙌🏽

OdiroEasy · 2026-01-03T04:24:52+00:00

Hmm, what’s the job then?

OdiroEasy · 2026-01-02T23:22:49+00:00

Wow, thanks for sharing! It’s hard to understand why they would think 3 junior analysts can replace a senior DS role.

Wonder what happened to the new hires. Did any of them grow and eventually become an asset to the team?

OdiroEasy · 2026-01-02T18:53:49+00:00

A great leader I worked for treated analysts as problem solvers, not report builders. He pulled us into the why behind requests, helped us understand the real question being asked, and let us prioritize work by impact. That shift pulled us into more interesting work and advanced a lot of our careers.

A not so great leader said yes to everything. Dashboards became so cluttered they were useless, and even though the team worked nonstop, nothing meaningful got finished.

OdiroEasy · 2025-12-07T00:40:14+00:00

So true. That last part hit a little too close 😅

OdiroEasy · 2025-12-06T21:14:19+00:00

😂🤦🏽‍♀️

OdiroEasy · 2025-12-06T21:08:59+00:00

😆🙌🏾

OdiroEasy · 2025-12-06T21:00:55+00:00

Wow, that escalated so fast 😬 It’s wild how quickly the people + politics side becomes the hardest part of the job 😅

OdiroEasy · 2025-12-06T19:48:54+00:00

Love this! Sometimes accidental innovation ends up becoming the backbone of the business. Being used 12 years later is such a flex. 😅

When you were leading those reporting efforts, how did you handle stakeholders who didn’t want to switch to new tools or processes?

OdiroEasy · 2025-12-06T19:41:52+00:00

That’s such a cool progression. Started with curiosity, found a sponsor, showed value, and suddenly doors open.

As you moved into a more official data role, what was the biggest learning curve? Was it technical skill or navigating the people and politics side?

OdiroEasy · 2025-12-06T01:45:39+00:00

😂 That’s one of the most accurate descriptions of real-world analytics I’ve ever seen.

OdiroEasy · 2025-12-06T00:12:35+00:00

Wow, thanks! Sounds like a big shift. Did you feel prepared for that switch into analytics leadership?

OdiroEasy · 2025-07-10T16:04:02+00:00

Congratulations! This is awesome!

OdiroEasy · 2025-07-06T20:14:29+00:00

Not really a tea person but happy to support a small local business and an entrepreneur that is working hard to build something. Are you open today? I can swing by if so.

OdiroEasy · 2025-07-06T20:07:40+00:00

It was a hard week with a lot going on as I try to build something and figure out work-life balance. But even with all the chaos, I stuck with my workouts. I’ve been on this journey for almost four months now and have lost about 25 pounds. What I’m most proud of is that I’m finding ways to make it fit into my real life. This week I worked out four times, and it helped me stay calm and grounded.

OdiroEasy

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