Transforming Insight Podcast

Episode 65: How Insight leaders build their team profile

Episode Summary

In our podcasts this season, we’ve introduced the idea of the Insight leader’s playbook, and James has recommended it as a tool for helping all corporate Insight leaders and aspiring leaders who want to transform their teams impact this year. In our last two episodes we’ve focused on the first of 9Ps in our playbook framework – P for Purpose. Today we’re going to move onto the 2nd P – P for Profile. Why profile? Well, if we’re writing a playbook I think we should always start with a view of why our Insight team exists, and describe an amazing ambition for what it might achieve; but we then have to recognise that it’s how the rest of the organisation sees us that will largely determine whether we succeed or not. Hence the focus on our Insight team’s profile

Episode Notes

We're excited to welcome IMA associate Debra Walmsley, and Jana Prahl, Insight leader at Savage X Fenty, who share their experiences and expertise.

We discuss the art of crafting a compelling brand identity for your Insight team. Learn how building a brand board can help articulate your collective vision and establish your team as trusted advisers and innovative thinkers. Discover the power of marketing skills to position your team effectively internally, and see how identifying milestone projects can showcase your team's unique contributions, solidifying your reputation as key players within the company.

Our guests provide inspiration by showcasing real-world examples of successful initiatives, such as transforming customer feedback into powerful visual stories that resonate with leadership. These initiatives highlight the significance of embedding insights into the hearts and minds of organisational colleagues. By focusing on both "headspace" and "heart space," your Insight team can become a formidable force for change, driving effectiveness and impact within corporate structures. Tune in to discover actionable ideas and inspiration for elevating your Insight team's presence and impact.

Please listen to find out more!

Topics Discussed

Improving an Insight team's branding (03:35)
Consistent branding and reporting best practices (15:04)
Building a strong Insights team (19:39)
Elevating an Insights team through customer exposure (24:20)
Impact of Heart-centred customer engagement (29:37)

Highlights

“When we talked about this topic at the Insight forums last year, we decided that the answer to that big question was often to be found in our approach to three smaller questions. The first was what position does your insight team occupy in your organisation's hearts, minds and decision-making processes?” (01:49)
“But there are two other ways of improving your insight team's profile which are more linked to insights day-to-day activities. The first relates to the best practice territory that the IMA refers to as Insight influence. Most progressive Insight leaders would agree that their teams can't succeed without improving their ability to drive decisions.” (05.46)
“I suggested to people that they do an exercise which is building a brand board. It's something that I've done in a few companies that I've worked in and it's worked really well to really get people to explore that whole concept of what does this team stands for, what's it like to work within the team, how does it look and feel to people and also what do stakeholders think about the team?” (10.57)
“I remember someone coming up later to me saying that it was like a museum for them, like all they wanted to do was go around the office and read each quote from each of our customers that said something to us and so got a lot of positive feedback, and it was just a way for us to bring the voice of the customer a little bit more closely in an unconventional way.”(22.29)

This is episode 65 of the Transforming Insight podcast.

If you have the ambition to transform your Insight team and the role it plays in your organisation, please tune in to future episodes. Not only will we explore the 42 secrets of successful corporate Insight teams as outlined in the Transforming Insight book, we will also talk to senior corporate Insight leaders, delve into books that have inspired us, and discuss new best practice research carried out with the IMA’s corporate members.

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About James Wycherley, the author of Transforming Insight

James Wycherley was Director of Customer Insight and Analytics at Barclays from 2005 to 2015 when he became Chief Executive of the Insight Management Academy (IMA). A popular keynote speaker and acknowledged expert on Insight leadership, strategy, and communication, he is the author of the book Transforming Insight: the 42 secrets of successful corporate Insight teams, and over 35 IMA publications. He has provided thought leadership in the UK, Western Europe, the USA, Canada, Australia, India, and the Middle East, and regularly hosts the IMA’s Insight forums - London, Manchester, UK Online and US Online.

The Insight Management Academy is the world’s leading authority on transforming Insight teams.

Resources:

If you would like more information on any of the ideas discussed in this episode of the Transforming Insight podcast, please visit www.insight-management.org

Copies of James Wycherley’s book Transforming Insight: the 42 secrets of successful corporate Insight teams can be purchased direct from www.transforming-insight.com

Disclaimer

The Transforming Insight podcast is published by the Insight Management Academy and produced by Zorbiant.