Data Leader: A Practical Guide to Building and Leading a Data Organization at Any Level, by Steven Jordan
Build a data organization that earns trust, secures investment, develops exceptional talent, and consistently converts data, analytics, and artificial intelligence into measurable business value. Data Leader is a practical guide to understanding and leading the people, processes, strategies, and capabilities behind a successful modern data organization.
Part I: Laying the Foundation
Chapter 1: Modern Data Organizations
Chapter 2: Data Governance
Chapter 3: Data Management
Chapter 4: Data Architecture
Chapter 5: Data Engineering
Chapter 6: Business Intelligence and Analytics
Chapter 7: Data Science and Artificial Intelligence
Part II: Building Data Organizations
Chapter 8: Building a Data Strategy
Chapter 9: Developing Processes
Chapter 10: Hiring Data Talent
Part III: Leading Data Organizations
Chapter 11: Leading Data Talent
Chapter 12: Stakeholder Management
Chapter 13: Effective Change Management
Chapter 14: Scaling Data Organizations
Chapter 15: The Value of Data and Insights
Chapter 16: The Future of Data Organizations
Examine how data governance, data management, data architecture, data engineering, business intelligence, analytics, data science, machine learning, and AI work together as one interconnected system. Rather than burying readers in code or platform-specific instructions, Steven Jordan explains what each function contributes, where organizations commonly go wrong, and what leaders must understand to make sound decisions. Evaluate centralized, decentralized, and hybrid operating models while discovering why business alignment, trusted data, clear accountability, and strong technical foundations matter more than chasing the latest technology.
Develop a data strategy that connects directly to business objectives, prioritizes valuable use cases, and gives every investment a clear purpose. Apply repeatable methods for project intake, prioritization, delivery, governance, and performance measurement. Determine when to build internal capabilities, hire external talent, or use consultants and contractors. Create effective roles, recruiting practices, onboarding programs, career paths, and team structures that prepare data professionals to execute today while developing the skills the organization will need tomorrow.
Lead the human side of data with the same discipline applied to technology. Analyze stakeholder needs, establish credibility with business partners, communicate across technical and executive audiences, manage organizational resistance, and guide teams through uncertainty and change. Measure outputs, outcomes, and financial impact so that data is viewed not as a cost center, but as a business capability that drives revenue, reduces costs, improves efficiency, and manages risk. A continuing case study follows Legacy Paper and Supply as it progresses from disconnected systems and disputed reports to a functioning data organization with trusted analytics, demand forecasting, customer intelligence, and documented business results.
Prepare for the next era of data leadership as generative AI, agentic AI, automation, semantic layers, evolving regulations, and rapidly changing roles reshape the profession. Assess new opportunities without abandoning the governance, data quality, architecture, engineering, and leadership fundamentals that make innovation sustainable. Written for current and aspiring data leaders, data professionals, students, Chief Data Officers, analytics managers, and business and IT executives, Data Leader provides the complete leadership framework needed to build a capable team, create organizational influence, demonstrate business value, and lead with confidence in a field that never stops changing.
Steven Jordan is the Head of IT Data and Analytics at one of the world’s largest investment management firms, where he leads the teams that turn data into business decisions . Across his career he has built and led data organizations at a major airline, industrial manufacturing, franchise services, and financial services, giving him a cross-industry view of why data teams succeed and fail.
He designed and teaches “Building and Leading Data Organizations,” a graduate course at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and one of the few courses of its kind in the country. He holds a master’s degree in data science and business analytics from UNC Charlotte and is a Certified Data Management Professional (CDMP) through DAMA International.
Before his data career, Steven served in the U.S. Army as a member of the Old Guard, the Army’s official ceremonial unit, where he led infantry soldiers and earned the Army Achievement Medal for leadership. He lives in the Charlotte, North Carolina area with his wife, Allyson, and their two children.
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