What leaders can learn from analysts

In current projects around the future of work one subject constantly comes to the surface: The demand for a new type of leadership. Once you look for it, you will find loads of advice on how to be a better leader, project manager, C-level executive.

Recently, I gave a training to other market analysts (mainly), which lead me to think about the distinction between a good market analyst and the better analyst. (To avoid confusion, I am not talking about financial or investment analysts, but "information professionals")

It struck me that some traits I would want to see in an analyst I would also like to see in a leader.

• Be 100% dedicated (read: passionate & committed). For a market analyst it can be quite a challenge to be interested: Can you get excited about the heating pipes market? And next month about e-commerce software vendors? I try to see unfamiliar or all-too-familiar subjects as a chance to broaden my horizon. Identify the forces at play in the given segment- and all of a sudden, it all becomes very interesting. The results of an analysis always show whether someone was just doing a job - or really working through the task with dedication and curiosity. One might assume that leaders are passionate about what they do (being a leader included). Experience shows that passion is not part of the standard configuration.
• Learn from others. For an analyst, having experience in an industry is nice. However, often you don't have the experience or at least not enough to answer a request by revisiting your stored knowledge. In fact, experience may even stand in your way to comprehend novel developments. That is why I hold the ability to listen without presuming and the ability to learn from other's opinions without looking for confirmation as more virtuous than experience. And it is this open-minded attentiveness that suits a leader, too. It comprises valuing diversity, listening to and encouraging feedback, especially critical feedback.
• Make it simple. Attention to detail is a precondition for delivering a convincing analysis of the competitive environment of a client. But it is only half the work. Finding numerous data points and pieces of detail will be totally worthless if this information is not interpreted. An important part of an analyst's work is to simplify detail so that a bigger picture emerges which finally allows to make wise business decisions. That is, after all, the point of having a market analysis done, right? And the same goes for the messages of a leader. I don't want to read through power point presentations and detailed memos in order to figure out what managers or project leaders want me to do or not to do. "If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough." (Albert Einstein) - holds for market analysts as well as leaders.
• Let others look good. Typically, market analysts work in the background, they are not the stars of an organization. Often, other colleagues or team mates deliver the key messages of the analysis to the client. They will value a market analyst, who supports their mission, who gives them the necessary background information so that they look good when it is "show time". A manager's role is different from that of support staff, but still, I'd prefer to see a manager supporting (rather than ordering) his subordinates to reach their goals.