{"id":34040,"date":"2022-12-01T12:20:04","date_gmt":"2022-12-01T12:20:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/?p=34040"},"modified":"2022-12-01T12:20:04","modified_gmt":"2022-12-01T12:20:04","slug":"in-the-world-of-impact-data-is-key","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/in-the-world-of-impact-data-is-key\/","title":{"rendered":"In the world of impact, data is key"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I\u2019ll never forget my first real opportunity to dive into the world of impact. I was in my early 20s, had just joined a sustainable energy company, and one of my first initiatives as their Communications Specialist was to plan their Earth Month Campaign.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>30+ Earth Month events later, and a viral social media campaign that won Gold in the Go Green Advertising awards (my colleagues and I still celebrate this more than a decade later!), I was officially hooked on the joy that comes from building brands rooted in purpose and impact. It seems I\u2019m not alone\u2026<\/li>\n<li>93% of employees believe companies must\u00a0<strong>lead with purpose<\/strong>, and a further 88% believe it\u2019s no longer acceptable for companies to make money at the expense of society at large<\/li>\n<li>70% of American consumers believe it\u2019s either \u201csomewhat\u201d or \u201cvery important\u201d for companies to make the\u00a0<strong>world a better place<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>55% of American consumers believe it\u2019s important for companies to\u00a0<strong>take a stand<\/strong>\u00a0on key social, environmental, and political issues<\/li>\n<li>58% of organizations that currently have a strong and\u00a0<strong>clear sense of purpose<\/strong>\u00a0experienced 10 percent or more growth during the last three years<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em>More powerful stats like these can be found by\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/online.hbs.edu\/blog\/post\/corporate-social-responsibility-statistics\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">clicking here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>While employees and employers focus more intentionally on building purpose-driven companies, we are also witnessing the rise of impact jobs. Leaders of sustainability, DEIJ, community impact, corporate responsibility, ESG, employee belonging, and social impact are joining companies in droves. Corporate initiatives that fuel impact are becoming just as important \u2014 if not more \u2014 than anything else within the business strategy. People are making decisions about where they work, who they buy from, and who they partner with through the lens of impact.<\/p>\n<p>But it\u2019s not enough to be a company that claims impact. You have to be a company whose actions, initiatives, and day-to-day\u00a0<em>prove<\/em>\u00a0impact.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>Data at the core<\/h3>\n<p>For impact leaders, they are used to proving their impact. There is perhaps no group more used to using data than leaders of impact, as the data paints the tale of what\u2019s working, where to head next, and the greater context the work sits within.<\/p>\n<p>But the truth is, whether we are leading Marketing, Sales, Operations, or Finance, we are all in impact roles, and it\u2019s the responsibility of all leaders to use data more strategically to not just report on what is happening, but to shed light on what needs to happen next.<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s dive into 3 ways we can use data more powerfully, in an era fueled by impact:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Create Your Own Analysis<\/strong>: Think of your favorite analyst reports \u2014 the ones that predict Future of Work trends, show the growth of a particular market, shed light on top challenges ahead for a particular department, etc. Now, imagine if your firm created its own analyst moment. Consider something your organization may want to get behind. For example, a pharmaceutical org shedding light on health equity and accessibility; an insurance firm proving customers today want a return to humanness; a construction company demonstrating the gains of green building; a chamber of commerce showing the ease of living in their state as compared to others\u2026 as a few examples. Pick the thing you want to shed light on, consider what you need to report on to educate, influence, and affect what comes next, and determine whose data \u2014 beyond your own \u2014 you might need to obtain.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Statements Proven:<\/strong>\u00a0What is your company vision? Core values? Mission statement? These are such important phrases that you share regularly, so why not take it to the next step? Consider an internal data project that will allow you to tell your story to employees, customers, and prospects with even greater impact. For example, can you show potential and current employees how you progressively measure employee belonging? Can you demonstrate to future customers what client vitality truly means to you? By being able to put numbers behind your statements, your statements are no longer words. They are words proven by action.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Be Daring:<\/strong>\u00a0The world of impact is used to having to measure the hard and important to demonstrate their progress towards a more just, equitable, sustainable, and social environment. But no matter our department, we should dare to measure bolder. It\u2019s not enough to measure standard KPIs. Let\u2019s start thinking about what feels impossible to measure \u2014 quality of client relationships, pace of innovation, brand authenticity \u2014 and start measuring them. One of our favorite things to do at SQA Group is to show our clients how to take the seemingly immeasurable and make it measurable through our proven Metrics Finder methodology (<a href=\"https:\/\/sqagroup.com\/metrics-finder\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">more on that here<\/a>). And the reason I love it so much is that we can\u2019t play it safe with our metrics anymore. The impact space NEVER got to. Now it\u2019s time for the rest of us to be bolder.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In a world of impact, we have to talk about data. And in the world of impact, we have to remember that each of us plays a part in steering towards the Future.<\/p>\n<p>So\u2026 what is one thing you want to do differently tomorrow with data?<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>Originally <a href=\"https:\/\/sqagroup.com\/in-the-world-of-impact-data-is-key\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">posted here<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span class=\"btn-container\"><a class=\"btn btn-md btn-primary\" href=\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/insights\/\">More thought leadership <i class=\"far fa-caret-right\"><\/i><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I\u2019ll never forget my first real opportunity to dive into the world of impact. I was in my early 20s, had just joined a sustainable energy company, and one of my first initiatives as their Communications Specialist was to plan their Earth Month Campaign. 30+ [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":34041,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-34040","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","topic-sustainability","topic-ai","topic-innovation"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>In the world of impact, data is key | Digital Leaders<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"here is perhaps no group more used to using data than leaders of impact, as the data paints the tale of what\u2019s working, where to head next, and the greater context the work sits within.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/in-the-world-of-impact-data-is-key\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"In the world of impact, data is key\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"here is perhaps no group more used to using data than leaders of impact, as the data paints the tale of what\u2019s working, where to head next, and the greater context the work sits within.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/in-the-world-of-impact-data-is-key\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Digital Leaders\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/digitalleadersprogramme\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-12-01T12:20:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/shutterstock_1935004457-scaled-e1669897154656.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"450\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Louise Westcott\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"In the world of impact, data is key\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"here is perhaps no group more used to using data than leaders of impact, as the data paints the tale of what\u2019s working, where to head next, and the greater context the work sits within.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/shutterstock_1935004457-scaled-e1669897154656.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@DigiLeaders\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@DigiLeaders\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Louise Westcott\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/in-the-world-of-impact-data-is-key\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/in-the-world-of-impact-data-is-key\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Louise Westcott\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/#\/schema\/person\/50d407d47f6db15304462e27d166bef1\"},\"headline\":\"In the world of impact, data is key\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-12-01T12:20:04+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/in-the-world-of-impact-data-is-key\/\"},\"wordCount\":885,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/in-the-world-of-impact-data-is-key\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/shutterstock_1935004457-scaled-e1669897154656.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/in-the-world-of-impact-data-is-key\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/in-the-world-of-impact-data-is-key\/\",\"name\":\"In the world of impact, data is key | Digital Leaders\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/in-the-world-of-impact-data-is-key\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/in-the-world-of-impact-data-is-key\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/shutterstock_1935004457-scaled-e1669897154656.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-12-01T12:20:04+00:00\",\"description\":\"here is perhaps no group more used to using data than leaders of impact, as the data paints the tale of what\u2019s working, where to head next, and the greater context the work sits within.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/in-the-world-of-impact-data-is-key\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/in-the-world-of-impact-data-is-key\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/in-the-world-of-impact-data-is-key\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/shutterstock_1935004457-scaled-e1669897154656.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/shutterstock_1935004457-scaled-e1669897154656.jpg\",\"width\":800,\"height\":450,\"caption\":\"Global,Communication,Network,Concept.,Digital,Transformation.,Dx.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/in-the-world-of-impact-data-is-key\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"In the world of impact, data is key\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/\",\"name\":\"Digital Leaders\",\"description\":\"We Lead Transformation\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Digital Leaders\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Digital-Leaders\u00ae-logo.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Digital-Leaders\u00ae-logo.jpg\",\"width\":3000,\"height\":2992,\"caption\":\"Digital Leaders\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/digitalleadersprogramme\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/DigiLeaders\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/groups\/6527637\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCK1pUziPGg9J8R1S0FhBgiQ\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/#\/schema\/person\/50d407d47f6db15304462e27d166bef1\",\"name\":\"Louise Westcott\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8269a87a68787a5652e9bbbd9e81282f6d74f763288a3268a2e3277baf66c40d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8269a87a68787a5652e9bbbd9e81282f6d74f763288a3268a2e3277baf66c40d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Louise Westcott\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"In the world of impact, data is key | Digital Leaders","description":"here is perhaps no group more used to using data than leaders of impact, as the data paints the tale of what\u2019s working, where to head next, and the greater context the work sits within.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/in-the-world-of-impact-data-is-key\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"In the world of impact, data is key","og_description":"here is perhaps no group more used to using data than leaders of impact, as the data paints the tale of what\u2019s working, where to head next, and the greater context the work sits within.","og_url":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/in-the-world-of-impact-data-is-key\/","og_site_name":"Digital Leaders","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/digitalleadersprogramme","article_published_time":"2022-12-01T12:20:04+00:00","og_image":[{"width":800,"height":450,"url":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/shutterstock_1935004457-scaled-e1669897154656.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Louise Westcott","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"In the world of impact, data is key","twitter_description":"here is perhaps no group more used to using data than leaders of impact, as the data paints the tale of what\u2019s working, where to head next, and the greater context the work sits within.","twitter_image":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/shutterstock_1935004457-scaled-e1669897154656.jpg","twitter_creator":"@DigiLeaders","twitter_site":"@DigiLeaders","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Louise Westcott","Estimated reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/in-the-world-of-impact-data-is-key\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/in-the-world-of-impact-data-is-key\/"},"author":{"name":"Louise Westcott","@id":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/#\/schema\/person\/50d407d47f6db15304462e27d166bef1"},"headline":"In the world of impact, data is key","datePublished":"2022-12-01T12:20:04+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/in-the-world-of-impact-data-is-key\/"},"wordCount":885,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/in-the-world-of-impact-data-is-key\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/shutterstock_1935004457-scaled-e1669897154656.jpg","inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/in-the-world-of-impact-data-is-key\/","url":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/in-the-world-of-impact-data-is-key\/","name":"In the world of impact, data is key | Digital Leaders","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/in-the-world-of-impact-data-is-key\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/in-the-world-of-impact-data-is-key\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/shutterstock_1935004457-scaled-e1669897154656.jpg","datePublished":"2022-12-01T12:20:04+00:00","description":"here is perhaps no group more used to using data than leaders of impact, as the data paints the tale of what\u2019s working, where to head next, and the greater context the work sits within.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/in-the-world-of-impact-data-is-key\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/digileaders.com\/in-the-world-of-impact-data-is-key\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/in-the-world-of-impact-data-is-key\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/shutterstock_1935004457-scaled-e1669897154656.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/shutterstock_1935004457-scaled-e1669897154656.jpg","width":800,"height":450,"caption":"Global,Communication,Network,Concept.,Digital,Transformation.,Dx."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/in-the-world-of-impact-data-is-key\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"In the world of impact, data is key"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/","name":"Digital Leaders","description":"We Lead Transformation","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/#organization","name":"Digital Leaders","url":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Digital-Leaders\u00ae-logo.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Digital-Leaders\u00ae-logo.jpg","width":3000,"height":2992,"caption":"Digital Leaders"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/digitalleadersprogramme","https:\/\/x.com\/DigiLeaders","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/groups\/6527637\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCK1pUziPGg9J8R1S0FhBgiQ"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/#\/schema\/person\/50d407d47f6db15304462e27d166bef1","name":"Louise Westcott","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8269a87a68787a5652e9bbbd9e81282f6d74f763288a3268a2e3277baf66c40d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8269a87a68787a5652e9bbbd9e81282f6d74f763288a3268a2e3277baf66c40d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Louise Westcott"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34040","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/51"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34040"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34040\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34041"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34040"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}