(US and Canada) Capt. Brian Erickson, Chief Data Officer of the U.S. Coast Guard, speaks with John Filipek, Sr. Manager of Public Sector Inside Federal Sales, SHI, in a video interview about having an offensive or a defensive data strategy, leadership, and building future data leaders.

Considering the importance of balancing an offensive and defensive data strategy, Erickson says the U.S. Coast Guard created the Data Arena Task Force to become more data driven and to extract more value from data. From a defensive perspective, it includes defending the network, the technology, ethics, and privacy. He maintains, however, that most of his day-to-day operations are offensive and aimed at bringing more value to every data set.

When asked about balancing data-driven and intuition-based decision making, Erickson says that as leaders gain experience, they become more comfortable within their domain. But when stepping into a new domain, they must be careful, listen more, learn from teammates, and work hard to establish valuable connections.

Erickson further explains that leadership is both a science and an art and requires a balance between the hard and soft sides. The science part includes finding problems and their solutions and empowering the team. The art side includes empathy, emotion, and caring for people.

Sharing his approach to identifying future data leadership talent, Erickson says that data is a team sport and success comes down to the ability to work as a team player. He adds that people must also be innovators and willing to take risks, and organizations must accept and promote a culture of innovation and failure.

CDO Magazine appreciates Capt. Brian Erickson for sharing his insights and data success stories with our global community.

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