Leadership Lessons and Highlights
PROFILES IN LEADERSHIP Kris Saling and Leading with Data
By Steve Leonard
Talent. We’re not always sure what it is, but we know we want some. But do we truly value talent? How well do we manage it? Do we really manage talent at all? Several months ago, I sat in a university conference room as some of our most respected faculty discussed talent management. Recognizing the challenges of a shifting job market and the encroachment of artificial intelligence into the workplace, talent management has taken on new dimensions to adapt to the evolving needs of business. Our job is largely focused on developing talent, transforming it from raw potential into honed steel. The elephant in the room that day? Data. As we push deeper into the 21st century, data – and the narrative it conveys – is increasingly the coin of the realm. The ability to understand that data, to translate the narrative into decisive and meaningful action, is what transforms good to great in our world today. And no one understands the nexus between talent management and data better than Kris Saling. A graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, she spent the early years of a distinguished military career as an engineer officer before refocusing on operations research and systems analysis. Or, as we say in Army, getting knee deep in the data. In that career
shift, Kris Saling found her true calling. When she arrived at the Pentagon in 2016, she took the building by storm, establishing data, analytics, and innovation teams and capabilities for the Army Talent Management Task Force, eventually leading the People Analytics directorate for the Assistant Secretary of the Army’s Manpower and Reserve Affairs office. As a leader in workforce innovation, she has spearheaded initiatives to modernize talent strategies, leverage data analytics, and pilot remote work in traditional environments. Her 2024 book, Data-Driven Talent Management, is a forward-thinking exploration of how analytics can revolutionize workforce strategies, a practical guide for leaders aiming to harness the power of data to enhance employee experiences and organizational outcomes.
Recently, I sat down with Kris to discuss her life, her profession, and her passion for data. ► What inspired your interest in data analytics, and how have you grown in this field?
“I’m a voracious bookworm and wanted to be a combination of Sherlock Holmes and Ian Malcolm (from Jurassic Park) when I grew up. Data analytics lets me sift into piles of information and put it into context to solve problems. I haven’t grown so much technically in that field as I’ve used it as a springboard. It helps me figure out new applications for technology and find the talent to build tools.” ► How would you explain your job to someone without a technical background? “My job is a combination of two things – interacting with academia and industry to discover best practices and technologies that can help the Army better manage its people and creating experiments using those to help the Army determine ROI, buy-in, and scale.”
12 MAY 2025 | NATSEC@WORK Powererd by ClearanceJobs
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