How can data professionals become better leaders, own their strategy and have a seat at the table?

Some tips that may be helpful include:
1. Be a thought leader: Data professionals need to be at the forefront of their field, sharing their insights and expertise with others. This can be done through writing articles, speaking at conferences, or teaching courses.
2. Be a strategic thinker: Data professionals need to be able to think strategically about their organization's data and how it can be used to achieve business goals. This means being able to identify opportunities and threats, and develop and implement plans to take advantage of opportunities and mitigate threats.
3. Be a team player: Data professionals need to be able to work effectively as part of a team. This means being able to communicate effectively, collaborate with others, and provide support when needed.
4. Be a problem solver: Data professionals need to be able to identify and solve problems. This means being able to troubleshoot issues, identify root causes, and develop and implement solutions.

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Let's break down the question into 2 parts.

1. How can they become better leaders?
Who is a leader? Someone who can show people a path that they will willingly go down to. The leader does not tell them how to, it is up to the persons wanting to be at a place. So data professionals need to invest in their ability to help their team mates find the way to success.

2. Owning your strategy is a worthy goal if your strategy is differentiated and delivers. Else an attempt to push a bad strategy will only alienate you from the powers that be. And that is obviously a bad decision in your quest to have a seat on the table.

What does "seat on the table" mean? You are an equal and contribute to the overall company beyond your function. Your views and opinions are worthy a listen and merit discussion. Getting there is just a milestone, retaining the seat is a long journey with your continued contributions. 

In my opinion, data professionals have all the privilege and skills to be the first one to know what data speaks about. With a bit of sharp analytical skills, one can become the early adapter of the technologies which can serve the need of the upcoming business requirements and get an edge there.
Customer obsession is the key here and data professionals might get this first hand information easily. Accordingly the data professionals can build their strategies to meet the future requirements which will eventually give edge to the business and will be helpful to get their seat at the table.

To be a better leader you have to have a better game plan not only for today but the future which is much more important.  Those that see the future and how they can get there will always be winners if they have a doable strategy.  Too many companies have a game plan for 2 years at best and they fall by the wayside as more innovative companies take the lead.  This strategy only works if you have everyone on your team contributing and making mid-course corrections.  No company is guaranteed to last forever since the failure rate of all companies is greater than zero.  Look at companies over the last 100 years and see the few that existed for 100 years or less and then vanished.   Kodak and DEC are 2 prime examples of companies at their peak had over 100,000 employees and overnight they vanished.  The real question is what they could have done to avoid it and that is the real topic of discussion.