Posted on November 18th, 2025

Every company tracks numbers.
Few track the ones that actually move the business forward.

Dashboards grow dense. KPIs multiply. Teams drown in metrics that describe activity but say little about performance.
The data looks impressive. The growth doesn’t.

Metrics are not neutral. What you measure shapes how your people think, decide, and act. Measure the wrong things long enough, and you’ll build the wrong company.

The Illusion of Control

Leaders often mistake measurement for mastery.
They see charts trending upward and assume control. But numbers can deceive. Revenue may rise even as profit erodes. Sales may grow while cash flow tightens.

Metrics provide a sense of order. They also seduce leaders into chasing the visible over the meaningful.
A full pipeline means nothing if deals close at a loss. High utilization means little if morale collapses.

Control isn’t gained by collecting more data. It’s earned by measuring what truly drives results.

Lag Measures Tell the Past. Lead Measures Build the Future.

Lag measures report what has already happened — revenue, margin, churn, retention.
They confirm history. They never predict outcomes.

Lead measures, in contrast, are the small, controllable actions that precede those outcomes.

• Calls made to qualified prospects
• Client success reviews completed on time
• Average response time to service tickets
• Percentage of recurring clients engaging in QBRs

Lead measures are predictive. They tell you where the business is headed, not where it’s been.
Manage the lead indicators, and the lag will take care of itself.

The Seduction of Vanity Metrics

Some metrics may make leaders feel good, but they mean nothing.
Followers, impressions, open rates, and hours logged — none of these guarantee value creation.

Vanity metrics feed ego, not strategy.
They create motion without meaning. The organization becomes a factory of activity, not progress.

Real metrics should provoke action. They should expose truth, not camouflage it.

Ask one question: If this number changes, will it change our future?
If not, it’s decoration.

Aligning Metrics to Intent

Every metric must serve a decision.
Before measuring, define what decision the number informs.

• If the goal is profitability, measure gross margin per client.
• If the goal is scalability, measure revenue per employee.
• If the goal is stability, measure client lifetime value versus acquisition cost.

When metrics and intent diverge, alignment dies.
When they converge, accountability thrives.

Leadership Through Metrics

Leaders communicate priorities through what they track publicly and review consistently.
When a leader obsesses over revenue, teams chase sales. When they review client retention on a weekly basis, service quality improves.

Measurement becomes culture.
People start believing that what gets measured truly matters. So measure what deserves belief.

Building a Smarter Dashboard

Your leadership dashboard should be concise enough to read at a glance and comprehensive enough to inform strategy.
Think of it as an instrument panel — not a database.

Five to seven metrics, each connected directly to a strategic pillar. No noise. No filler.
The fewer the numbers, the sharper the focus.

Discipline in measurement becomes discipline in execution.

Recalibrate Before 2026

Q4 is the right time to audit your metrics before another year of false precision begins.
Numbers are powerful when they tell the truth. They’re dangerous when they distract.

Stop managing the scoreboard. Start managing the plays that move it.

Book a Metrics Alignment Session and design a measurement system that drives behavior, clarity, and growth into 2026.

JP Van Steerteghem

Call me at +1-617-548-3863

or email me at [email protected]

or schedule some time https://calendly.com/jvansteerteghem