What Every Leader Should Know About Measuring Performance

The Leader’s Dilemma: Is the Work Actually Working?

If you’re in a leadership role, you’ve likely wrestled with a common and frustrating question:

“Is my team working on the right things—and is that work actually making an impact?”

From the outside, your organization might look like a buzzing hive of activity. Meetings. Initiatives. Projects. Metrics. Dashboards. But beneath the motion, there’s a quiet anxiety:
Is this just noise, or is it real progress?

As a Leader, you’re constantly trying to separate:

✅ The substance that moves the needle
🚫 From the smoke that distracts, wastes time, or worse—leads you in the wrong direction

Why Leaders Obsess Over Metrics

This tension leads many Leaders to turn to data. Measurement feels like the antidote to ambiguity. If we could just gather the right numbers—track the right inputs, outputs, and processes—we’d finally gain clarity.

And it makes sense. The idea of sitting back and adjusting based on a clean dashboard of KPIs is incredibly appealing.

But here’s the rub: metrics don’t always reveal the truth.

The Dark Side of Misused Metrics

While the intent to measure is sound, the execution often falls short.

Leaders can easily fall into traps like:

• Tracking too much and learning too little
• Misinterpreting data without proper context
• Failing to segment or compare across relevant cohorts
• Relying on numbers that lack repeatability or reliability
• Allowing bias or wishful thinking to skew the analysis
• Creating unintended consequences by chasing metrics that distort behavior

Numbers have power—but that power cuts both ways.

What This Series Will Explore

In this upcoming blog series, I’ll share practical ideas for:

• Choosing what to measure (and why)
• Avoiding common measurement pitfalls
• Designing metrics that lead to meaningful action
• Recognizing when numbers mislead more than they guide

Whether you lead a small team or a large enterprise, my goal is to help you sharpen your thinking around data, decisions, and leadership clarity.

Want to Improve How You Lead?

I work every day with individual Leaders and Leadership Teams to enhance their effectiveness. If you’d like to explore how coaching or training can support you or your team, I invite you to schedule a complimentary, no-obligation Exploration Session:

👉 Book a session here

Until then, be well—
Brian