What are your scorecards really measuring? - Talk Business & Politics
Earlier this year, I had the privilege of publishing “Keeper of the Culture,” a book exploring how leaders intentionally shape organizational culture. One of the ideas that has generated conversation. . .
Earlier this year, I had the privilege of publishing “Keeper of the Culture,” a book exploring how leaders intentionally shape organizational culture. One of the ideas that has generated conversation among leaders centers on a simple question: What are your scorecards really measuring?Every organization has a scoreboard. Revenue. Productivity. Customer satisfaction. Safety. Quality. Growth. These metrics matter because they help leaders understand performance and make informed decisions. The problem isn’t having scorecards. The problem begins when the scorecard quietly becomes the mission. I was reminded of this while talking with a delivery driver who had decided to leave his employer after two years. He wasn’t frustrated by the work itself. He was frustrated because, in his words, leadership “only cared about the deliveries. ” He had repeatedly identified operational problems that wasted time and money, but from his perspective, those concerns were acknowledged and then ignored. Whether his perception reflected the whole story is almost beside the point. His experience revealed something every leader should consider. People don’t simply watch what leaders say they value. They watch what leaders consistently celebrate, reward and prioritize. Over time, those observations become their understanding of the organization’s culture. Erik DeesLeadership is demanding. Most leaders know the feeling of sitting in front of a dashboard wondering whether the numbers will validate the decisions they’ve made. Results matter. Organizations cannot survive without them. But when leaders begin tying their identity or the organization’s identity solely to performance metrics, something subtle happens. Purpose begins to fade into the background. Soon, the questions become almost entirely about outcomes. Did we hit our goals? Did we make budget? Did we increase market share? Those are important questions, but they are incomplete. Equally important questions are often left unasked. How did we achieve those results? What behaviors did we reward along the way? Did our decisions reinforce our values? If a new employee watched our leadership team for a week, what would they conclude we truly care about?Culture is shaped long before it appears in employee engagement surveys. It is built one decision, one conversation, one recognition and one leadership response at a time. The behaviors leaders consistently reinforce become the behaviors people repeat. Organizations with healthy cultures do not ignore performance. They simply recognize that performance is a byproduct of something deeper. When people understand the organization’s mission, believe in its values, and experience leaders who consistently live those values, it is likely that sustainable results follow. This is especially relevant in Northwest Arkansas, where organizations continue to grow, merge, innovate and compete for exceptional talent. The strongest organizations will not simply be those with the best dashboards. They will be those that intentionally align their metrics with their mission and build cultures where people know they matter just as much as the numbers. As leaders, perhaps the most important question isn’t whether our scorecards are accurate. It’s whether our scorecards are teaching people the right lessons. Those lessons, more than the metrics themselves, ultimately shape the culture we leave behind. Perhaps it’s time to add another gauge to the dashboard. Most leaders closely monitor revenue, productivity, quality and growth, but few intentionally measure the culture they are creating. Ask yourself: What evidence tells us our values are actually being lived? Are we recognizing the behaviors we want repeated? The gauges we choose determine what captures our attention, and what captures our attention ultimately shapes the culture of our organization. If culture isn’t on the dashboard, don’t be surprised if it slowly drifts off course. Editor’s note:Erik Dees, Ph. D. , is a partner at Milestone Leadership and the author of “Keeper of the Culture,” which explores how leaders intentionally build organizations where purpose and performance reinforce one another. The opinions expressed are those of the author. Related