Let me say something you might not want to hear, but probably need to.
Numbers don’t hurt feelings. Avoiding them does.
Avoiding the right numbers is what creates the gut-knot Sunday nights.
Avoiding the right numbers is what makes every conversation feel personal.
Avoiding the right numbers is what turns leadership into guesswork, second-guessing, and “Why didn’t we see this coming?”
And if you’re leading a business right now and you feel behind—behind on cash, behind on hiring, behind on delivery, behind on focus—this is for you.
Because I’ve learned something after watching a lot of leadership teams struggle:
Most leaders aren’t afraid of data. They’re afraid of what it might confirm. That the business isn’t as healthy as it looks from the outside. That the team isn’t aligned. That execution is inconsistent. That the “good month” was luck… and the “bad month” wasn’t a fluke.
Here’s the good news.
When you face the right numbers the right way, you don’t get weaker. You get calmer. You get clearer. You get ahead.
The real problem isn’t numbers, it’s surprise
Surprises are what hurt feelings:
- The bank balance surprises you
- The pipeline surprises you
- The margin surprises you
- The churn surprises you
- The production backlog surprises you
Surprises make you reactive. Reaction creates intensity. Intensity creates emotion. And then the conversation becomes about people instead of reality.
If you want fewer emotional leadership moments, you don’t need to “be less emotional.”
You need earlier visibility.
What strong leaders do differently
Strong leaders don’t use numbers to judge. They use numbers to see.
They don’t weaponize data. They let data remove the weaponry from the room.
Because when the team is staring at the same simple truth, you can stop arguing about stories like:
- “Sales is the problem.”
- “Ops is the problem.”
- “Marketing isn’t doing their job.”
- “People don’t care anymore.”
Instead, you get to say:
- “This number is off.”
- “What’s causing it?”
- “What are we going to do this week?”
That’s leadership with clarity.
The weekly pulse that changes everything
If you take only one thing from this newsletter, take this:
You don’t need more reports. You need a weekly pulse.
The goal is not to track everything. The goal is to track a handful of activity-based numbers that tell you, early, whether you’re on track.
When those few numbers are right, they do three powerful things:
- They make decisions easier (facts over opinions)
- They make accountability clearer (one owner per number)
- They surface issues earlier (small fires instead of five-alarm ones)
And here’s the key: earlier is kinder.
Earlier means your team can fix things with focus instead of panic. Earlier means you don’t have to raise your voice to get attention. Earlier means no one gets blindsided at the end of the month.
The feelings you’re avoiding
Let’s be real for a minute.
When leaders avoid the numbers, they think they’re avoiding discomfort.
But what they’re really doing is trading a short moment of discomfort for a long season of stress.
Because avoidance creates a constant background hum of:
- “I hope we’re okay.”
- “I think we’re fine.”
- “We’ll know soon.”
- “Let’s see how the month ends.”
That’s not peace. That’s suspense.
The most practical way to lower the emotional temperature in your business is to replace suspense with a weekly truth-telling rhythm.
How to start without overwhelming your team
If your relationship with numbers has been messy, too many dashboards, too many KPIs, too much noise… start simple.
Here’s a clean, practical approach you can use immediately:
1) Pick 5–15 weekly measurables
Not lagging results. Not “vanity metrics.” Weekly activities that predict the outcome.
Examples (just to get your brain moving):
- Qualified leads created
- Proposals sent
- Demos held
- On-time delivery percentage
- Production throughput
- Rework hours
- Cash collected
- New hires in process
- Customer issues resolved
2) Give every measurable one owner
Not a department. Not a committee. One person owns the number and reports it weekly.
This is where accountability stops being fuzzy.
3) Set a clear weekly goal
So it’s obvious: On track or off track.
No debate. No interpretation. Just clarity.
4) Review it every week with discipline
This is the magic most teams miss.
If a number is off track, don’t explain it for 12 minutes. Don’t defend it. Don’t blame someone.
Just do this:
- Put it on the Issues List
- Identify the real root cause
- Discuss it
- Solve it
- Create a clear to-do
That’s how you turn data into traction.
A quick gut-check for you
Answer these honestly:
- Do you know, like RIGHT now, what 5 numbers predict your next 90 days?
- If one of those numbers turned red this week, would you catch it fast?
- Would your team know exactly what to do next or would they spiral into explanations?
If your answers are “not really” or “it depends,” you’re not alone.
And you’re not broken.
You’re just missing a simple system.
A sincere invitation (especially if you’re struggling)
If you’re reading this and thinking:
- “We’ve tried dashboards and it didn’t stick.”
- “We have numbers but they’re not predictive.”
- “We argue about data more than we use it.”
- “I feel like I’m carrying too much of this alone.”
I want to invite you to join us for an upcoming Data Workshop.
It’s a hands-on work to help you and your leadership team build the right weekly Scorecards, clarify ownership, and create a rhythm that reduces surprises and increases control.
If you’re tired of guessing, reacting, and carrying the emotional weight of uncertainty, this is your next step.
