What Story Are Your Numbers Telling?

We want to tell you about a client of mine. We’ll call him Tom.

Tom owns a $12M HVAC company. Solid business, good people, years of momentum under his belt. But when we met him, he looked like hell.

We were sitting in his office, and he kept rubbing his temples and staring at a legal pad full of random numbers. His words?

Tom wasn’t failing. But he wasn’t sure.

And when you’re not sure, you’re stuck.
You start second-guessing. You micromanage. You push harder, not smarter.

This is where most leaders end up when they outgrow instinct. The game gets too complex, and their old tools stop working. They think they have a leadership problem. Or a people problem. Or a motivation problem.

What they really have is a clarity problem.

Every business is telling a story. Your numbers are the words.

So we asked Tom a few questions:

• What do you expect to happen every week in sales?
• What does “on track” look like in operations?
• What are the 3–5 leading indicators that tell you how the business is trending?

He didn’t have clear answers.

He had reports. Dashboards. Finance meetings. But he didn’t have a simple, real-time way to see the truth every week.

So we pulled the team together and built what I teach in the book Data: a pure, 13-week Scorecard.

We chose the right Measurables — not every possible number, but the few that actually predict outcomes.

Each one had:

• A clear weekly goal
• A single owner
• A number anyone could understand in 5 seconds

We started reviewing it weekly. No overexplaining. No hiding. Just red or green.

And here’s what happened.

Within 6 weeks, the fog lifted.

Tom saw the patterns.

He saw why projects were missing deadlines.
He saw which deals were stuck.
He saw the real reason margins were slipping.
He saw who was truly owning their role — and who was coasting.

And with that clarity, he didn’t just feel better.
He led better.

He started solving the right problems. He stopped reacting. He had the confidence to delegate, because he could now measure without micromanaging.

Tom didn’t get more data.
He got the right data.
And he learned how to use it.

So, what story are your numbers telling you?

If you’re honest, you might not know.

You might be “busy” with numbers — but not leading through them.
You might be overcomplicating, overanalyzing, or flat-out avoiding them.

We get it. Numbers can be noisy. Or intimidating. Or boring.

But when they’re clear and used purely, numbers become your best leadership tool.

They give you clarity.
They create ownership.
They tell the truth… without drama.

If this hit home for you…

Here are a few things you can do:

1. Ask yourself: What 5–15 weekly numbers would predict success in your business?
2. Ask your team: What’s the one number you should own?
3. Grab a free chapter of the book Data if you haven’t yet
4. Join us at the next Data Workshop to build your Scorecard live with your team

Here’s the truth we’ve learned, over and over again:

So here’s our advice:
​Pick one number this week that matters.

One thing you’ve been guessing at.

Name it, track it, and start listening to what it’s telling you.

Because your numbers are already telling a story.
The question is: Are you paying attention?