If There’s No Score, There’s No Game

Without a scoreboard, you’re not leading — you’re guessing.

If there’s no score, you’ve got nothing to drive you to get better. Personally or professionally.

In business, I see it all the time. Owners say they want improvement — more profit, better accountability, less chaos — but when I ask, “What are you tracking?” they freeze.

If you’re not tracking performance, how do you know if you’re winning?

When I ran my restoration company, there was a clear shift the day we started tracking results weekly. I’m talking measurable numbers — sales calls made, jobs closed, GP on jobs, AR over 30 days, DSO, customer satisfaction, all of it. It wasn’t always pretty. In the beginning, the numbers were ugly. But once we could see them, we could fix them.

It’s the same reason athletes study stats. Pilots use dashboards. Doctors look at vitals. Data drives better decisions.

Leadership without measurement is just hope. And hope is not a management strategy.

If you’re not tracking, your team doesn’t know what “good” looks like. You’re not coaching — you’re guessing. And I’d argue you’re not really leading, either.

So here’s a quick challenge:

• Identify 2–5 key metrics that matter most for each role on your team.
• Review them weekly.
• Talk about them in your meetings.
• Celebrate wins. Fix the misses.

Once you introduce a scoreboard, everything changes. People show up differently when they know the score.

Because when you keep score, you can lead. When you don’t, you’re just along for the ride.