We have assigned scorecard metrics to our leadership team members based on their departments, but some of them do not feel they actually control the outcomes of those metrics. How do we align scorecard ownership with our Accountability Chart and GWC?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

If a leadership team member does not feel they control a scorecard metric, you have an alignment problem between your metrics and your Accountability Chart. Every single number on your company scorecard must be owned by one individual, and that individual must have the authority and resources to influence that number.

To fix this, look at how you assigned the metrics. Scorecard ownership does not mean the owner does all the work. It means they are accountable for reporting the number and leading the effort to fix it if it goes red.

Use the GWC tool. Does the seat owner truly get, want, and have the capacity to own this metric. If your marketing director owns a metric for closed-won revenue, they will feel helpless because sales closes the deals. Marketing should own marketing qualified leads or cost per lead, while the sales leader owns the close rate and total closed deals.

Ensure the metric is an activity-based leading indicator rather than a lagging result. People can control their activities, but they cannot always control the final outcome in a single week. If the sales leader tracks outbound calls and face-to-face meetings, they have direct control over those numbers. If those numbers are green but sales are still red, that is an issue to bring to the Level 10 Meeting to IDS. Aligning ownership means matching activities to the correct seat on the Accountability Chart.