Our leadership team members do not actually perform the day-to-day work that generates our weekly metrics, so they feel uncomfortable owning those numbers on our leadership Scorecard. Who should own each number when the executive is not the one executing the task?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Your leadership team must understand the difference between activity and accountability. On your Accountability Chart, the person in the leadership seat owns the metric, even if they do not perform the physical work to generate it. For example, your Head of Sales does not make every cold call, but they must own the Outbound Calls metric on your leadership Scorecard.

The seat owner is accountable for the results. If the number goes red, they do not get blamed for failing, but they are responsible for bringing that red metric to your Level 10 Meeting as an Issue. They must explain why the number is off track and present a plan to fix it.

To make this work, the executive must delegate the daily activity to their direct reports, who track their own sub-metrics on departmental scorecards. The leadership Scorecard is a roll-up of your entire organization's health. When a leader resists owning a number because they are not doing the work, they are showing a lack of GWC for their leadership seat. They must take responsibility for managing the system that produces the number, not just the number itself.