Metrics make reality visible, but they must be chosen wisely. Blending lagging outcomes (revenue, safety incidents) with leading indicators (activation rates, near-miss reports) keeps teams proactive. Goodhart’s Law (1975) warns that when a measure becomes a target, it can be gamed; thus, leaders use a balanced set, triangulate with qualitative insight, and refresh targets as the system adapts. Regular reviews convert numbers into decisions—what to stop, start, or scale. Ultimately, this measurement-iteration loop closes the translation circuit: vision shapes goals, goals shape action, action yields learning, and learning renews the vision. In Bennis’s terms, leadership proves itself not in words, but in visible, compounding results. [...]
