FEATURED POST OF THE WEEK

Our long-form article of the week. You can always view the current and past featured posts on Empower’s blog.

Stop tracking everything. Measure what accelerates your path forward.

“What gets measured gets managed.”

You’ve probably heard that one before. When operating in “business as usual,” it’s a reliable turn of phrase. But when the ground is shifting, like it has been for many this year, what you choose to measure (and how) becomes even more critical to your business’s agility.

From shifting consumer behavior to tariffs to a shaky economic outlook to rapidly advancing technology, and everything in between, many entrepreneurs are navigating a growing list of unknowns. In that environment, the instinct can be to do more: pull more reports, chase more metrics and monitor everything. But, more doesn’t equal better.

If you’re not measuring what matters for your business, you don’t have the right tools to operate effectively. You’ll instead manage a lot of noise. However, that won’t surface what moves the needle.

🩺 KPIs: Metrics that keep you on the pulse

Key performance indicators (KPIs) are ongoing metrics that should reflect how your business is performing and where it’s headed. They’re critical components to understanding company health, progress and uncovering bottlenecks.

When designed well, KPIs serve these key purposes:

• Alignment and visibility: They provide the north star and a tangible way to align your team on company health.

• Focus: They ground stakeholders on what matters most at the functional and overall business levels.

• Accountability: They assign ownership to key outcomes and provide clear signals for when things go off track.

⚠️ But there are perils

KPIs are great, but they’re only helpful when you establish the right ones. There are many traps you could fall into when establishing performance metrics, so hopefully, highlighting several of them here will help you spot and avoid them early.

• Tracking too much: When every data point becomes a KPI, you lose clarity around the signals that matter most.

• Vanity metrics: Don’t get sucked in metrics that look good, but don’t drive meaningful outcomes (e.g., # of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) created vs. SOP adoption or error rates).

• Lack of data consistency: Ensure you have quality data readily available to measure KPIs consistently over time. Otherwise, they won’t be reliable sources or provide accurate insight.

• No clear ownership: When no person or team is accountable for a KPI, and actively responsible for driving results, it may get ignored, explained away or kicked down the priority list.

🔦 Guiding principles to manage the business with the right indicators

If you find yourself reviewing data dashboards or you’ve identified a need to create one, keep these five principles in mind:

1. Start at the top: Ensure your KPIs tie to your overarching strategy and core objectives.

2. Limit the list: Focus on the critical 3-5 metrics per department or business function. Even if you’re a solopreneur, think about your functional areas and establish a few meaningful metrics for each (e.g., sales, marketing, customer satisfaction, service delivery, etc.).

3. Don’t only lag; also lead: Maintain a balance of lagging (i.e., outcomes) and leading (i.e., inputs that help predict results) indicators. The latter provides you with the opportunity to pivot early if needed. Those leading indicators also increase in importance the longer your sales cycle.

4. Build in time for review: Metrics do nothing for you if they just sit on a dashboard. Create regular moments to reflect, discuss and make decisions based on what the data is telling you.

5. Be flexible: As your business evolves, KPIs should too. Don’t be afraid to let something go that’s no longer relevant.

🫥 Ignorance is…not bliss

In any given week, month, quarter or year, measuring what matters is a foundational discipline. In 2025, arming yourself with the right data points will provide an outsized advantage.

Thoughtful, focused KPIs deliver clearer signals. They show you where you’re gaining traction, where risks are emerging and where you may need to adapt the plan.

Whether surfacing a hidden retention issue, uncovering a high-performing marketing channel or spotting a delivery bottleneck, your metrics should help you act with agility, not react with guesswork.

You won’t necessarily win by running harder at more things. You’ll outperform when you have visibility into what’s working, where you’re vulnerable and you take smart action.

Need help?

I’ll offer a FREE 45-minute KPI clarity call to the first three people who reply to this newsletter expressing interest.

Looking for strategic operational guidance beyond KPIs? Let’s have a discovery call to discuss your needs and assess how Empower can support you.

WEEKLY DOSE OF EMPOWERMENT

If you would like to submit a tip to be shared with the Empower community in a future newsletter, please reach out at [email protected] with the subject line “Weekly Dose of Empowerment Submission.”

Viewing hope as an advantage

This dose of empowerment is inspired by Harvard Business Review. While there may be people who think of “hope” as a feel-good or “woo woo” emotion, there’s an argument to be made that it can be a strategic tool for leaders wanting their business and team to thrive.

Especially today’s environment, keying in on the power of hope could be a meaningful tool in our tool belts.

How do we harness a culture of hope? Harvard Business Review suggests three tactics to start:

• Set shared goals: Develop clear goals around a unified mission and shared values. You’ll ground people in their purpose and understanding of how they contribute to progress.

• Empower autonomy: People need to feel control over their future to feel a sense of hope. Loosen restraints and give your team opportunities to explore their own ideas.

• Celebrate progress: The power of small wins. Recognizing these accomplishments reinforces positive feedback loops and keeps people motivated.

JESSICA’S READ, OR LISTEN, PICK OF THE WEEK

A little something that got my gears turning this week and might pique your interest as well!

From Bootstrapped Giants: Your big hiring mistake 

TL;DR

I’ve previously discussed the importance of hiring the right people in the right seats for this newsletter. In this article, the author, Jesse Pujji, opens up about an executive hiring mistake he made in 2014 that cost him >$1 million.

In the 10 years since, Pujji has distilled his hiring lessons to these five things:

• Know what “great” looks like.

• Watch actions, not words.

• Assess fit as much as skill.

• Dig into leadership traits.

• Self-awareness (and responsibility) is key.

Read the full article for more details. It’s a good one for anyone considering expanding their teams, with a desire to do it thoughtfully.

JUST FOR FUN

Really, this section is just for fun. Who knows what will be in store each week?

I had a whirlwind trip to Denver last week for an event (sorry for my Denver folks I didn’t reach out to/get to see), but I did have the opportunity to have a late solo dinner at a great restaurant. I highly recommend Kawa Ni for anyone who lives in, or plans to visit, the Mile High City, and who appreciates creative cuisine.

Have you eaten anywhere memorable on a recent trip? 

Hit REPLY and let me know about it. I’m always looking for new spots to add to city lists.

LOOKING FOR MORE EMPOWERMENT?

You’ve worked hard to build your business. Let’s work together to make it last. We want to be your partner in the journey to develop the business that lives into your vision.

There are four primary ways Empower can partner with you to support getting your business to the next level. Click the image below to learn more about our core offerings.

If you’re ready to take the step, reach out to discuss how we can support your goals. 

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