Think of the last time you missed a sports game that you wanted to watch. Maybe you were at a wedding and missed an NFL playoff game with your favorite sports team or maybe you just missed your kid’s soccer game because you were out of town on business. Either way, what’s the first question that comes to mind after the game is over? I bet it was “What was the score?”

Why do we always ask this question when it comes to sports? We ask because the score tells us a story. In football, if someone told you that it was 30-7, you would immediately form an idea about how the game went. The other team’s quarterback got injured or the winning team dominated with interceptions. Maybe it was a really close game, 27-24, you immediately have another idea about how the game went. The teams were neck in neck until one missed a field goal! You may not know the specifics, but the number gives you instant clarity about how the game unfolded. The same thing is true in business. We all need our scoreboards.

Our score – good or bad – tells us how to win, helps the people in our organization know what they need to do to win, and provides a clear course of action based on what the score is. Again, the football sports analogy works here. If you go into half-time and you’re up by 23 points the conversation is very different than if you’re down by 3 points. Everything about the plan changes depending on what the score is – you’re either pushing defense or offense, you change plays you call, and you may even switch up the players on the field. So the entire game plan changes based on the story the numbers are telling you and you start leading from a very different place. Here’s the funny thing though… so often we think we know our numbers. 

Find Clarity – Know Your Numbers

We may think that we know our numbers inside and out. As business owners, we pride ourselves on making numbers work to turn a profit. But the reality for most people is that we’re not as clear on our numbers as we think we are. Sure, we have a general idea. But a general idea isn’t good enough when you’re building and leading an organization.

I realized this myself recently while sitting in a tree stand and listening to podcasts for 10 hours a day. A theme throughout all the podcasts I listened to was gaining complete clarity around numbers. So when I asked myself, “Do I really, really know my numbers for all my businesses?” my ego said, “Hell, yes, of course I do.” But when I relaxed behind my ego and paused to just listen… I heard a different answer. I realized I don’t know the numbers are well as I thought I did. Sure, I know a lot of our companies’ numbers, but what I really needed to do was spend time reevaluating our numbers to make sure 1) I understood the story the numbers were telling and was setting the plan and vision accordingly, and 2) I was focusing on the best numbers that would tell the most accurate story. 

It’s impossible to plan effectively when you are not totally clear on all your numbers. If the numbers aren’t complete, the story you’re telling yourself isn’t complete either. The same is true in life. How often do people avoid hopping on the scale? It happens all the time, right? And why do we avoid it? Because we know numbers don’t lie. Numbers aren’t emotional (though we may feel emotional about them); they are hard facts. We can’t talk our way out of a number. Once we know the number, we’re faced with a choice – keep being the same person or change and become a new person. I can speak to this firsthand because I did this for years before getting serious about losing weight. When I decided to hop on the scale, I was also committing to a new way of being in the world. It can be hard to look at the number, but when you do, it can change who you are forever.

In business, we also come up with a whole bunch of reasons why we don’t have to look at our numbers, and often we’ve hired people to know them for us (whether it be an accountant, operations manager or CFO). But if we’re not looking at our numbers square in the face daily or at least weekly, we don’t know the full story and our business suffers as a result. When we look at the numbers frequently, we gain so much more clarity about how to lead our business, our team, and the next steps we need to take. 

Create a System For Knowing Your Business Financials

Look, it’s not fun to constantly be looking at your numbers. If you’re like me, then you need to make sure you have a system in place to have the numbers prepared and presented to you at regular intervals, otherwise, you’re just going to trick yourself into thinking you know what they are, and likely avoid them altogether! Create a system around your numbers – whether it’s your bookkeeper giving you weekly reports, your sales dashboard creating an automatic report, or another team member compiling the data for you to review – get those numbers and make sure you understand the story they are telling you. This is essential information to help drive the company forward. Figure out what your most important metric (i.e., number) is for your business, and then make sure you create a system to look at that number daily. 

Here’s the big takeaway though – numbers shouldn’t make you feel bad about yourself if you don’t like what you see. Even if you’ve been avoiding them, numbers are data, and data provides clarity, and clarity provides power and speed in business and life. Whether it’s out of control operational costs, massive debt you’ve accumulated, your best sales quarter ever, or an uncomfortable number on the scale, stay neutral. It’s just as dangerous to get overly excited and confident from a large increase in revenue, as it is to become depressed and paralyzed by a huge loss. The more you can step back and let go of any emotions or attachment to the number, and look at it as pure information, the faster you’ll be able to make a sound strategic decision for your organization. This is where your growth as a leader happens. Numbers tell the truth. And the truth sets you free.  

Want more on this topic? Head on over to the podcast episode “Do You REALLY Know Your Numbers?” where I take a deeper dive into numbers and why they are so essential to your success.