How tracking the wrong scoreboard can sabotage results—and how great leaders can fix it
In football, if a team celebrates every yard gained but never crosses the goal line, the fans don’t cheer—they leave. Unhappy.
In sales—and leadership—we do this more often than we’d like to admit.
We track how many calls were made, how many meetings were scheduled, how many touches were logged. Widgets reign. The activity reports look full. The team seems busy.
But something feels off, doesn’t it? If you don’t feel it, your team does.
They’re pushing hard. They’re working long hours. And yet the results aren’t adding up.
It feels like you’re pushing a boulder uphill every day—only to watch it roll right back down the next.
That’s not a motivation issue. That’s what happens when the goal line isn’t clear.
“Efforts and courage are not enough without purpose and direction.” — John F. Kennedy
When the Wrong Goal Line Becomes the Mission
Here’s something I’ve seen often—and have lived through myself.
A highly capable leader gets promoted within a sales organization. But their strengths are more operational, analytical, and process driven. So, they build systems. Dashboards. Metrics.
They forget what actually drives great sales performance. The top producers succeed because of entirely different strengths—and usually, they’re not the same strengths their new leader brings to the table.
But if metrics are the leader’s main focus, something vital gets lost: the reason we’re selling in the first place—meeting a real need of a real person through a real relationship.
That gets buried under checklists, dashboards, and demands for activity—when what really matters is building trust, creating connection, and delivering real value.
I’ve worked with many leaders who fell into this trap—I’m sure unintentionally. Almost overnight, their sales organizations shifted from serving clients to counting interactions.
The focus stopped being, “How well did we add value today?” and became, “How many meetings did you log?” The scoreboard replaced the mission.
And the worst part? Our best people knew it.
“Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.” — William Bruce Cameron
The real sales professionals didn’t need another tracker—they need inspiration and motivation.
They need support to stay focused on what actually drives results: improving and maintaining their mindset, energy, and focus to keep helping clients achieve what matters most to them.
I bet you’ve seen this too.
You’ve seen what happens when leaders start chasing the wrong win. It leads to quiet disengagement, rising frustration, and a team that slowly stops believing they can make a real difference.
Eventually, it leads to something worse: turnover.
Let’s Talk About What’s Really Going On
This isn’t really a sales problem—it’s a leadership opportunity.
- You may be asking your team for more effort, when what they really need is better support to do what they do best.
- You may be measuring movement, when what you really want is growing momentum.
- You might be talking more than you’re listening—and they feel it.
Why is this a problem?
Your team is in front of the customer. And you’re not. They’re listening to the client, asking the right questions, and connecting real human needs to real solutions. They understand the goals, the pain points, and the transformational impact your solutions can make.
But if they’ve gotten the message—explicitly or not—that serving the client isn’t the highest win you value, you’ve unintentionally moved the goal line.
This is a problem for you, too. You may feel frustrated with your team, with the misalignment, with the results. Maybe even disappointed.
Why isn’t this working? It shouldn’t be this hard. Hitting goals and serving clients shouldn’t feel like opposing forces.
When people don’t know what matters most, they start pouring effort into what’s easiest to measure—or what they think will please their leaders—not what creates real wins. And just like in football—if five-yard running plays become the focus, how do they stay locked on the end zone?
Here’s What Great Sales Leaders Do Instead
They don’t settle for activity. They don’t let metrics drive the mission. They lead with clear focus and values-driven purpose.
Leaders want it all—revenue growth, client satisfaction, efficiency. They forget the tradeoffs. And when the message isn’t crystal clear, the mission gets muddied.
Your team must always know what defines the ultimate win—for them—even if your win as a leader looks a little different.
- If revenue is the ultimate win, build systems that drive revenue.
- If client satisfaction is the win, design systems that prioritize the client experience—even when that occasionally comes at the expense of revenue.
- If operational efficiency is the highest priority, recognize that revenue and client satisfaction may need to take a back seat.
Great sales leaders align the scoreboard with the real goal: driving revenue by helping clients win.
Other priorities are necessary, but secondary.
To lead this well, you must:
- Reaffirm and refocus your team on how they help clients win—so those clients become raving fans, not just logged interactions.
- Protect your team’s motivation by reinforcing the priorities they already know drive results—and ensure everything else supports, rather than distracts from, those goals.
- Help your team understand your different roles—that as a leader, you need metrics and tracking to manage performance, and as producers, they need to stay focused on the client. Invite them to buy into your tracking systems as a way to support you and senior leaders—while reaffirming that it’s not their primary purpose. This synergy allows them to stay focused on delivering deep value while helping you lead effectively.
Because when your team knows what matters most, they don’t just work harder. They work smarter. They re-engage. And results follow.
“The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.” — Stephen Covey
Want Help Realigning the Scoreboard?
This is what I do.
I help sales leaders like you cut through the noise, reconnect your team to what really matters, and build momentum that lasts.
Of the many tools I use, CliftonStrengths and Maxwell DISC can help leaders understand the people behind the performance—so they can align roles, improve communication, and drive results with greater clarity and efficiency.
If you’re tired of pushing the boulder uphill—or watching your best people become discouraged, burn out or leave because their chasing the wrong goals—let’s talk.
Let’s start the conversation. Send me a message, and let’s talk about what success could look like for your team.
Not ready yet? Subscribe to The Breakthrough Brief—my weekly insights to help you grow, lead, and succeed without burnout.
Because the goal isn’t just to move the ball. The goal is to win the game—and bring your team with you.
Want to get more inspiration: Most Managers Think They’re Coaching—They’re Not | Sherri Bartin Coaching or check out my weekly newsletters on LinkedIn: The Breakthrough Brief.
