The Rising Tide

The Keys to Dismissing Vanity Metrics and Focusing on Real Value

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November 17, 2023
Book titled "The Keys to Blocking Out Vanity Metrics While Building Your Firm on Substance and Reality" by Milemarker, displayed alongside an open magazine featuring food imagery, scissors, and push pins, emphasizing practical insights on meaningful metrics in financial management.

This past Saturday, we watched the Washington Huskies take on Utah. Washington and their quarterback, Michael Penix, Jr. have been really enjoyable to watch as they play with intensity and precision and have had a ton of success.

This past week, one key moment put the outcome of their game in peril.

While running back a tipped pass from Utah, a Huskies linebacker secured the ball but dropped it just before crossing the goal line in premature celebration.

It’s the kind of thing you have to see to believe 👇

Watching this got me thinking about the times people I know and I had counted wins before they were real and the false facts we think that led us to delusion.

In our industry, metrics get a lot of attention, especially AUM.

While the amount of money being managed is undeniably helpful, it can’t tell the whole story of a business’s success. It will never capture the depth of client happiness, the strength of relationships with advisors, and the overall daily delivered experience.

Putting too much weight into a single metric, even AUM is like dropping the ball before crossing the goal line.

Yes, metrics matter, but tying numbers to intent, passion, and impact creates real meaning that can more profoundly drive success.

Giving your team an AUM goal for 2024 and pulling them along all year based on it is one-dimensional. It’s time to determine the core metrics that truly matter.

The call is for intentional goal-setting and alignment as we approach the year’s final stretch and set our sights on 2024. It’s about spending that extra time in the huddle, asking ourselves what it will take not to drop the ball and how we can achieve success together as a team.

1. I have frequently relied on the Entrepreneur Operation System (EOS) for goal setting, meeting structure, and more. EOS is a set of simple concepts and practical tools used by more than 190,000+ companies worldwide to clarify, simplify, and achieve their vision. It helps you craft meaningful metrics for everyone to carry. You can see your next 12 months through the lens of the Six Key Components™.

2. System and Soul Framework:

1. Business framework that combines the system and soul of your business to create a breakthrough.

2. A balance of process and people – made up of six elements that are the backbone of proven, productive, and well-loved organizations everywhere.

3. OKR Framework:

1. A goal management framework that helps organizations implement and execute their strategy.

2. A powerful way to formulate goals, enabling organizations, teams, and individuals to set clear and measurable outcome-driven goals that encourage collaboration.

Ultimately, choose whichever framework works for you and your business, and remember that the value lies not in the framework itself but in how you and your team embrace it and work inside it.

As we navigate the last 10 yards of this year, let’s carry the ball across the finish line as we invest the time intentionally and align our teams with clarity to focus on what truly matters to our firms.

Let’s drive action toward meaningful metrics that help us all win together.