Peter Drucker once rather joylessly stated that "effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked; leadership is defined by results not attributes," implying in the process that somehow those things were mutually exclusive.

As a marketer who spends most of his days marketing for multiple clients across several differnt industries, you might not be surprised to hear that "results" is something I end up talking about all the time. These days, results come in many forms (KPIs, OKRs, MQLs, SQLs, MRR, AARRR!), and can be measured with a seemingly never-ending new array of technologies.

Lost somewhere deep within this sea of data, hidden among Drucker's drudgery, is the “why” of results. Particularly when you’re part of a high-growth SAAS company, where dashboards are circulated weekly and discussed daily, and forecasts get met or beat on a regular basis, it can be easy to think of results as just dials on dashboards and reports to your board, when in fact it’s quite the opposite.

We should use data to make better decisions. We should always keep long-term goals in mind. We should also remember that we're talking about real people.

As a marketer, when I think about the reasons to invest in one lead gen channel over the other, how to approach a product launch, or whether a specific campaign will drive ROI (and ultimately tangible business results), I think it’s vital to consider how each of those decisions will impact the massively talented human beings I am fortunate enough to manage, as well as all my friends across the company and their families.

For me, that actually adds the right kind of urgency and immediacy to growth discussions, and encourages the need for honest, transparent communication at all times. When results are tied to actual lives, decisions take on a new level of seriousness and a different type of intensified clarity is required.

It helps to view your customers through a similar lens.

When a prospect becomes a client, they are in effect taking an educated bet based on their belief that you will help make them successful. Whether you deliver on that bet has a very real impact on their life, career, families and future, and that should drive the urgent need to provide the most excellent version of whatever it is that you provide.

Ideally, the reason great leaders should care about driving results is not just to create hockey sticks, unicorns or sky high valuation multiples. Instead they should be focused on improving the lives of the people they work with and the customers they serve. Succeed at that and anything else is possible.

‍