How KPIs Drive Accountability and Results in Winning Teams

When I joined the Pittsburgh Pirates as Vice President of People and Strategy, the organization was grappling with a challenge common to many teams: we had a lot of data but no clear way to connect it to strategic priorities. I was hired to create a strategic plan and KPI framework that would bridge this gap, aligning data, strategy, and daily execution to drive results.

While the framework and dashboard we built made significant strides, many of the underlying issues—such as inconsistent accountability, siloed efforts, and underutilized metrics—remained difficult to fully resolve. These challenges underscored just how critical leadership, alignment, and follow-through are in building cultures of accountability.

Today, as the founder of Russo Leadership, I draw on those lessons to help organizations navigate similar challenges, ensuring that their KPIs aren’t just tracked—they’re transformative.

The Challenge: Data Without Actionable Insights

When I joined the Pirates, the organization had data everywhere: ticket sales, fan engagement, operational metrics, and more. But there was no system to connect this information to organizational goals. The result was a fragmented approach that left teams working in silos and struggling to see how their daily efforts impacted the bigger picture.

To address this, I developed a strategic plan that included a KPI framework and dashboard designed to align every department’s work with the organization’s five strategic priorities. This dashboard turned raw data into actionable insights, allowing teams to see how their performance influenced key outcomes like fan satisfaction and operational efficiency.

However, simply having the framework wasn’t enough. As we implemented it, several deeper challenges came to light.

Aligning KPIs to Strategy: The Wins and the Gaps

The first step in building the KPI framework was to define a key organizational metric for each of the five strategic priorities. For example, Net Promoter Score (NPS) became our primary measure of fan engagement and satisfaction. While NPS was critical for understanding long-term success, it wasn’t actionable in real time.

To address this, we broke NPS down into leading indicators that departments could influence on a daily basis, such as ticket sales conversion rates, game-day service ratings, and digital engagement metrics. These leading indicators provided the real-time feedback necessary to adjust efforts proactively.

The dashboard was a major win—it provided visibility across the organization and fostered conversations about alignment and accountability. But challenges remained:

• Metrics Without Sustained Motivation: Teams didn’t always feel connected to the metrics, as there were no incentives tied to performance.

• Inconsistent Reviews: Without a disciplined cadence of metric reviews, progress was often uneven.

• Siloed Execution: Departments focused on their own metrics, but cross-functional collaboration was limited.

Lessons Learned from Unresolved Challenges

The KPI framework was a step forward, but the experience revealed that a framework alone isn’t enough to solve deeper cultural and operational challenges. These lessons now inform my work with organizations looking to build accountability:

1. Siloed Data Limits Results
   Even with a dashboard, teams struggled to connect their actions to larger organizational goals. This highlighted the need for more collaboration across departments and clearer communication about how individual metrics fit into the bigger picture.

2. Metrics Alone Don’t Drive Engagement
   Without tying KPIs to rewards, recognition, or team incentives, motivation waned over time. Teams needed to see not only how they were performing but also why their performance mattered.

3. Accountability Requires Consistency
   Regular check-ins and accountability conversations were missing. As a result, teams sometimes lost focus or missed opportunities to celebrate progress and learn from setbacks.

4. Management by Exception Was Underutilized
   Leadership often spent time on routine updates rather than diving into the metrics that deviated significantly from expectations. This meant critical issues weren’t always addressed in time to make an impact.

How to Build a Winning KPI Framework

If you’re facing similar challenges in creating alignment and accountability, here are key takeaways based on my experience at the Pirates:

1. Start with Strategic Priorities
   Every KPI should be tied to a strategic priority. This ensures that metrics are meaningful and directly support the organization’s vision.

2. Focus on Leading and Lagging Indicators
   Lagging indicators (like NPS) provide a retrospective view, but leading indicators are what drive action. Build a balanced framework that incorporates both.

3. Create a Centralized Dashboard
   A dashboard is essential for transparency, but it needs to be actively used in leadership conversations to ensure accountability.

4. Tie Metrics to Rewards and Recognition
   Link KPIs to incentives, whether through bonuses, recognition programs, or team celebrations. This turns data into a motivator, not just a measurement tool.

5. Establish a Review Cadence
   Consistency is key. Regular weekly or monthly reviews ensure that metrics stay relevant and actionable.

6. Promote Collaboration Across Silos
   Encourage cross-functional conversations about metrics to ensure alignment and collaboration.

7. Practice Management by Exception
   Focus leadership energy on outliers—whether it’s celebrating extraordinary results or addressing critical underperformance.

Building a Culture of Accountability

Reflecting on my time with the Pirates, I’ve learned that creating a KPI framework is just the first step. The harder, ongoing work lies in fostering a culture where data isn’t just collected—it’s connected, discussed, and acted upon.

Today, as the founder of Russo Leadership, I help organizations bridge the gap between metrics and motivation. By addressing challenges like inconsistent reviews, siloed efforts, and disconnected incentives, I work with leaders to create systems that drive accountability and results.

If your organization is ready to move beyond data overload and build a culture of alignment and trust, let’s start a conversation. Together, we can design a KPI framework that turns metrics into meaningful action and results into a way of life.

Contact Russo Leadership to learn how we can help your team unlock the full potential of KPIs and build a culture of winning.