How would you design a metrics dashboard for a senior leadership team?
Model answer
Model answerLeadership dashboards fail when they show everything. A good leadership dashboard has one north star, three to five supporting metrics, and two to three guardrails — and nothing else. Each metric should trigger a clear question: 'If this drops, what do we do?' The dashboard should be readable in 90 seconds. I'd also separate leading indicators from lagging ones and color-code against agreed thresholds, not vs last week.
Framework · North Star Framework
- NNorth star first
One metric at the top — the company's health in one number - SSupporting metrics
3–5 metrics that explain the north star's movement - GGuardrails
2–3 metrics that must not decline — these are the warning lights - TThresholds
Color-code vs targets, not vs last week — last week is an arbitrary baseline
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