Leslie Rohonczy, IMC™, PCC, Executive Coach, Leadership Expert, Speaker, Author
Everyone loves a good performance dashboard – the glowing greens, the cautionary yellows, the urgent reds. We track revenue, sales targets, service levels, and customer retention like our business lives depend on it. But you can be hitting all your Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and still have a toxic, disengaged, or dysfunctional team. Why? Because they measure outcomes. But KPIs don’t measure what creates them.
WHEN NUMBERS TELL HALF THE STORY
A while back, a senior leader reached out, asking for help to shift the culture of his sales team. On paper, they looked like a dream team: quarterly targets crushed, major wins celebrated, and high fives all around. But just beneath the surface of those headline-grabbing KPIs, things were quietly falling apart. Trust had eroded, as the team operated in silos, each member focused on their own scoreboard. Collaboration had all but disappeared, with team members undercutting each other and poaching each others' deals. And two of their top performers had already walked out the door.
What was missing? Visible behavioural accountability.
KEY BEHAVIOURAL INDICATORS (KBIs)
How many KBIs should be on a leader’s scorecard? Ideally, no more than 3 to 5. That range strikes the right balance between focus and effectiveness. Behaviour change requires intention, and tracking too many indicators at once dilutes both attention and impact. A short list allows teams to align more easily, reinforces clarity, and ensures measurement is actionable – not just performative. Behavioural psychology research supports this: leaders are more likely to embed new habits when they work on a small set of consistent behaviours rather than trying to change too much at once. Choose the few KBIs that truly reflect your current strategy, leadership goals, or cultural priorities – and then reinforce them consistently.
If KPIs are the “what,” then KBIs are the “how.” KBIs track the behaviours that drive sustainable high performance – things like collaboration, accountability, emotional intelligence, feedback-seeking, curiosity, and trust-building.
A Key Behavioural Indicator is a clearly defined, observable behaviour that drives a desired outcome. It’s something you can see, name, and coach. It links directly to your strategic goals, not just in theory, but in practice.
Notice the pattern? KBIs aren’t vague character traits like “be collaborative" or "focus on accountability.” They are actions – micro-moves that signal culture, reinforce values, and drive strategy forward.
Start by identifying the observable behaviours that matter most to your strategy or high-level objectives. Then ask yourself:
What does it look like when someone is doing this well?
What does it look like when they’re not?
How can we observe or measure it (qualitatively or quantitatively)?
What actions will reinforce it – recognition, coaching, feedback, reflection?
Even simple tracking methods like peer observation grids, pulse surveys, or team retrospectives can surface valuable data.
For example:
In a high-accountability culture, someone doing this well might complete their own deliverables and check in on teammates to ensure alignment. High-performing teams show mutual support and shared ownership.
Someone not doing this well may avoid difficult conversations or stay silent in meetings. These behaviours often show up in low-trust environments and correlate with disengagement.
To observe it, try pulse surveys with prompts like “I feel safe raising concerns in team meetings,” or track feedback exchanges in retrospectives.
Reinforce it through peer recognition in meetings, group coaching debriefs, or leadership modeling. For instance, Microsoft’s “Growth Conversations” drove a 76% increase in meaningful manager-employee dialogue by reinforcing learning-focused behavioural habits.
To support your design process, here’s a list of high-impact KBIs that most leaders can start using immediately:
Shares feedback directly, constructively, and with compassion
Offers support to a peer without being asked
Admits a mistake and shares the lesson learned
Asks for input before making a team decision
Pushes back respectfully when something feels misaligned
Speaks up when timelines, quality, or morale are at risk
Recognises a colleague for their contribution in a public setting
Delegates stretch assignments with built-in feedback loops
Raises risks or early warning signs proactively
Speaks truth to power; willing to give the leader feedback
Actively listens without interrupting or steering the conversation
Seeks feedback from peers or direct reports
Encourages multiple perspectives in meetings
Invites a quieter team member into the conversation
Follows through on commitments without being chased
Shares bad news transparently with proposed next steps
Clarifies priorities when requests feel conflicting
Reflects on a tough interaction and brings insights back to the team
Practices presence in high-stakes or high-conflict discussions
Asks open-ended questions to promote solution-focused dialogue
Makes space for emotional responses without shutting them down
These behaviours are subtle, but powerful. And when woven into a team or organisation’s cultural fabric, they create the conditions for trust, innovation, and high performance.
READY TO CREATE YOUR OWN SET OF KBIs?
Start with the observable behaviours that matter most to your strategy. Remember that a behaviour is something visible and specific (for example, 'acts as a team player' is pretty generic and open to wide interpretation; instead, try 'offers specific feedback to peers that helps improve performance'). You can also look at simple tracking methods like peer observation grids, pulse surveys, or team retrospectives to help you surface valuable data.
How many KBIs should be on a leader’s scorecard? Ideally, you should have no more than 3 to 5. That range strikes the right balance between focus and effectiveness. Behaviour change requires intention, and tracking too many indicators at once dilutes both attention and impact. A short list allows teams to align more easily, reinforces clarity, and ensures measurement is actionable – not just performative. Behavioural psychology research supports this: leaders are more likely to embed new habits when they work on a small set of consistent behaviours rather than trying to change too much at once. Choose the few KBIs that truly reflect your current strategy, leadership goals, or cultural priorities – and then reinforce them consistently.
Once you've defined a few KBIs, ask yourself these questions:
What does it look like when someone is doing this behaviour well? In a high-accountability culture, this could mean a team member who not only completes their own deliverables, but also checks in on teammates to ensure interdependencies are on track. High-performing teams consistently exhibit behaviours like mutual support and peer-to-peer ownership.
What does it look like when they’re not doing this behaviour well? It's equally important to define what behaviours we don't want. In low-trust environments, team members may defer to silence in meetings, avoid difficult conversations, or hesitate to raise risks – all behaviours that reduce innovation and team development. A disengaged team might say ‘yes’ to the leader in the room, but avoid meaningful follow-up or accountability between peers.
How can we observe or measure it (qualitatively or quantitatively)? Try short pulse surveys that ask, “In the past two weeks, I’ve received constructive feedback from a peer,” or “I feel safe raising difficult issues in team settings.” Look for patterns over time, and talk about the observed trends during team meetings.
What actions, systems, or learning activities will help to reinforce it (recognition, coaching, feedback, reflection)? Publicly recognise peer-accountability behaviours during team meetings. Use team coaching circles to collectively reflect on what helped (or hurt) the group’s dynamic in a recent project. Beginning in 2015, Microsoft adopted a regular ‘Growth Conversations’ framework as part of its performance management overhaul, which led to a whopping 76% improvement in manager-employee dialogue by shifting the focus from evaluation to ongoing development.
WHEN A TEAM CULTURE TURNED AROUND
One of my executive coaching clients was grappling with a culture of passive-aggression on her leadership team. Meetings were marked by polite agreement, but that surface harmony masked real avoidance. Critical issues went unspoken, tensions were redirected into side conversations, and ownership was minimal. The team was stuck in a loop of performative collaboration and declining results. Their stagnating KPIs were a direct reflection of the underlying behaviours.
We introduced a simple dashboard with five KBIs tied to her goals. My favourite one was “When I don't agree, I say why.” At first, the team said it felt awkward and a bit risky to behave differently. But as the leader started modelling the ideal behaviours she was expecting from the team, and reinforcing it with others, the change in their culture was obvious. After six months, collaboration scores were up by 32%, and project delivery improved significantly.
THE INVITATION
If your leadership metrics are missing something, if you’re chasing numbers without seeing the culture that fuels them; if you're seeing less-than-ideal behaviours you didn't expect, it might be time to add KBIs to your dashboard. Because performance isn’t just about what you do; it’s about how you show up while doing it.
If your organisation is ready to make behaviour as measurable and meaningful as outcomes, let’s connect. I help leaders align their strategy with the impactful behaviours that will deliver it.
Visit www.leslierohonczy.com to book a free discovery call.