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I Have Some Questions...
Most people know the headline of a leader’s story. Few know the path it took to get there. This podcast goes beyond titles, book launches and business wins, to explore the lived journey behind the thought leader.
Through deep, unhurried conversations, we uncover the moments that shaped them—the doubts, pivots, convictions, and quiet breakthroughs that built their body of work.
Each episode features authors, coaches, executives, and bold thinkers who have forged their own path. Instead of rehearsed talking points, they’re invited into a space where thoughtful questions unlock something more human. The result is a layered conversation that reveals not just what they preach, but how they became the kind of person who can teach it.
Because we believe the best stories aren’t always told—they’re revealed. And when brilliant people are given the right questions and the room to answer them fully, what emerges is insight you can feel, frameworks you can apply, and a deeper understanding of what it truly takes to lead, create, and contribute at a meaningful level.
I Have Some Questions...
133: "Are You a Great Chaser of Vanity Metrics?" ft. Alli Murphy
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
In this conversation, Erik and returning co-host Alli Murphy unpack a subtle but dangerous pattern in modern leadership: we often reward visibility, speed, and activity instead of real impact.
What starts as a question about “performing busy” quickly expands into a deeper systems-level conversation—how incentive structures, feedback loops, and cultural norms quietly shape behavior (often in the wrong direction).
From sales dashboards to inbox anxiety to creative work being squeezed out by responsiveness, this episode challenges leaders to rethink what they measure, reward, and reinforce—and offers practical ways to start shifting it.
🧭 Conversation Highlights
- The “Performing Busy” Trap
Teams often optimize for what’s visible—emails sent, meetings held, reports filled—rather than what actually drives outcomes. - Effectiveness > Efficiency
Doing more isn’t the goal. Doing what matters is. Leaders must prioritize impact over volume. - The Power of “So What?”
Activity without context is meaningless. Communicating impact requires connecting actions to outcomes. - Systems Shape Behavior
Incentives, reporting structures, and feedback loops often unintentionally reward the wrong things. - Change Happens One Conversation at a Time
Cultural shifts don’t happen through announcements—they happen through repeated, intentional conversations.
💡 Key Takeaways
- You get what you reward—whether you mean to or not
If you reward responsiveness, you’ll get responsiveness. If you reward impact, you’ll get impact. - Vanity metrics are seductive—but dangerous
They’re easy to track, easy to share, and often completely disconnected from real results. - Clarity beats activity
The question isn’t “what did you do?”—it’s “what changed because of what you did?” - Local optimization can break the whole system
Improving one area in isolation can actually make overall performance worse. - Leaders must actively deprogram “looking busy” culture
This takes time, repetition, and individual coaching—not just top-down directives.
❓ Questions That Mattered
- Are we rewarding activity… or actual impact?
- What signals are we unintentionally sending through our systems?
- How do we distinguish between being efficient and being effective?
- What does “so what?” look like in how we communicate our work?
- Where are we optimizing parts of the system at the expense of the whole?
🗣️ Notable Quotes
- “Stop making your reports look longer and start putting things in them that actually matter.”
- “Be more interested in being effective than being efficient.”
- “We did this… so what?”
- “When you optimize each system, you can make the whole system worse.”
- “Looking busy doesn’t make you dollars.”
🔗 Links & Resources