If profitability is so important, why do smart leadership teams still struggle to manage it effectively?

In my experience, the challenge is not a lack of financial data. It is a lack of integration and causality.

Most organizations measure revenue, costs, and investments in separate systems, using separate models, for separate purposes. Each view may be technically sound, yet together they fail to explain how decisions actually create—or erode—value.

As a result, boards and CEOs are often asked to evaluate strategic initiatives without a clear line of sight into their profitability implications. Decisions are debated, assumptions are challenged, but the underlying economics remain opaque.

This is where governance becomes difficult.

Effective oversight requires more than confidence in the numbers. It requires confidence in the relationships behind the numbers—how pricing decisions affect demand, how operational choices affect cost behavior, how investment decisions shape long-term profitability.

When those relationships are visible, conversations change. Boards move from asking “Did we hit the target?” to “Do we understand the consequences of our choices?”

That shift—from monitoring outcomes to understanding drivers—is essential for modern leadership.

If boards and executive teams want to strengthen strategy execution and risk oversight, they must demand insight that explains profitability, not just reports that describe it.