In a recent LinkedIn post, Surabhishenoy explores a powerful analogy to explain how business leaders can proactively manage their companies: driving a car. Surabhishenoy argues that just as a driver uses a windshield, rearview mirror, and dashboard, business leaders need a balanced view of both past performance and future potential to steer their organizations effectively.
Surabhishenoy introduces the core concept with a clear parallel:
When you drive, you have three things. A front view. A rear-view mirror. And a dashboard. Driving your business is not very different from driving a car.
The post elaborates on these components, defining them as indicators of business health. According to Surabhishenoy, metrics like revenue, profit per employee, and invoice aging fall into the ‘rear-view mirror’ category. These are described as lagging indicators, meaning they report on events that have already occurred.
Understanding Lagging Indicators
Surabhishenoy emphasizes that while essential for understanding past performance, lagging indicators are insufficient for agile decision-making, especially as a company scales. The post highlights the inherent delay in reacting to such data:
As company scales, reacting to lagging indicators becomes too slow. By the time revenue declines, the underlying cause has usually been active for months.
This delay means that by the time a leader sees a negative trend in the rearview mirror, the problems may have been festering for a significant period, making corrective actions more difficult and less effective.
The Power of Leading Indicators
In contrast, Surabhishenoy identifies forward-looking metrics such as sales projections, team capacity, and potential delivery slippage as the ‘front view’ – the leading indicators. These metrics offer a glimpse into what is likely to happen, providing leaders with a crucial window of opportunity.
Proactive Decision-Making
Surabhishenoy argues that these leading indicators are where the real opportunity for proactive management lies. If a leader doesn’t like what they foresee in the front view, they have the chance to intervene before the situation impacts the business’s current performance, which is reflected on the dashboard.
If you do not like what you see, you have time to act. Change direction. Increase speed. Add resources. Fix the bottleneck. Make the decision earlier.
This ability to act on foresight, rather than just reaction, is presented as a cornerstone of what Surabhishenoy terms ‘founder intelligence.’ This intelligence allows founders to anticipate challenges and make timely adjustments, such as altering strategy, allocating more resources, or addressing operational bottlenecks before they become critical issues.
Cultivating Founder Intelligence
The article stresses that developing this proactive mindset is crucial for sustained business success. Surabhishenoy shares that this is the core of their work with founders, focusing on identifying the most pertinent numbers that align with specific business goals.
By focusing on the right set of predictive numbers, founders can not only protect their business from unforeseen downturns but also actively shape a more successful future. Surabhishenoy concludes by inviting interested parties to connect for a discussion on how to best identify and track these vital business metrics.
📝 About This Content
This article is based on insights shared by Surabhishenoy on LinkedIn.
📅 Originally posted on June 12, 2026 | View original post on LinkedIn →