Why Accountability Is So Difficult (and How To Stay on Track)
What separates good companies from great companies? Accountability.
Accountability is about leadership and employees taking responsibility for the actions, decisions, and outcomes so that they own their work and deliver results. “It’s doing what you say you’ll do,” says CEO coach Lisa Tanzer. “Building a culture of accountability creates a common language of goals and outcomes that help you communicate better with one another as a team. When you trust one another, it leads to better decision-making.”
But it’s easy to talk about holding yourself and your teams accountable.
Actually doing it takes significantly more work.
An accountability system helps you and your team hold fast to your responsibilities and meet your goals. In this post, we’ll break down why it’s so difficult for teams to stay on target—and how you can build a culture of accountability for your organization that starts with you.
Why it’s so difficult to build a culture of accountability
When we talk about accountability, we’re really talking about three things: Focus, ownership, and transparency.
Focus + ownership + transparency = accountability
First, focus. If everything is important, then nothing is. Without a clear vision from you about where you want the company to go, it’s easy to get caught up in all the shiny objects out there to chase—splitting your team’s focus and keeping you from winning BIG.
“I find that teams often want to build too many priorities, and what we found is that when you do that, it becomes very difficult to be successful with any of them,” says CEO coach Tracy Tolbert. “You have to make sure you’re only prioritizing one to three things, and that each of those have measurable KPIs. That’s the foundation for success.”
The second way accountability falls apart is ownership. That doesn’t mean one person does all the work—it just means one person takes charge to get it done. It’s great if your team wants to collaborate, but ultimately, ownership should come down to one person for each major priority. Says Tracy, “When we do strategic planning, people want to have multiple owners, or the CEO wants to own everything. But if a specific person in the organization doesn’t own it, it just won’t happen.”
Finally, transparency. Each goal you set should have clear KPIs that show whether or not you achieved that goal. Make sure everyone in your organization—from your interns to your direct leadership team—needs access to this information. “Sometimes companies won’t share with their employees what the revenue or EBITDA targets are, which means there’s no visibility to the entire company about what’s important,” says Tracy. “You can’t motivate your team without visibility.”
Accountability starts with you
As CEO, one of your most important jobs is to create a clear vision for your company to follow. That vision, and the goals and KPIs that fall underneath it, is what sets your business up for success.
“It starts at the top,” says Lisa. “As leaders, you need to model your values with discipline and consistency. You need to be the same person showing up every day.”
To create a culture of accountability, you need to build consistency at every layer of the organization. To do this:
- Identify a North Star and create an annual plan that includes your mission, vision, and values for your organization. What are you trying to achieve? Choose no more than 3-5 strategic priorities. This gives you focus.
- Define roles and assign ownership for both departments and individuals, so that each person knows exactly how they fit into the larger mission of the organization. This divides the work among your team so each person has ownership over a piece of the goal.
- Build a company dashboard that tracks the specific and measurable activities that lead to your desired outcomes. Make these available to everyone. From there, monitor your performance on a weekly, monthly, and quarterly basis, checking in with your progress and making adjustments before it’s too late to pivot and adjust as necessary. Then, talk about this as a team and on 1:1s so it continues to be top of mind. This makes your targets and your progress transparent to everyone.
“When I talk to clients about their business, they often complain about the team not performing as they should,” says Lisa. “So I always ask, does your team know what you expect from them? And often the answer to that question is no.”
Without establishing clear goals—and consequences when you don’t meet your goals—the whole idea of accountability is impossible to achieve. Remember, visibility = accountability. Empower your team to see how they fit into your vision by bringing them into your plan for the business. Each member should feel excited about how their work can help you all achieve BIG milestones.
Hire a coach to help hold you accountable
If you’re holding all of your team members accountable, who’s holding you accountable as a leader?
That’s exactly why hiring a coach can be so helpful. They say “it’s lonely at the top,” but it doesn’t have to be—a coach who has been in your shoes before can be a great sounding board as you lead your team through unexpected challenges, whether that’s prepping for a merger, securing the next round of funding, or expanding internationally.
Working with an expert can be just the outside perspective you need to stick to the system, maintain momentum, and keep making BIG happen. That’s why hiring a coach can be one of the best decisions you’ll ever make. Learn more >
Learn more with our free eBook, 7 Keys to Building a Culture of Accountability
Our eBook, 7 Keys to Building a Culture of Accountability, will help you build a culture that keeps your organization on track to hit (and exceed) your goals—so you can grow BIG.
About CEO Coaching International
CEO Coaching International works with CEOs and their leadership teams to achieve extraordinary results quarter after quarter, year after year. Known globally for its success in coaching growth-focused entrepreneurs to meaningful exits, the firm has coached more than 1,500+ CEOs and entrepreneurs across 100+ industries and 60 countries. Its coaches—former CEOs, presidents, and executives—have led businesses ranging from startups to over $10 billion, driving double-digit sales and profit growth, many culminating in eight, nine, or ten-figure exits.
Companies that have worked with CEO Coaching International for two years or more have achieved an average revenue CAGR of 25.9%, nearly 3X the U.S. average, and an average EBITDA CAGR of 39.2%, more than 4X the national benchmark.
Discover how coaching can transform your leadership journey at ceocoachinginternational.com.
Learn more about executive coaching | Meet our world-class coaches
