It's a heckuva lot easier to skate by without accountability.
I've absolutely struggled writing my next book. I have a great idea in my head of what I want to create, but when it's time to actually write?
I hit a wall.
I feel an incredible amount of friction when it comes to the doing. I imagine it's something most of us deal with at one point or another - we know what we want to do but translating from our head to doing it with our hands is where we get stuck.
After a couple of months of staring at a blinking cursor before moving on to other "priorities," I decided to make a change.
I reached out to the editor who helped me with Lead Better Now and asked to hire her as my accountability writing coach for this third book.
We had a call, set deadlines, and I'm accountable to delivering content to her prior to specific dates.
Did it make the friction go away? Absolutely not.
Did it help me push through the friction? Absolutely.
Sometimes the thing we need to get "over" the hump isn't more time - it's more accountability.
It's a Game-Changer
A Harvard Business Review study found teams with strong accountability systems increased productivity by 22%. No surprise there. Clarity and ownership drive results.
But here’s the real kicker: 80% of employees say they need clear, consistent feedback to build trust and accountability.
Yet, too many teams operate in environments where expectations are vague, mistakes are hidden, and accountability is dodged. That’s a losing culture.
Without accountability:
❌ Deadlines slip.
❌ Mistakes multiply.
❌ Mediocrity takes over.
High-performance teams don’t avoid accountability. They embrace it.
The 5 Non-Negotiables of a Strong Culture Include:
✅ Crystal Clear Expectations – No room for ambiguity. Define roles, deliverables, and deadlines with precision.
(PS - in my experience, it's better to over communicate on this than under communicate and assume)
✅ Ownership Over Blame – People must feel responsible, not fearful of repercussions.
Brene Brown refers to this as 'Rumbling with Vulnerability,” which encourages teams to have tough, honest conversations without defensiveness - so we can create the psychological safety needed for people to feel comfortable taking ownership.
✅ Consistent Feedback – Celebrate wins, address failures, and ensure course correction happens early.
✅ Aligned Incentives – Rewarded behavior is repeated behavior. What gets ignored gets worse.
✅ Modeled Excellence – If you don’t hold yourself to the highest standard, why would your team? Be an example to follow instead of a lesson to avoid.
Simple Steps to Take This Week
1️⃣ Reaffirm Expectations in Writing
Get the team together and clarify the non-negotiables. Who owns what? How is success measured?
Write it down - meeting notes, dashboards, or visual boards keep everyone on the same page.
2️⃣ Implement a “No Excuses” Check-In
Hold a team huddle focused on solutions, not blame. Ask:
➡ What’s working?
➡ What’s not?
➡ What’s the fix?
The Navy SEALs do this after every mission - stripping rank and egos to review what went right objectively, what went wrong, and how to improve. That’s real accountability.
3️⃣ Call Out Wins & Gaps Immediately
Accountability thrives in real-time.
Catch someone doing great work? Praise them now.
See someone slipping? Address it privately before small issues become big ones.
We're excellent at "Gotcha!" moments when people mess up, but how about when we see them doing good? The more we can lean into effectively catching productive behavior, the more it will be done. Rewarded behavior is repeated behavior.
Make accountability a habit, not an afterthought.
💭 Final Thought:
Accountability isn’t about control. It’s about commitment.
The stronger the accountability, the stronger the results.
Lead like it matters this week, because it does Reader,
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