Accountability is not just the leader's job

Yesterday I was working with a leadership cohort. We were thinking about what creates high performing teams and the discussion of accountability came up. Of course it did. Every high performing team has clear expectations and displays both personal and team accountability.

Ok, wonderful. You do the thing and set expectations. Yay! Everyone is riding the high of team building and we can tick it off the list.

✅ Expectations = set. ✅

And usually...that's that.

Until something goes wrong.

Quality is slipping, timelines become optional, behaviours are unacceptable, silos are increasing,etc. And everyone is is left wondering, When will my leader take care of this?

And then getting increasing frustrated, When 👏 will 👏 my 👏 leader 👏 sort 👏 this 👏 out?! 👏

And then maybe some even more colourful language.

But wait. Can we challenge this mentality momentarily?

Adult to Adult ≠ Parent to Child This deference to the leader definitely teeters into parent-child relationships. Moooooom / Daaaaaaaaaaaad - They're bothering me..... You're an adult. If something isn't working for you, say something. Most people are pretty reasonable.
"It's not my place to say anything" You might not be the team leader, but you're a teammate. You're part of the team. Part of being professional working adults is peer accountability. If people have agreed to do something, together and then haven't - anyone in that group needs to own that discussion. It was a team commitment, not a leader commitment.

3 things we all can do to practice peer accountability

OK, F*ck. So you might agree with me, completely agree, but know that raising this might feel uncomfortable and hard. Do it anyways. So, without tattling to the leader, we need to raise something. How can we do that?

⚡Pro tip: It's impossible to do this without agreed expectations. How can you hold people accountable if people haven't commited to anything?

Use “us” language Try: "Hey, I think we’re slipping a bit on our agreed process—what do you reckon?" This makes it about the team, not about one person being wrong.
Be curious, not accusatory Instead of: "You missed the deadline again." Try: "Hey, I noticed that last part came in late—what’s going on there?
Your tone matters. Be human and kind first.
Follow up, not just call out. Accountability is about progress, not punishment. You've had the conversations - that's great! The job isn't over. Check in again. Celebrate the improvement. Review how you're doing things. Keep the loop going.

What can I do if I'm a leader stuck in this loop?

Set & reset expectations often. I'll repeat this again: It's impossible to hold people accountable without agreed expectations. But this isn't a spray-and-walk-away. Don’t assume once is enough. Expectations drift over time. High performing teams revisit and refine what “good” looks like regularly. ⚡Pro tip: put them somewhere visual.
Step back. You might naturally jump to step in and fix the issue. Take a breathe and start with a coaching approach first. Try these questions out:
How did ___ respond when you raised this with them? What's stopping you from raising it directly with ____? How can I support you without taking it off your hands? What would taking responsibility look like in this situation?
If you were leading this team, what would you expect from yourself?
Hold regular retrospectives. Don’t wait for drama to teach accountability. Build it into team your team rythyms by holding regular retrospectives. Make it normal, not awkward. ⚡Pro tip: you should do these at least once a quarter. Don't know where to start? Here are 5 types of retrospectives to hold with your team AND here are even more reflective practice techniques!

Want to chat more about accountability and expectation setting for your team? Reach out today!