Activity but no progress, meetings with no follow-up, confused responsibilities, impossible demands, missed milestones, low morale, poor engagement, talent drain—does this sound familiar? These are the symptoms of the epidemic of underperformance in organizations that are being driven by issues with accountability.
We all have accountability expectations every day, but they are so deeply embedded in our social structures, that we barely give them a thought. And that’s the issue. We aren’t aware of what they look like in practice and so we’re not intentional about how we meet or navigate them. This is what creates underperformance—whether that’s hitting our KPIs, supporting team culture, creating safe and effective relationships, or living our lives in a meaningful and fulfilling way.
Who moved the glue?
The thing is, without accountability, nothing sticks. Not your latest transformational change initiative, not your best talent, nothing. Without accountability, poor-quality work, decisions, and leadership go unchallenged, and ethical slips start to happen.
Without accountability, leaders, teams, and organizations fall behind as the scale of disruption, complexity of change, and pace of technological advancement increase. Without accountability, we waste time, money, and energy in a fog of confusion and dysfunctional, ineffective relationships.
Without accountability, underperformance becomes persistent and pervasive. Research suggests that when organizations get accountability wrong:
- 75% of team members see solving problems as someone else’s job
- 65% don’t see due dates as real commitments
- 80% don’t seek and offer feedback often
- 82% try but fail to hold others accountable (or avoid it altogether)
- 85% are unsure what the organization is trying to achieve.
What’s the underperformance problem?
Part of the problem is that accountability is so deeply embedded in the way we live, work, and play—in the social and cultural norms and expectations—that we don’t even see it. The other problem is that accountability slips in small, stealthy ways. It catches us when we are tired, busy, and distracted, when the follow-up conversation feels too hard and it’s easier to give someone the benefit of the doubt, just this once.
Rarely do we jump off the accountability cliff. Like an eroding rock face, it wears away over time as we progressively let expectations of ourselves, and others, slide. And as it does, other important things slip away, too—things like encouraging inclusive behaviors, listening to and acting on diverse perspectives, calling out toxic culture, and modeling human-centered leadership.
What is the answer to underperformance?
While there may be plenty of things we should be doing and focusing on to address underperformance, without personal ownership and accountability, we’re just wasting our time, effort, and energy.
Without knowing what’s yours to own before you point the blame finger at others, without considering what’s realistically possible and what’s not, and then communicating that clearly and cleanly, and without genuinely understanding what the expectations are of you (and of others), you’re setting yourself up for stress, drama, and underperformance.
To build a strong foundation of accountability I believe we need to be clear, curious, and connected. Here are some questions I’ve found useful to help me be just that when I’m feeling frustrated with accountability:
- Clear: Have I made my expectations clear and explicit?
- Curious: What other factors could be impacting this relationship or situation?
- Connected: Have I asked the other people involved for their perspective?
More than performance
The invitation to accountability is about more than productivity and will result in more than addressing underperformance. It’s an invitation to return to integrity and honor, and it requires truth and honesty, vulnerability and strength, love and the courage to commit. When it’s done from that place, accountability is an act of love. When we call ourselves and others to account from a place of integrity and honor, we are saying, “I see the greatness in you. You can play a bigger game.” And that is the true antidote to underperformance.
