How to Hold People Accountable (And What That Really Means)

Before we dive into how to hold people accountable, it’s important that we define what we mean by accountability.

Accountability and “holding people accountable” are buzzwords that are often repeated and sometimes have different meanings.

Patrick Lencioni talks about it a lot in his books and how important it is for leaders to hold their team accountable.

Others sometimes have a dislike for that term because of the way it’s often used. For example, Jocko Willink with his interview with Jordan Peterson both expressed dislike for how people often think of accountability.

Accountability is important if done right. But when the word is used wrong and acted upon, it hurts.  

To better understand accountability, let’s look at what accountability isn’t.

What accountability is not

The major reason Jordan and Willink seemed not to like the concept of accountability was because that word, to many, conveys bureaucracy and micromanagement.

Jordan mentioned people filling out these pointless forms to waste time as “accountability” to prove they are doing this or that work.

While people sometimes see that as accountability, that’s not what accountability is. It isn’t pointless bureaucracy, a means to control or micromanage people, or a way to “lead” people because of a lack of leadership skills.

And truth is, if you the only way you can get people to do their jobs is by “holding them accountable,” then you are doing it wrong.

That is not accountability. That’s bureaucracy.  And you don’t want that.

It’s not about “getting” people

Some managers have the mentality of catching people doing wrong. When they walk around, they try to catch people making mistakes and “get them” for it.

There may be a list of rules or things people are supposed to do, and they are trying to find people not doing it.

That’s a terrible mentality and poor leadership.

Simon Sinek expresses it well in a story he shares about a visit to a coffee shop in a hotel. The barista, Noah, was incredible. He was helpful, friendly, and happy.

Sinek asked him if he liked his job. Noah said he loved it. Sinek asked why.

Noah responded with this: he said that he loved his job at his hotel because every time any manager walked by and saw him, they asked how they could help him. He said he worked at another hotel, but in that one, they were always trying to catch him doing wrong. In that job, he just kept his head down and tried to get through the day.

When you are about bureaucracy or about a list of rules and catching people making mistakes and doing wrong, you are building a culture of fear and are demotivating your employees.

These are the mentalities that Willink and Peterson seemed to talk about, and that’s not true accountability.

The right mentality of accountability

As a leader, your job is to guide people toward the accomplishment of a goal or mission. As a leader, you serve your team to get there. It’s not about setting a bunch of rules; it’s helping and supporting.

You set clear expectations, and you hold people to those expectations, helping them get there. It’s not a mentality of “getting you,” but of support.

If they are coming short, you find out why and help them overcome that issue.

It’s not about catching or getting people for doing wrong, it’s not about rules and paperwork, it’s about making sure people meet expectations and supporting them in the process.  

You ultimately want people to take ownership

One aspect of accountability and expectations that Willink mentions in his podcast is that you want your people to take ownership of their work.

The reason people sometimes create these useless forms or micromanage or try to catch people doing wrong is that don’t create an environment or set expectations in a way where people take ownership of the work.

They don’t own the work they are doing. They are just doing it because they are told.

As Willink said, if you get people to take ownership of their work, you don’t have to worry so much about “accountability,” because they are driven to get it right.

For more on how to build ownership in your team, read: How To Get Your Team to Take Ownership of Their Work.

How do you hold people accountable?

Let’s look at the steps you need to take to hold people accountable the right way.

First, build a culture of safety and ownership

It all starts with the culture you build.

If you have a culture of fear, where people fear speaking up, making mistakes, disagreeing, and see it as us vs. them, then you are hurting your employee’s motivation, drive, and the ownership people take of their work.

When you build a culture of safety, where people feel safe speaking up, disagreeing, innovating, sharing ideas, and making mistakes, you are building a culture that is more motivated, driven, and takes ownership.

To learn more about building a healthy culture, check out this article here.

Remember, there is a big difference between a team who is just being made to do it, acting out of fear, and a team that is driven and hungry to do the work.

Which team do you think will win? Which one do you want?

Second, make sure expectations are clear

It’s important that you set clear expectations.

It’s unfair for you to hold people accountable to expectations that are vague or unclear. If people are having to guess what the expectations are or what they should be trying to accomplish, then the expectations aren’t where they should be.

Assumptions are a killer of clarity. It’s easy to assume that people understand what you mean when you say something, but that’s generally not the case. We come from different backgrounds, have had different experiences, and see the world through different lens.

Shoot, even if I ask you if you want a taco (do you want one?), you could still interpret that differently than what I mean. You may be thinking of street tacos or fish tacos with grandiose toppings, and I may be talking about a Taco Bell taco with a failed amount of toppings.

Be as specific as you can and give what the definition of success looks like. What are you trying to accomplish? How will they know if they are on track or if they are succeeding or not?

Make sure that’s clear. Metrics are often a good tool for that.  Not everything can (or should) be quantified, but if it’s applicable, do so.

If there are exemplars or examples or checklists, that can be helpful for them. Share those as well.

Clarity is key. Many failures of expectations are a result of those expectations being unclear.

Make sure each person knows:

• What they are responsible for
• What the outcome and success looks like (with any applicable metrics, etc.)
• When it’s due
• Any guidelines they need to follow in the process

When possible, document expectations in writing to help ensure nothing is forgotten and everyone is on the same page.

Third, explain the why behind the work

Everything you do should be with purpose. Ideally, your organization has a strong mission and clear goals, and you should be able to tie everything you do to those.

Even if your organization doesn’t, you want to make sure people understand the why of what they do.

What’s the purpose behind it? What does it accomplish? How does it help the big picture? How does it fit into the overall scheme? How does it help others? How does it impact them in their own goals?

When you don’t attach purpose, the work seems pointless, and you are less likely to get ownership in the work.

Fourth, make sure the other person is clear on what the expectations are

This may sound like the first one, but it’s not.

Once you set clear expectations, you want to make sure that they understand the expectations and that you both are on the same page (you may find that your expectations aren’t as clear as you thought!).

An easy way to make sure is to just ask. Say something like, “Just to make sure I’m being clear, would you repeat what I’m asking you to do?”

However you phrase or ask it, make sure that what you mean and intend is what they hear.

Otherwise, they may start doing the work “incorrectly” thinking they are doing it right. That can lead to a lot of frustration, because no one likes to put in a lot of work on something to find out later all that work was wasted.

Fifth, follow up

How much depends on the person, their experience, their need, and the complexity or importance of the work.

As we talked about earlier, your goal isn’t to catch them if they are doing wrong but to make sure there are no misunderstandings (and catch them early if there are), to see if the project is on track, and to see where they may need support and help.

Many leaders recommend weekly one-on-one meetings with each direct report. These are often led by the team member and can be used to support the person with whatever they need.

Make sure to ask specifically “How can I help you?” or “What support can I give you in this?”

Ask questions to gauge where they are at, if needed, and to help them solve problems or issues they may be facing.

Also, as you build a healthy culture, part of a good culture is one where feedback is accepted and the norm. It should be normal for you to give praise to people, and it should also be normal for you to share feedback on how people can improve (and for them to share with you).

When you have the right mentality and culture, feedback is seen more as an opportunity to grow and get better, not an attack on one’s person or identity.

What do you do if they are doing the work wrong?  

 If that’s the case, there’s a good chance that what you asked them and what they thought they were supposed to do is different. In this case, clarify what they are supposed to do and then ask again to make sure you are both on the same page.

It could also be that they don’t know how to do it. If that’s the case, you may need to provide some training or teaching for them.

You may have to be more hands-on with them to help them learn how to do it. There may be some checklists or resources or templates you can provide that can help them in the process.

If they are missing the tools or resources they need, help provide those.

What do you do if they are behind in their work or the work isn’t up to par?

In both of these situations, its best to go in assuming positive intentions.

If they are behind in their work, then you need to find out why. Talk with them about it.

Are they overloaded with work? Are they having trouble prioritizing? Are they getting pulled by demands from different people?

Are they lacking resources or open doors? Are they waiting on you or someone else to be able to get the work moving again?

Are they lacking some skills or training? Is there someone who could teach or help them in a certain area?

It’s similar with the work not being up to par—your first step is to find out why and talk with them about it.

If there was some confusion on expectations, then fix that. If there are time issues or a lack of skill or something of that nature, try to help them with that.

However, if it’s a behavioral issue, then deal with that behavior. Set the expectations for their behavior and make sure thy understand the consequences if it doesn’t change.

Also, be timely about it. Address the issue as soon as possible.

What if they repeatedly don’t meet expectations?

What do you do if they frequently are behind or don’t do work that meets the level of quality needed?

Again, your first step is to look at why.

Look at yourself first: is there something that you are or aren’t doing that is hurting them? Is there something that you should be doing that would help them?

Talk to them about it. See what the issues may be. It could be some of the issues we mentioned before that still need to be dealt with.

Create together an improvement plan for them to follow.

However, if it’s repeated, and you’ve trained and helped and supported, but there is no change, then it could be that the person is not a good fit for that kind of work or for that role, at least at this time.

If they are trying their best but they are constantly missing the target, that’s frustrating for them, too.

You may need to see if a different role or type of work is better suited for them. If that’s not possible, then you may need to let them go.

But that should be after you do what you can to train, help, and support, and it shouldn’t come as a surprise. You’ve given them the steps and plan to improve, but they have been unable to do it.

If it’s because of negative or detrimental behavior, go through the process that HR or your company has in dealing with negative behaviors. Make sure expectations are clear, the consequences are clear, and that you document the conversations and all that happens.

Learn more about helping underperformance and dealing with difficult behaviors.

Accountability done right

Accountability done the right way is essential.

You create a culture where ownership happens, you give clear expectations of what needs to be done, and you help support them in reaching those expectations, even if it’s difficult conversations.

But your mentality is about service and support, not getting people or trying to catch them doing wrong.

I hope this helped clarify accountability for you.

Make sure to check out How To Get Your Team to Take Ownership of Their Work as your next read.