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Writer's pictureMatthew Cossens

A Culture Of Accountability




Previously, I wrote about personal accountability and having a system in place. (https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/personal-accountability-system-matthew-cossens/)

Today, I want to talk about Team Accountability. How can you build this into your culture?

1) Vulnerability

Openness and the ability to be vulnerable as a leader helps build a culture of accountability. Recently, I was reflecting on the Culture Code by Daniel Coyle and the importance of a leader to build vulnerability loops into the organisation.

So what are vulnerability loops?

“A shared exchange of openness, it’s the most basic building block of cooperation and trust. Vulnerability loops seem swift and spontaneous from a distance, but when you look closely, they all follow the same discrete steps.” This loop can be summarised as:

  • One person signals a vulnerability

  • A second person receives the signal

  • The second person responds by sending a vulnerability signal in return

  • The first person receives this second signal

  • The cycle continues, creating an atmosphere of closeness and trust


The quickest way to start to build vulnerability loops is to ask for help. The act of doing this itself also builds closeness and trust.

Jeff Polzer (a professor of organizational behaviour at Harvard) states “It’s about sending a really clear signal that you have weaknesses, that you could use help. And if that behavior becomes a model for others, then you can set the insecurities aside and get to work, start to trust each other and help each other. If you never have that vulnerable moment, on the other hand, then people will try to cover up their weaknesses, and every little microtask becomes a place where insecurities manifest themselves.”

The ability to build this into your culture can have a profound effect on performance, engagement, growth, morale and the ability to get things done as a team!

For more detail on Vulnerability & Trust I recommend this article I came across on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/vulnerability-trust-rachel-botsman/)


2) Trust

Team Accountability requires trust. I could write on this topic alone. You need to build trust into your culture, trust in one another, trust in each other’s ability to perform, trust to make mistakes, (and to learn and grow from these mistakes) and trust that together as a team your are better than the individual parts.


There are so many ways you can build trust into your culture. Some simple ideas to start that worked for our team included:

  • Practicing gratitude

  • Learning together and evaluating our performance openly as a team

  • Having different people chair meetings and share something they are passionate about outside of work

  • Team offsites, lunches and celebrations

  • Supporting one another to succeed

Think of creative ways that you can foster vulnerability, openness and trust as they will be the building blocks of Team Accountability.

3) Clarity of Expectations

Expectations and the clarity of these are key to accountability. Without clarity of expectations you are doomed to fail.

It should be very clear as a team and as individuals what is expected, the desired outcomes, how this will he measured and how you will work together to achieve these outcomes. This should be agreed by the team to ensure buy in across the expectations.

You should have clarity across the purpose of your organisation and the values through which you achieve outcomes. These expectations and measures should be regularly communicated, discussed and consistent and clear checkpoints should be put in place at an individual, team and organisational level.

You can never overcommunicate on your expectations!!


4) Going Beyond Work Goals

Think about how the goals you are looking to achieve connect with each of your employees. Your team members can be motivated for different reasons and if you can tap into this, then that will then provide additional effort towards the task at hand and drive a deeper connection towards their work.

Consider the following:

  • Connecting their personal and professional goals

  • Connecting their goals with their ongoing development

  • Connecting their work with the goals and purpose of the company

  • Connect them with how their work adds value to your customers, community and others

  • Give them autonomy to find their own solutions

  • Praise them publicly for delivering and for their accountability

  • Celebrate success as a team!



5) Have The Right Tools & Resources

Make sure your team has the tools necessary to perform and are setup for success. Without the resources and tools it is easy to place blame instead of holding each other accountable. Your team need the tools to deliver the outcomes. If they need additional tools or there are ways to achieve the goal quicker then explore these options. Don’t be afraid to experiment with new tools, processes or ways of working on the way to achieving your goals but equally don’t let them be a reason for your team to fail.


6) Collaboration

Drive collaboration amongst the team members and provide space for them to connect, be seen and heard among the team. Link them to each other’s success and help them to understand how they each have a part to play in the team’s success.

This could be as simple as building in daily stand ups to discuss plans for the day, how you are tracking as well as wrap ups to go over results achieved, progress and other key initiatives.

We use this regularly at Aurec to share information across the group and to continue to build co-operation, trust, relationships and team accountability. 



7) Clear Feedback, Communication & Coaching

Communicate, communicate, communicate! I can never say this enough. Build real time coaching into your culture. Listen to your team, ask great questions and coach them towards the outcomes. Look for moments of impact as a leader that can help move an individual or team in the right path. Take the time to actively coach daily and drive your leaders to do the same.


Look for case studies that you can share across the group and have a forum where you can discuss issues or challenges that have come up so that everyone can learn.



And last but not least, lead by example! Be accountable for your own actions as a leader, be responsible for your team, be aware of roadblocks and proactively remove them, stay close to your team, foster trust and communication. You win together!!

How do you build accountability in your team? Share your thoughts below.



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