#4 – Accountability

Let’s be honest, the word accountability often makes people squirm.

It gets misunderstood as finger-pointing, policing, or chasing people down for deadlines. But in The Five Behaviors^® model, accountability means something very different.

It’s about peers, not just team leaders, holding one another to high standards and shared expectations.

In teams that lack accountability, you’ll often see:

• Performance inconsistencies that no one addresses
• Missed deadlines with no follow-up
• Frustration building quietly (“Why do I always have to pick up the slack?”)
• Leaders stuck acting as referees instead of focusing on strategy

Without commitment, it’s impossible to have accountability. Why? Because you can’t hold someone to a decision they never truly bought into.

But in strong teams:

• Feedback flows sideways, not just top-down
• Everyone knows what “good” looks like
• People speak up when things slip, not to shame, but to support
• There’s mutual respect, and shared ownership of results

One of our clients said:

“We realised our culture was too ‘nice’. People avoided tough conversations. Once we shifted our mindset, accountability became part of how we support each other, not punish each other.”

The result? Higher performance, more trust, and far less firefighting.

If you’re tired of being the only one chasing accountability in your team, let’s talk about how The Five Behaviors can help build a culture where everyone takes responsibility.

Next up (the big one!): Results – what happens when everything comes together.

Launched on Thursday 25th September, on each Thursday at 1:00pm,, our good friend and colleague, Kevin Watson is hosting a series of five free, 45 minute webinars in which you’ll discover how The Five Behaviours™ drives performance, gaining practical tools and insights to build trust, embrace conflict, drive commitment, strengthen accountability, and stay focused on delivering team results.