"You've hired smart people, and you've invested in tools. You've also restructured more than once. Given all these, on paper, everything should work. But the reality is different. Decisions take longer than they should, and ownership gets blurred. Teams move, then stall, then circle back. You step in more than you want to, not because you enjoy it, but because progress depends on you doing so."
"Most leaders describe this as " an accountability issue. " They believe people aren't owning outcomes, follow-through is inconsistent, and as a result, things fall through the cracks. What I've learned over decades of advising senior leaders is different. Accountability rarely fails on its own. It fails because clarity was never strong enough to support it. When expectations are vague, accountability becomes personal. When ownership is unclear, follow-up feels like policing. Leaders sense this and hesitate, which only makes the problem worse."
Execution slows when decisions live in gray zones where decision rights, inputs and trade-offs are unclear. Vague expectations convert accountability into a personal exercise and make follow-up feel like policing. Repeating priorities does not create clarity; clarity requires that people can make decisions without a leader present. Clear roles, explicit decision authority, required inputs, timing and consequences enable ownership and reduce delays. When execution stalls, leaders should focus first on strengthening clarity rather than tightening accountability. Strong clarity aligns teams, speeds decisions, reduces rework and lets leaders step back without risking progress.
Read at Entrepreneur
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