We’re in one of the biggest inflection points most of us have ever known. The rapid advancement of AI, the fallout from geopolitical tensions, cost of living pressures and an aging population all bring uncertainty and opportunity. The landscape is rapidly changing and at times it feels hard to make sense of what it means for business let alone catch up with the change. It’s in this period of tight budgets, ambitious growth targets and immense pressure one might imagine leaders are doubling down on the call for accountability, yet my observation from working with senior leaders across multiple sectors, is that the opposite is occurring.
The data confirms the drift
Gallup Q2 2025 research supports my anecdotal findings with only 47% of employees strongly agree that they know what is expected of them at work. Accountability (defined as holding everyone responsible for delivering exceptional performance) was also cited as being in the top 7 required leadership competencies, but was the lowest rated by managers and leaders alike. There are two separate drivers of this collapse in accountability, and they both lie in the complexity of navigating current inflections.
Complexity: where accountability gets lost
The more complex the structure, the greater the dilution of accountability. Matrix structures, squads and cross functional teams are designed to deliver economies of scale, flexibility and greater collaboration it’s true. What is often lost is clear ownership. A target may be set but if the team is not aligned on who is accountable for delivering what and by when, and held to that, delivery becomes someone else’s to solve. When everyone owns it, most often no one owns it. Accountability becomes unconsciously engineered out of the organisation unless the processes and systems around ownership are made visible.
Leadership behaviour: the quiet saboteur
The second driver is also typically unconscious. Let’s take one leader I spoke with recently, I’ll call her Jane. Jane was exhausted and frustrated in equal measure. Her team was talented, experienced, and genuinely committed yet somehow, every significant piece of work still landed on her desk and final decisions were all being made by her. She’d been telling herself for months that she was just filling a temporary gap, that things would settle once the team found its rhythm and their own teams were fully resourced.
Janes’ predisposition to get in and get busy in times of uncertainty gave her a sense of control and confidence that they would ride the inflections. What it actually created was an accountability gap which was fast becoming a capability gap. The more she leaned in, her team leaned out. When leaders consistently step in to resolve, decide or do the work that belongs to someone else, they send a clear message to their teams; you don’t have to deliver this because I’ll catch it, that’s my role. Over time this becomes a cultural norm and on some level it works for everyone, until it doesn’t.
Rebuilding accountability
The way forward is twofold:
Step 1: Leaders refocus their role
It starts with the leader pausing and refocussing on the role they need to take up if the business is to deliver the strategy and successfully navigate the many inflection points. This usually involves structured feedback from direct reports, boards, other stakeholders to identify the leaders’ strengths, reactive tendencies and the shifts that are required. They’re able to step out of the high control/perfection or avoidant dynamic that impacts accountability and turn their attention to what is truly required of them in this context.
Step 2: Aligning to create thinking teams, not dependent ones
From there they bring the team together to realign around their role both individually and as a team. That means being explicit about ownership. Naming who is accountable for what, making it visible, and then genuinely holding to this when someone doesn’t deliver rather than quietly absorbing the shortfall themselves. It means creating the conditions where people are expected and trusted to think for themselves, seeking help when needed. It also means having the conversations that many leaders avoid – the direct, clear, occasionally uncomfortable conversations about what’s working and what needs attention. In complex organisation structures this step may take time to establish but don’t be put off by the ‘it’s complex’ response. Systems and processes may need to change and multiple conversations may be required to ensure clarity of accountability.
Rebuilding a culture of accountability takes time AND it starts with the leader. It’s only when leaders rethink what’s required of them and how they are leading that the rest of the team and the business as a whole is able to shift.
Chris Power is a leadership coach, consultant and facilitator who works with senior leaders and executive teams navigating critical inflection points. With over 26 years’ experience, she helps leaders cut through noise, rethink how they lead and align their teams to deliver now and into the future. She is also the author of the new whitepaper, Inflection Leadership, available for download at https://www.powerprojects.com.au/white-paper/
