Why Accountability Fails After “The Talk” — And What to Do Instead

Senior leaders count on front-line and mid-level managers to drive accountability. But for many of those leaders, it feels like chasing shadows. They know they need to hold their teams accountable—but they’re unsure how.

Performance conversations get delayed or avoided entirely. Why? Sometimes it’s a lack of training. Other times, it’s the fear of emotional reactions, fear of conflict, or fear their decisions won’t be backed by their own boss.

Here’s the truth: If employees don’t know what’s not working, they can’t improve. And if their leaders don’t have the skills to initiate conversations about performance and behavior, they simply take the path of least resistance, creating a culture of avoidance.

Accountability starts with clarity—so that a conversation can follow.

In the Performance Coaching Model, leaders get a tool called The Leadership Clarity Tool, which teaches leaders how to think strategically instead of emotionally about the situation, the desired result and how the current obstacles affect the organization.

Without that essential ingredient of leadership clarity, a four-part cycle repeats, contributing to a culture of avoidance. 

The Four Phases of Accountability Breakdowns

Phase 1: Avoidance
The leader avoids having the difficult conversation. Maybe it’s fear. Maybe it’s lack of skill. Or maybe they simply don’t want to “make things worse.” But avoidance comes at a cost. Tension builds. Performance issues continue to simmer beneath the surface, slowly eroding trust and productivity. The first sign a leader is avoiding is often their own stress and buildup of resentment. When the resentment is too much to handle, the leader initiates a conversation.

Phase 2: The Conversation
Eventually, the leader musters the courage to address the issue. At this point, the conversation can go completely south with verbal ping pong, blaming, accusing and nonproductive conversation. However, if by chance the conversation goes better than expected, there’s elation and relief from a dopamine hit that signals success. In this case the leader believes they’ve crossed a critical hurdle, and for a moment, it feels like things are back on track.

Phase 3: Temporary Improvement
If after the conversation, the employee adjusts, deadlines are met and attitudes improve, the leader breathes a sigh of relief, assuming the problem is solved. But this phase is often misleading. Improvements are temporary when the underlying issues remain unaddressed. In the performance coaching model, we teach leaders how to identify the root causes. If the root cause has not accurately been identified, there is a period of regression.

Phase 4: Regression
Weeks later, the same performance issues resurface. The leader is caught off guard. Frustration turns to resentment, and they wonder, now what? Another conversation? Documentation? Disciplinary action? The cycle begins again.

This recurring pattern doesn’t just affect performance. It quietly chips away at a leader’s confidence, planting seeds of self-doubt. Worst of all, the leader often feels too embarrassed to admit their frustration to their own boss, fearing it will be seen as incompetence.

The solution: The Performance Coaching Model
We teach leaders how to plan for the conversation, how to get clear about the situation, the outcome and the obstacles, and how these variables affect the organization. We give leaders the critical skills to make decisions using logic and facts instead of emotions and assumptions.

Rather than a once-a-year dreaded performance review, The Performance Coaching Model gives leaders the confidence to address issues immediately instead of just once a year. Leaders learn how to communicate using a framework for both critical conversations and small course corrections. The framework is equipped with 9 coaching skills that can be used on demand for almost any situation. No longer is conflict seen as a problem, but as an opportunity to align.

Get on my calendar to explore how the PCM can help you build confident leaders, collaborative relationships and accountable cultures. We’re offering private tours in April and May of 2025.

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