When Accountability Flows Both Ways

Inspired by the #TheExceptionCode Daily Insight (17 May 2025) and a powerful reflection by Sharmyn Powell

 Most leaders speak about accountability. Fewer model it. Almost none invite it.

We spend so much time perfecting systems to hold our teams accountable, but rarely stop to ask; Who holds the leader?

This question was reignited for me during a recent discussion on LinkedIn. I had posted one of our daily #TheExceptionCode insights on the role of accountability in leadership. Sharmyn Powell , whose wisdom has been enriching our community all month, responded with a truth many leaders quietly avoid:

“Too often I've heard complaints about leaders not being held accountable for their deliverables, but they in turn hold their team to high standards. This inconsistency can lead to dysfunction within the team.”

She’s right.

And it’s more common than we’d like to admit.

The Accountability Imbalance

In too many organizations, accountability travels in one direction, downward. We create performance metrics, KPIs, SLAs, dashboards… all designed to monitor execution at the team level.

Meanwhile, those at the top remain mostly untouched by that same rigor. Their actions, decisions, or even missteps often escape structured scrutiny.

This isn’t just a cultural flaw. It’s a trust leak.

When accountability is weaponized rather than mirrored, it creates distance. Team members stop bringing forward feedback. Discretionary effort disappears. And a leader, no matter how well-intentioned, becomes isolated inside their own echo chamber.

True accountability starts not with control, but with credibility.

Accountability Mirrors: The Missing Structure

Leadership, at its highest level, demands a paradox: You must be both the architect and the subject of accountability.

In #TheExceptionCode, I talk about something I call Accountability Mirrors, systems that reflect your standards back at you. These aren’t just symbolic. They are structural tools designed to ensure that leaders, too, are seen, questioned, and sharpened.

Some examples:

• Reverse Check-ins: Invite your team to evaluate how you’re supporting their goals.
• Decision Debriefs: After major initiatives, ask your team: What did I get right? What would you have done differently?
• Visible Metrics: Share your leadership goals publicly, culture, communication, even well-being, and report on them like everyone else.

You don’t lose authority when you do this. You gain authenticity.

The Moment I Learned This the Hard Way

Years ago, while leading a financial institution through digital transformation, I made a high-speed strategic call without consulting the team on the ground. We launched fast, hit milestones… but we missed something critical: the frontline had no sense of ownership.

A junior staffer eventually said in a project review, “We knew this was important to you… but we didn’t know why it mattered to us.”

That stung.

But it was the moment I realized: Accountability isn’t top-down. It’s 360.

Since then, I’ve committed to building cultures where I’m not exempt from feedback but anchored by it.

Rewriting the Accountability Standard

If we want exceptional results, we need mutual accountability. Here’s how we begin:

1. Model it – Be the first to admit your mistakes. Name them before others do.
2. Invite it – Don’t just say “my door is open.” Create deliberate opportunities for reverse feedback.
3. Normalize it – When team members hold you accountable respectfully, praise them publicly. Make that the culture.
4. Systematize it – Build feedback into your performance reviews, off-sites, and 1:1s. Not as a threat, but as a mirror.

Mutual accountability isn’t a threat to authority, it’s a testament to it. It shows your people that you’re not just leading them, you’re leading yourself.

A Final Challenge

Let’s flip the script.

Let’s stop talking about accountability as something we enforce and start treating it as something we share.

Ask yourself:

What would shift if I created structures where my team could safely hold me accountable?

And if you’re already doing this, don’t keep it to yourself. Share your story. Share your model. Share your scars.

Let’s build leadership cultures where trust isn’t demanded, it’s earned.

#TheExceptionCode