Coaching: Your Secret Weapon for Ensuring Accountability and High Performance
If you’ve joined us late, this is part 2 of the new series, “The CEO Challenge: Driving Results Without Burning Out Your People.”
The world of leadership needs a humane shift.
Away from fear-based control and towards an approach that values emotional intelligence, growth, purpose, and service to all stakeholders.
In Humane Leadership, you’ll learn how to create an environment where:
Your team feels empowered, respected, and supported to do their best work.
You lead with authenticity and confidence, inspire radical and practical love, and drive exceptional performance.
Are you looking to revolutionize your leadership style and create a workplace culture that attracts top talent, fosters lasting loyalty, and achieves outstanding business success for your organization?
Are your people missing deadlines, falling short on goals, or just going through the motions?
You’ve clarified expectations. You’ve even delivered a killer vision. But somehow, performance lags. And when you press for results, you get awkward silence, defensiveness, or excuses.
If you’re like most CEOs, you’re probably wondering: Why is accountability so hard to nail down?
Here’s the misconception: People think accountability means being the enforcer. CEOs and senior leaders often assume it’s their job to step in, monitor progress, and apply pressure when things slip.
But here’s the shift: Accountability isn’t something you do to people.
It’s something you coach into them.
The Why of Coaching
Coaching builds ownership, not obedience. It’s not about letting people off the hook—it’s about calling them up to their highest standards with clarity, compassion, and consistent follow-through.
Let’s unpack what coaching for accountability really looks like:
a) Accountability thrives in clarity, not confusion.
When expectations are vague, accountability feels like punishment. Coaching for accountability starts with helping people define success in real terms—not just abstract goals, but clear behaviors and checkpoints.
b) Ownership beats compliance.
People don’t resist accountability—they resist feeling controlled. When you coach someone to own their commitments (instead of just assigning tasks), you activate their intrinsic motivation. Coaching invites self-reflection and self-direction, which leads to better follow-through.
c) Progress conversations beat performance policing.
Coaching for accountability means replacing the “performance review” mindset with a rhythm of check-ins that focus on learning, blockers, and next steps. It’s not “Did you fail?” It’s “What’s working? What’s getting in your way? What’s your plan going forward?”
d) High performers crave it.
The best people want to be held to a high standard—and they want to be supported to meet it. Coaching says: “I believe in your potential and I’m here to help you rise to it.”
Making It Practical
Here’s how to bring coaching for accountability into your leadership rhythm with some practice:
1. Start your 1:1s with these three coaching questions:
What have you committed to since we last met?
What progress have you made? What’s blocked you?
What’s your next most important step, and how will you follow through?
Bonus: Upgrade your subscription to receive your guide: 5 Steps to Productive One-on-Ones (in 15 Minutes or Under).
2. Make accountability visible.
Use a shared scoreboard or project tracker that the team updates, not just leadership. Let them take the lead in naming progress and gaps.
3. Coach the mindset, not just the metrics.
When someone’s behind, don’t jump straight to solutions. Ask:
What’s your perspective on what’s happening here?
What would it look like to take full ownership?
What support do you need from me to move forward?
This is how you build a coaching culture, not a burned-out culture. It’s not done through control and micromanagement, but through trust, advocacy, and clarity. These are hallmarks of Humane Leadership: leading with radical love and high standards.
Because the truth is, people don’t want to be managed all the way to the burnout factory. They want to be seen, challenged, and supported. They want to win, and they want a leader who helps them rise.
Coaching isn’t extra work. It is the job. So the next time a direct report drops the ball, skip the micromanaging. Coach them up, not call them out. That’s how you lead with heart and drive performance.
How to Coach for Accountability: A Proven 5-Step Playbook for Leaders
Let’s break coaching for accountability into a 5-step framework that I use for my own clients. Think of this as your go-to playbook for every performance conversation from 1:1s to team check-ins.