There is a reason accountability has become a central topic in leadership discussions. Recently, the chatter about managers has been filled with familiar issues: slow decision-making, inconsistent follow-through, unclear priorities, burnout, and teams that are busy yet not accomplishing much that truly matters. Beneath the surface of slogans, most of these problems trace back to one simple issue: people are often unclear about what good work looks like, who owns which results, when a decision is final, or what happens when commitments are broken. That is an accountability issue.