The 4R Accountability Hack

August 02, 2024

“More is missed by not looking than not knowing.” — Thomas McCrae, Medical School Axiom

The 4R Accountability Hack

We’ve all heard the leadership maxim “inspect what you expect.” Variations of the phrase have been attributed to personal development icon Paul J. Meyer, quality control guru W. Edwards Deming, and IBM CEO Louis Gerstner. It aligns with the Russian proverb “trust, but verify,” which President Ronald Reagan popularized at the end of the Cold War. When so many credible leaders give us the same advice, we should listen.

The challenge is that as leaders we make scads of decisions and dole out oodles of assignments. We track all manner of commitments. Some days you feel like an O’Hare air traffic controller on Thanksgiving weekend with no radar. Here’s an accountability hack to help you stay on top of things. You can remember it as The 4R’s of Accountability – Recap, Record, Remind, and Revisit.

1. Recap Commitments – Use the final moments of any meeting to repeat any commitments.
2. Record Assignments – Your records should include three elements: What, Who, and When. What is the task/assignment? Who will own it? When will it be completed?
3. Time Block a Reminder – Take thirty seconds to set a time-based reminder.
4. Revisit with the Owner – At your next meeting or close to the due date, remind the owner of their commitment and request an update.

What does this look like in action? In my weekly accountability meetings with my direct reports, I keep a printed copy of their 411. I record commitments on the document as we go. I do my best to recap them at the close and get confirmation. You’d be surprised how often details are fuzzy. I keep each person’s 411 in a folder. At the start of our next meeting, I pull out the previous week’s 411 and ask for updates on their to-dos. For regular team meetings, I create a parallel calendar hold for the next meeting and copy my notes. When my calendar reminder pops up 15 minutes prior, I simultaneously get a reminder on any open loops.

My coach, Jordan, records our sessions. He often closes with a recap of my commitments. He has a VA watch the last 5 minutes of every coaching session and prepare a written record of my commitments that goes into the notes for our next session. Sometimes, he even texts me the day before to ask how it’s going. Those reminders sometimes serve as just the nudge I need to get the work done. The point isn’t to catch me breaking a commitment–it’s to help me keep my commitments.

I’ve seen other leaders accomplish all this through project management software, like Slack, Asana, or Trello. Some use email. I lean into the 411 and my calendar. The choice is yours.

Something to remember about accountability. We’re all adults here. No one holds anyone accountable. People either choose to be accountable to their goals or they don’t. As leaders, we make a positive difference by finding the right mix of trust and verification. Go too hard and trust disintegrates. Go too light and accountability erodes. Find your balance, use the hack, and get out of the business of traffic control.

One question to ponder in your thinking time: How can I strike the right balance of trust and verification with my team to encourage accountability?

Make an Impact!
Jay Papasan

Co-author of The One Thing & The Millionaire Real Estate Agent ​