Your Accountability System
An accountability system is only as strong as its weakest rep.
September 29, 2026
Originally published in One More Rep, a weekly newsletter for people managers who want to get better through practice. Subscribe here — it's free.
Week 39. Rep 39. Four weeks & four reps to run your accountability system. How did it go?
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The Moment
At the beginning of September we introduced the Accountability System. From there, you identified your weakest rep, set expectations and transferred ownership, followed up while the work was in progress, recognized good work and delivered feedback when something needed to change.
That's the full loop. A system available to you and meant to be repeated because accountability isn't a moment, it is ongoing.
The Pattern
In our cohorts, when leaders map their first full loop, they discover that one rep is the strongest and one rep is almost invisible. Did you experience that?
The rep that carried it is likely the one that felt most natural: the expectation-setting conversation you've always done reasonably well, or the feedback you're comfortable delivering. The invisible one is the rep you rationalized skipping. You were too busy, it wasn't the right moment, or it didn't seem necessary at the time.
That invisible rep is where the system breaks.
Why This Matters
An accountability system is only as strong as its weakest rep. One gap in the loop: expectations without a handoff, skipped follow-up, no recognition, feedback without a clear expectation to point back to, and the whole thing loses its hold.
The system doesn't have to be perfect, but it does need to be consistent.
Rep
This Week's Practice
Review the full September loop. Look at your own pattern across all four reps: where the system ran cleanly, what was skipped, and what one thing would make the biggest difference if you built it into how you lead every week.
Your Rep
Answer these three questions in writing:
Where did the full loop run, and what made it work?
Which rep did you skip or soften most consistently, and what did that cost?
What's the one rep you're committing to run more consistently in Q4?
What to Notice
Success looks like:
Your answers are based on specific moments, not general impressions.
The rep you commit to in the third question is the one that makes you slightly uncomfortable to name.
Resistance looks like:
Grading yourself on intention instead of evidence.
Naming the rep you're already strongest at instead of the one that's costing your team.
It's working when:
You can connect a breakdown in your team's accountability directly to a rep you didn't run.
Common Mistakes
Mistake #1: Treating the system as linear. The system is a loop: recognition and feedback are directly tied back to how clearly you set expectations.
Mistake #2: Stopping at the insight. The rep you name in the third question is what you're practicing in October. Write it somewhere you'll see it before next week starts.
Reflect
What is your team's accountability telling you about your leadership this month?
If you ran all four reps consistently for the rest of the year, what would be different about how your team operates?
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Cristina Stensvaag is co-founder of LeaderReps and creator of One More Rep, a weekly practice-based leadership newsletter for people managers.