Every team has people with the spark of leadership. You may or may not have the title, but you have the will to make a difference. Often something holds you back. We’re here to break those barriers to unleash your full potential.
In this conversation, Lee sits down with Gina Cotner, founder and CEO of Athena Executive Services. They dig into the conversation almost every leader avoids: telling someone their delegated work isn’t landing. If you’ve ever put off that talk, or had it blow up in your face, this one’s for you.
Gina traces her approach back to two unlikely classrooms. The first was a middle school production of The Wizard of Oz. The second was the back of a rowing shell, where Gina spent her teenage years as a coxswain. In that seat, she learned to see what her rowers, facing backward, couldn’t. She also learned something else. A good leader doesn’t solve your problems. They hold you accountable for your team and your work. Gina’s job was making sure the boat was ready to race, and that distinction became the foundation for everything she does now.
From there, Gina breaks down her framework for accountability conversations, built on a handful of simple questions most leaders never think to ask. The approach starts before delegation even happens and shapes how deadlines get set. When work goes missing, Gina takes an internal accountability approach and gives you steps to take before you ever say a word to the person who owns it.
Ever wondered how to hold someone accountable without becoming the boss everyone dreads? This is the playbook that will increase your effectiveness and build an accountability culture.
Additional Resources:
Connect with Gina Cotner on LinkedIn
Learn more about Athena Executive Services
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Key Takeaways:
- “Any questions?” invites a no. “What questions do you have for me?” assumes there are some and invites a response.
- Giving someone a deadline instead of asking for one quietly takes their accountability off the table.
- “You get what you inspect, not what you expect.” Go look for the finished work yourself before you ask anyone about its status.
- As a leader, part of your job is aligning and motivating people around work you can’t do alone.
- Learning when to be direct and when to bring someone along is a skill.