Our Head of Marketing is responsible for our Lead Generation seat, but we outsource our actual ad campaigns to an external agency. When our leads drop, he blames the agency, claiming he cannot be held accountable for their performance because he does not write their copy or control their budget. How do we structure this seat to ensure true accountability?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

This is a classic misunderstanding of accountability. You can outsource the execution of a task, but you can never outsource the accountability for the result.

Your Head of Marketing must own the Lead Generation seat on your Accountability Chart. The roles under this seat must clearly state that he is responsible for managing external vendors, setting their performance standards, and delivering the target lead metrics on the Scorecard.

If the external agency is failing, it is his job to manage them, get them back on track, or fire them and find a better partner. If he cannot do that, then he is failing in his seat. The excuse that he does not control their work is unacceptable in an EOS-run business.

To clarify this, ensure the metrics on your weekly Scorecard are tied directly to his seat. If the weekly lead target is one hundred, that number sits next to his name, not the agency's name. During your Level 10 Meeting, if the metric is off track, he must own the Issue, and the team must IDS it.

If he continues to deflect blame, run a GWC check. He may want the title of Head of Marketing but lack the capacity or willingness to handle the tough conversations required to manage vendors. Ensure your Accountability Chart reflects that the internal seat owner is always one hundred percent accountable for the final outcome.