We have assigned a name to every single number on our weekly Scorecard, but when a metric goes red, the owner says they do not have direct control over the people doing the work. How do we hold them accountable?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

There is a common misunderstanding on leadership teams that owning a Scorecard number means you must be the one physically clicking the buttons or doing the manual labor. That is incorrect. In the EOS® framework, ownership means accountability. The person whose name is next to the metric on the Scorecard is the one who answers for it during the Level 10 Meeting™.

If your operations director owns the client retention metric, they do not personally service every client. But they do own the process, training, and accountability of the account managers who do. If the number goes red, the owner cannot deflect blame by saying they did not do the work.

To resolve this confusion, establish these ground rules for your Accountability Chart:

- The seat owner is responsible for designing the process that produces the metric.
- The seat owner must ensure their direct reports GWC™ (Get It, Want It, Capacity to Do It) their roles.
- The seat owner must identify why a metric is red and bring a proposed solution to the table during IDS®.

When a metric goes red, we are not looking to place blame. We are looking for the leader who has the authority and accountability to fix the underlying system. If a leader cannot influence their number, they are either in the wrong seat or their process is broken.