Our leadership team's weekly To-Do completion rate has been stuck in the seventy-percent range for months, and the team's excuse is always that unexpected client fires or staffing shortages are preventing execution. How do we determine if this is a genuine capacity issue or simply a lack of personal accountability?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Consistently failing to hit the ninety percent To-Do completion rate means your business is drifting, not driving traction. When leaders blame client emergencies or staffing shortages, you have to diagnose whether you have a capacity problem or an execution problem.

First, look at the nature of the weekly To-Dos being created. In your Level 10 Meeting™, are leaders committing to massive projects as weekly tasks? A To-Do must be a highly specific, bite-sized action that can realistically be completed within seven days. If a leader is writing down "redesign the onboarding process" as a weekly To-Do, they will fail. That is not a To-Do; that is a milestone or a Rock. Break those items down into immediate, single actions like "draft outline of onboarding steps."

Second, if the tasks are properly sized and still failing, look at the Accountability Chart. If a leader is genuinely drowning in daily firefighting, they may be sitting in too many seats, or they may lack the capacity to do their job. This is an issue that must be put on the table and solved during IDS®.

However, if they have the resources but lack the discipline, it is an accountability issue. Leaders must learn to say no during IDS® if they cannot commit to a task. Committing to a To-Do is a promise to your peers. If they agree to it, they must deliver. Hold them to that standard.