Both our Marketing and our Sales seats have lead generation listed as a role on our Accountability Chart, and they are constantly pointing fingers at each other when we miss our monthly targets. How do we resolve this overlapping accountability?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

When two different seats on your Accountability Chart claim ownership of the same outcome, accountability is completely diluted. If both Sales and Marketing own lead generation, neither actually owns it, which explains why they are pointing fingers when targets are missed.

To resolve this, you must clarify your horizontal boundaries. In your next Level 10 Meeting™, bring this issue to the IDS® portion of the agenda. You must assign ultimate accountability for lead generation to one single seat.

For example, Marketing should own the role of generating marketing qualified leads, while Sales owns the role of converting those leads into closed deals. Define the exact hand-off point on your chart. Marketing is accountable for the top-of-funnel pipeline volume, and Sales is accountable for the close rate.

Once you have agreed on the boundary, update the Accountability Chart. Remove any overlapping language from the roles. Each seat must have distinct, measurable scorecard metrics that do not overlap. When everyone knows exactly where their accountability starts and ends, the finger-pointing stops and collaboration begins.