Several of our key weekly metrics on our leadership Scorecard are assigned to department heads who claim they cannot take full accountability for the numbers because the outcomes depend heavily on external marketing agencies and software vendors. How do we resolve this accountability gap?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Accountability means ownership of the outcome, regardless of who does the actual work. If a leadership team member GWC™ their seat on the Accountability Chart, they must own the results of their department, including any outsourced partners.

To resolve the vendor excuse, you must shift your Scorecard metrics from tracking the vendor actions directly to tracking the leadership team member management of that vendor.

First, define the specific leading indicators that the internal seat owner controls. For example, instead of tracking the agency weekly ad spend or click-through rate, track weekly vendor scorecard reviews completed or weekly marketing briefs delivered on time.

Second, hold the internal owner accountable for holding the vendor accountable. If the external marketing agency is failing to deliver qualified leads, the internal owner must actively manage the vendor relationship, establish strict service level agreements, or replace the agency entirely.

The metric on your leadership Scorecard should reflect the final output, such as weekly qualified leads. If that number is red, the department head owns the red. They cannot blame the vendor during the Level 10 Meeting™. They must bring the issue to the table and show how they are resolving the vendor performance gap.