It's the third week of the quarter. A senior leader is frustrated that a project is slipping, and the manager is frustrated that the leader never said what "done well" meant. Both are working hard. Both think the other dropped the ball. Sound familiar?
When performance slips, most organizations reach for the word accountability. New dashboards, tougher check-ins, sterner reminders. But recent Gallup research suggests the problem often starts earlier, before anyone is held to anything: many employees simply can't say what exceptional performance looks like in their role.
What the research found
In an August 2025 Gallup survey of U.S. employees, only 22% of individual contributors strongly agreed that they have a clear definition of exceptional performance for their role. Gallup reported the finding in its 2026 piece, 3 Strengths-Based Practices That Help Managers Create Accountability. Put plainly, roughly four in five employees are being asked to deliver excellence without a clear picture of what it is.
An earlier Gallup study, The Strengths, Weaknesses and Blind Spots of Managers (Ben Wigert, with Ryan Pendell, 2024), surveyed 2,729 managers and 12,710 individual contributors and found a second gap: managers and employees see day-to-day management very differently.
* Feedback: 50% of managers said they give feedback weekly. Only 20% of employees said the same.
* Recognition: Nearly 60% of managers felt they recognize their team well, while 35% of individual contributors agreed. Only 12% of employees said they had been asked how they like to be recognized.
* What drives engagement: Gallup identified "meaningful feedback in the last week" as the strongest driver of engagement among the manager behaviors it studied, and also the lowest-rated one.
There was one bright spot. On "creating accountability for high performance," employees rated their managers more favorably than managers rated themselves. Many managers are harder on themselves than their teams are, and both groups agreed there is room to improve.
Why this matters to a leader
Accountability is usually treated as an enforcement problem. The research points to a clarity and conversation problem. If an employee can't describe exceptional work, a missed target is not a character flaw. It's a gap in the system, and no amount of pressure closes it.
The second finding matters just as much. If a manager believes feedback is happening weekly and the employee believes it isn't, the manager will assume expectations are clear while the employee is guessing. That is how two capable people end up in the quarter-end scenario above.
Gallup's guidance leans on a simple idea: make accountability part of the regular rhythm of management, not a corrective event. Its 2023 research found that weekly manager coaching conversations, covering recognition, priorities and strengths-based development, are among the most effective habits managers can build. Its team research also finds that setting goals collaboratively can promote ownership of the work.
Five things to try this week
1. Run a one-question test. Ask three people on your team: "What would exceptional look like in your role this quarter?" If you get three different answers, you have found your accountability gap.
2. Write down "exceptional." For each key role, draft two or three observable descriptions of outstanding work, not just the minimum standard. Then refine them with the person in the role.
3. Set goals together. Next time you assign a priority, ask the owner to propose the measure and the milestones. People tend to own what they helped shape.
4. Start a weekly 15-minute conversation. Cover three things: what went well and deserves recognition, what the top priorities are, and where the person's strengths can be used more. Keep it routine, not reactive.
5. Ask how people like to be recognized. Only 12% of employees in the Gallup study had been asked. It costs one sentence and makes your feedback land.
The takeaway
Higher accountability rarely comes from higher pressure. It comes from clearer definitions, shared goals and regular conversations, the unglamorous management habits that make "exceptional" something people can aim at. Leaders who close the clarity gap give their teams a fair chance to deliver and give themselves a fair basis for holding people to it.
If you suspect workload or strain is part of why expectations keep slipping on your team, take the free Burnout Check. And if you'd like to talk through how to build clearer expectations and stronger manager habits in your organization, book a strategy call with Natalie Robinson Bruner at GladED Leadership Solutions.
Sources* Gallup. "3 Strengths-Based Practices That Help Managers Create Accountability." Gallup CliftonStrengths, published July 6, 2026 (updated September 17, 2026). https://www.gallup.com/cliftonstrengths/en/712058/strengths-based-accountability-practices.aspx
* Wigert, B. (with Pendell, R.). "The Strengths, Weaknesses and Blind Spots of Managers." Gallup Workplace, May 27, 2024. https://www.gallup.com/workplace/645299/state-global-workplace-2026-retention-imagination.aspx
