The Right Way to Hold People Accountable

Feedback without follow-through often falls flat. As a leader, you have to be willing to enforce real consequences.

Matt Hunter • January 20, 2026

The ability to deliver feedback and follow through with consequences are two of the core qualities of effective accountability.

This comes up all the time in my coaching practice. Almost every week, I speak with leaders who are hesitant to give tough feedback—or are even more hesitant to enforce consequences—because they’re afraid of offending people or being perceived as “too tough.”

But feedback and consequences are essential to creating cultures of accountability, and accountability is the heart of high performance.

We’ve spent a lot of time talking about feedback on The Unlock because it’s your primary tool—and your first line of defense—when work is late or not up to standard. Today, I want to focus on what comes next: consequences.

Before we go any further, it’s important to clarify one thing: a consequence is not a punishment. There’s a critical difference between the two. While punishment controls through fear, the real purpose of a consequence is to encourage good behavior, drive accountability, and foster learning, not shame or blame.

Why are consequences necessary? Because feedback alone isn’t always enough to drive real behavioral change. Imagine a sports game without fouls or penalties—bad behavior would quickly become rampant. When feedback is never followed by consequences, it loses its weight. People quickly learn that they can underperform, disregard feedback, or even act against company values without facing any real fallout. This doesn’t just undermine your leadership, but the entire team’s morale. Over time, leaders who consistently avoid enforcing consequences hollow out their own authority.

Consequences are what’s needed when feedback alone isn’t doing the job. If expectations have been clearly communicated and behavior still doesn’t change, that's when consequences come into play. They serve as a wake-up call, signaling that certain behaviors are not acceptable and that standards actually matter.

In environments where consequences are consistently and skillfully enforced, people don’t just comply because of what you say—they comply because they know the stakes. They know that poor performance or ignored directives can lead to disciplinary action, missed opportunities, or even termination. Without real stakes, people will test limits, cut corners, and eventually walk all over you, knowing there’s no real cost.

Trust me on this: If you’re the type of leader who avoids tough conversations or never lets anyone go, your team notices.

Letting people go is one of the most important forms of consequences—and should be deployed wisely and skillfully. Sometimes, the most effective way to uphold standards is to routinely let go of low performers or those who can’t align with company values. Some companies, like Netflix, have embraced proactive offboarding—regularly assessing who’s adding value and who isn’t, and making tough calls accordingly.

Here’s an example of how to do consequences right, using Observations, statements of Feelings & Needs, Requests, and Offers of Belief and Support.

Scenario: The employee has missed targets despite prior feedback.

Leader: "Taylor, I want to have a conversation about where we stand with your performance. We have been discussing your sales performance over the last three months, and you have been consistently delivering under 70% of the target for that time period (Observation). I’m feeling concerned and frustrated because I need to ensure that everyone on the team is consistently contributing to meet company goals (Feeling & Need).

At this point, it’s important we’re both on the same page. I need to see you above 100% of the target by the end of next quarter (Request). If that doesn’t happen, we’ll need to part ways. I want to be upfront about that so there’s no ambiguity.

That said, I believe you’re capable of making these changes, and I’m here to support you. What do you need from me to help you hit these goals? What are you going to do differently over the next 30 days? (Offer Belief and Support)"