Book excerpt: Regardless of industry, leadership tenure, culture or geography, my coaching colleagues and I routinely observe a lack of accountability as a foundational obstacle to profitable growth and scale in small and middle-market firms. The best strategies and market opportunities in the world mean nothing if you're not able to execute your plans and get things done. Effective execution starts with crisp accountability, and you cannot scale your business without it. A culture of crisp, rigorous accountability enables effective execution, retains high performers, repels low performers and improves the sense of collaboration, winning and fun in your business. This cycle drives a significantly higher employee ROI, giving you more resources and flexibility to scale-ultimately propelling you to attain your most ambitious professional and personal aspirations. With these outcomes in mind, the need to improve accountability in almost every organization is clear. This book will show you how.