Right now, many agencies struggle with the same serious problem. This issue can drag down
profitability, lower employee engagement, and harm the reputation of the offending company,
and in many cases, the biggest offenders are agency leaders.

Unfortunately for clients and teams, some agency leaders struggle to keep their promises. We
might be busy — and we usually have valid excuses — but those excuses don’t change the
facts. Every time we fail to deliver something on time or on budget, whether it’s for an internal
client or an external one, we erode a bit of the trust in ourselves and in our business. And we
set an example that can destroy an agency’s reputation, ability to grow, and profits.

Mot agencies (and agency owners) deal with this issue at some point. I know I have — as have
many of the other owners we’ve worked with over the years. You can change yourself and your
agency’s culture, but to do so, you have to start taking accountability seriously. Saying it matters
is lovely. Demonstrating it matters is when your team will actually take notice.

If it’s time for you to revitalize accountability inside your agency, an article I wrote for Forbes
may hold some tips worth considering. But it starts with recognizing that it’s not okay just
because you’re the boss. In fact, it should be less okay because we’re the boss.

This was originally published in the weekly AMI newsletter.  To subscribe, click here.