Dear Bob ...I was handed your article "Confidence or Accountability." I thought that the article was good approach to better understanding what helps trigger human response. The only caveat I have is that in a Fortune 500 or 1000 company you will only get some many "great job try it again" comments before you have to deliver results that are in fact measurable.That statement alone will give some peop Dear Bob …I was handed your article “Confidence or Accountability.” I thought that the article was good approach to better understanding what helps trigger human response. The only caveat I have is that in a Fortune 500 or 1000 company you will only get some many “great job try it again” comments before you have to deliver results that are in fact measurable.That statement alone will give some people cold sweats at night. Most of us would rather have an environment that fosters mentoring without accountability, but in this day and age when every dollar spent must bring in 3-4 times itself in ROI we are held accountable and sometimes not by means like the 2nd coach of your article. I am a firm believer of asking of someone rather then demanding, and then take the time to explain what it is that you are trying to accomplish. You will make greater strides to hitting your mark than by sheer dictatorship. But at the end of the day CEO’s are not paid to have a feel good environment, you must produce mensurable results and sometimes you have to kick some tail to get there. I use GE under Jack Welch as my example. Thanks for listening and I look forward to any feedback or greater wisdom. – Coach or kick tail?Dear Kicking Coach … Funny thing about measurable results – you get exactly what you measure, which usually has only a loose correlation with what will make the business healthier in the long run … or even the medium run. I’ve been writing about this subject for years, only to find that someone else did so earlier and better (see http://www.issurvivor.com/ArticlesDetail.asp?ID=535, which includes information about Robert Austin, who’s the authority on the subject).Accountability is also a funny thing. The more you hold people accountable, the less they voluntarily shoulder responsibility. Jack Welch notwithstanding, the best companies create a “culture of discipline” as Jim Collins put it in “Good to Great” – leaders don’t hold people accountable so much as they hire people who take responsibility and create an environment that encourages it.Yes, companies of any size will accumulate a cadre of marginal performers, who require supervision as much as they require leadership. Build your company’s culture around them, though, and you’ll encourage better performers to descend to the level of the marginal ones. As for what CEOs are paid to do: The really good ones are paid to build an organization that can achieve great things. It’s the merely good ones who hold people accountable to make sure they do their jobs.That, at least, is my opinion.– Bob Technology Industry