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Key Takeaways Teams can appear aligned on paper while harboring accountability leaks caused by ambiguous ownership, assumptions and differing interpretations across regions.
Accountability leaks show up in the gray zones of ownership. When responsibilities are implied but never confirmed, work falls through the cracks.
When you lead across time zones, you’re unlikely to completely eliminate ambiguity. But you can limit how far it spreads by creating shared meaning before you create shared plans.
When you lead teams across regions, it’s so easy to buy into the belief that “alignment means understanding.” It doesn’t.
In meetings, everyone nods in agreement as PowerPoint decks get approved and milestones documented. But what seems like apparent alignment on paper can still hide quiet friction that slows down execution.
I learned that lesson the hard way while leading a global transformation project for a client. Every region was at the table, and roles and responsibilities were clear. We assigned owners so people knew what their role was, but the deadlines kept slipping.
On paper, progress looked good, but in reality, the work felt heavy and slow, like we were wading through mud no matter how hard we tried.
At first, I blamed capacity and later blamed complexity as the two main causes. However, what I eventually uncovered were accountability leaks. They weren’t obvious or noisy but were “quiet gaps” where ownership slipped away between the regions, the time zones, and the different roles and job titles.
Related: I Took My Company Global This Year. Here Are 3 Things I Wish I Did Differently
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