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This article is based on a conversation between Brad Bialy and Mike Cleland on Take the Stage, a podcast/vodcast presented by Haley Marketing. For this episode and others search for “Secrets of Staffing Success” on your preferred podcast player or watch past episodes on YouTube.
So you want to improve your staffing firm’s performance. Great! Step one is accountability. It has to be embedded in the culture. But who actually owns that accountability? Leadership? Sales managers? The individual rep?
Mike Cleland believes the answer is “all of the above.”
Accountability starts at the top. Cleland emphasizes that chief executives must first recognize the need to change, then model that change in their own behavior. “The understanding of the reset does start with the chief executive officer,” he explained. “There has to be a reality check among the team.”
When a CEO is willing to say, “I have to do my job differently,” it creates space for the rest of the team to follow suit. But modeling change isn’t enough. Leaders need to get close to the front lines.
“You have to get into the desk and figure out what they’re doing,” Mike said. “Maybe you have to listen to their calls. Maybe you have to make some calls for them … go on a joint sales call.”
It’s not just about reviewing dashboards or running reports. Cleland insists that effective leadership requires engagement, not just oversight.
Peer Accountability > Managerial Oversight
While top-down accountability is critical, Cleland believes the most powerful kind is peer-to-peer.
“The best type of accountability is peer accountability that happens on a day-to-day basis,” he said. “If you’re going to ask me which I’d want the strongest, no question, it’s peer to peer. That’s the sign of the healthiest culture you could possibly have.”
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Why does this matter? Because when your team holds each other accountable—not just to goals, but to commitments and expectations—you’ve moved beyond metrics. You’ve created a culture.
“If I’m holding people accountable, that becomes the rule set of how we work together,” Mike explained. “We’re more likely to take that call list home. We’re more likely to ask those additional questions. Those are cultural expectations.”
In this kind of environment, accountability isn’t a performance review checkbox. It’s a shared standard, driven by mutual respect and a deep desire not to let teammates down.
What’s Next?
In Part 5 of this series, Mike dives deep into how culture shapes everything in a staffing firm—including when it’s time to let a toxic top performer go.
The post Who Owns Accountability: a Conversation with Mike Cleland appeared first on Haley Marketing Group.
