When we talk about strategy, most leadership teams immediately think about external factors: markets, competitors, new products, areas of expansion, or pricing models. Those things matter, but they’re not the foundation. In EOS®, we’ve learned that structure is strategy. One of the most powerful, practical tools for achieving a company’s vision is the Accountability Chart.
The Accountability Chart is not the same as an org chart. An org chart is static and shows who reports to whom today. The Accountability Chart is dynamic. It’s built around the major functions of the business, defines the right structure for the company’s next stage of growth, and clarifies who is accountable for what. It asks a forward-looking question: What does this company need to look like in the future in order to achieve its vision?
That’s why the Accountability Chart is strategic. It reveals the structure required to make the vision a reality—and then forces the team to face the hardest part: people decisions.
Why Structure Comes First
As Jim Collins famously wrote, “If you have the wrong people, it doesn’t matter whether you discover the right direction; you still won’t have a great company. Great vision without great people is irrelevant.” (Good to Great, 2001).
The Accountability Chart includes three key components for each function of the business. This forces clarity for each individual about what they are responsible for and informs everyone else who is accountable for what:
- Functions – What are the core areas of the business needed for the next 6-12 months?
- Roles – What are the essential responsibilities within each function?
- Owner – Who gets it, wants it, and has the capacity to do all that is required of this function?
By clarifying these, the Accountability Chart becomes the framework for executing the vision. Instead of being dictated by personalities, politics, or history, it’s built around what the business actually needs. The leadership team learns to ask, “What’s best for the company?” and then aligns the right people into the right seats.
A Real-Life Example
One company, a service business, lived this lesson in real time. For years, the founder wore multiple hats. He was the Visionary, the sales leader, and, on occasion, he jumped in to help operations. It worked when the business was small, but as the company grew, cracks began to show. Growth had fizzled out. Deals stalled, delivery slipped, and the founder felt spread thin.
As we built the Accountability Chart, the leadership team realized that, in addition to the Visionary, many of them were in the wrong seats – or sharing roles. They realized that the lack of clarity regarding who is accountable for what led to complexity and confusion. Having no true accountability is what had been holding them back for the past couple of years.
They designed a structure that supported growth. Sales & Marketing needed its own dedicated leader. Operations required clear accountability under a single seat. And the Visionary had to stay out of the day-to-day and focus on driving innovation, big relationships, and culture.
That meant change. The founder had to let go of Sales & Marketing leadership—a role that had been central to his identity. It also meant promoting a next-generation leader into that seat, someone with the skills and capacity to take ownership of revenue growth.
None of this was easy. It required honest and difficult conversations, trust, and a willingness to put “what’s best for the business” above personal comfort.
The Toughest Part of Strategy
Most leaders expect the hardest part of strategy to be analyzing markets or deciding where to invest. In reality, the most difficult and most impactful decisions are about people and structure. Shifting the Accountability Chart means someone may need to let go and step away from a seat, step up to a new seat, or even step out of the organization.
That’s why it can feel so emotional. These changes often touch identity, relationships, and loyalty. But when handled with courage, humility, and clarity, they are transformational. The Accountability Chart is how we ensure the vision isn’t irrelevant. It’s how we give great people the clarity, focus, and accountability they need to deliver results.
Structure is Strategy
Companies running on EOS® focus on strengthening the Six Key Components® of their business: Vision, People, Data, Issues, Process, and Traction®. The Accountability Chart sits at the intersection of Vision and People. It turns the abstract idea of “where we’re going” into a concrete structure that says, this is how we’ll get there.
Structure is strategy. When you design the right Accountability Chart, you’re making a strategic choice about the future. You’re defining the path to your vision, one seat at a time.
For the client team I mentioned, the change was hard—but it unlocked growth and gave the founder back his joy and freedom. And that’s the real power of the Accountability Chart: it doesn’t just align the business; it frees the leaders to do what they were uniquely built to do and find joy in it.
