Lead from Where You Stand

Accountability Builds Trust and Influence in the Green Industry

By Alpha Jones

In the green industry, leadership is rarely about a title. It’s about how you show up for the work and the people you work with. If our first Stolons of Leadership article on Work Ethic showed us how leading by example sets the tone, then accountability takes it one step further. It’s how you prove that you’re dependable—not just when things go right, but especially when they don’t.

The word “accountability” can feel heavy. It is often associated with blame. But that’s not what accountability is about.

Blame looks backward and focuses on what has happened and cannot be changed. Accountability looks forward. It’s about taking ownership of outcomes, whether you’re directly responsible or not. It’s stepping up and saying, “I’ll fix this,” even when it would be easier to point fingers. Pointing fingers changes nothing.

Years ago, during a busy summer maintenance schedule, a crew I managed accidentally scalped a client’s newly renovated lawn. No one spoke up. By the time I noticed, the damage was obvious, and the client was furious. Contrast with another situation where my crew leader called in immediately after having a tense exchange with a car owner when a member of his team accidentally blew grass clippings onto a store patron’s car. The leader owned it, explained what happened, and laid out a plan to fix it. The car owner wasn’t thrilled, but they respected the honesty. When it was all said and done, the car owner apologized for making a big deal about something small.

That’s the difference accountability makes. It won’t make the mistake disappear, but it can preserve—and even strengthen—the trust you’ve built.

Accountability isn’t an abstract concept; it’s visible in everyday details. Here’s what it looks like at different levels:

• Entry-level employees: Checking the trailer before it leaves the yard without being told. Reporting a broken irrigation head instead of leaving it for someone else to find. Taking responsibility for a mistake and helping fix it.

• Crew leaders: Being transparent about scheduling errors. Admitting when something was missed and resetting expectations with the client. Modeling the kind of ownership they want from their team.

• Managers and owners: Owning hiring mistakes, setting clear standards, and taking responsibility when operations fall short instead of pushing the problem down the line.

These actions build credibility. When people know they can rely on you, they work harder for you, trust you more, and follow your lead.

Leadership is influence, not authority. And one of the fastest ways to build influence is through accountability.

Picture this: Who would you rather follow? The person who ducks responsibility, or the one who owns the problem and gets to work fixing it?

When your crew sees that you take ownership, they feel safe bringing up issues before they become disasters. They work harder because they respect you. Clients trust you because they know you won’t hide mistakes. And your organization becomes more resilient because you address problems instead of burying them.

To quote Simon Sinek, he said, “Leaders eat last… but they take responsibility first.”

So how do you live out accountability on the job? Start small and be consistent:

• Admit mistakes early. For example, if you installed the wrong plant variety at a client’s property, call them immediately and set a plan to replace it before they notice the issue themselves.

• Take action on what you can control, even if the situation wasn’t your fault. If a storm damages the sports field you manage, coordinate cleanup and repairs instead of waiting for someone else to take the lead.

• Communicate clearly when something’s wrong. For instance, if a parks and rec facility’s irrigation system is malfunctioning, notify the maintenance supervisor with clear details and next steps instead of letting it slide.

• Don’t pass the blame. If your landscape installation crew falls behind because of a scheduling error, own the delay and focus on getting back on track instead of pointing fingers.

• Give credit where it’s due. When your team completes a complex playground installation safely and on time, make sure leadership and the client know exactly who contributed to the success.

• Ask for feedback — and receive it without defensiveness. If a manager points out that a jobsite was left disorganized, acknowledge the concern and implement a cleanup checklist rather than making excuses.

This isn’t just about owning your part. Accountability also means holding others accountable in a way that builds them up, not tears them down. Correcting someone doesn’t have to be criticism; it can be a way to raise the standard for everyone.

Accountability is contagious. When you model it, others start to adopt it. Teams that value accountability are more efficient, more trustworthy, and more unified. On the other hand, when accountability is absent, a culture of blame sets in—and that’s a fast track to burnout and turnover.

Here’s the hard truth: You can’t ask for accountability if you don’t demonstrate it yourself. You can’t expect your team to admit mistakes if you’re unwilling to do the same. And you can’t build a culture of trust if you’re constantly shifting responsibility.

In our Stolons of Leadership series, we’re using the stolon metaphor for a reason. Stolons are the stems of a plant that grow horizontally, putting down roots as they go and creating new plants. Accountability works the same way: it spreads outward, reinforcing the foundation for other critical leadership traits.

Work Ethic and Accountability are the first two stolons because they support everything else. Without work ethic, accountability doesn’t hold. Without accountability, integrity, the next stolon, has no grounding.

Your Leadership Challenge

Your challenge: What is one small thing you can take full ownership of this week? It doesn’t have to be big. Maybe it’s following up with a client before they call you. Maybe it’s owning a missed detail before someone else brings it up. Or maybe it’s simply showing your crew that you’re in it with them.

Leadership doesn’t start when you get a title. It starts when you stop waiting for someone else to go first.

Looking Ahead: In the next installment of this series, we’ll dig into Integrity. It’s what happens when no one’s watching, and it is inseparable from accountability.

In the meantime, keep leading from where you stand. Your crew, your clients, and your industry need you to set the standard.

Pro Tip: Catch up on the first Stolons of Leadership article on Work Ethic if you missed it in the July/August edition of NC Turfgrass Magazine. Each article builds on the last, and the full series will help you grow your influence from the ground up. https://theturfzone.com/tcnc/?ascat=9&sub=issue&issue_id=9410&rti=true&rel=3