How to Hold Your Small Team Accountable (Without Feeling Like the Bad Guy) 

If you’re a woman who owns and operates a PT practice, Pilates or yoga studio, or any health or wellness business with a team, this blog is for you. 

As a woman business owner myself, I know that holding my team accountable — without feeling awful — was one of the biggest challenges I faced as I scaled my two Miami-based studios. I used to think being a good leader meant being liked. I avoided hard conversations, stepped in to fix mistakes instead of addressing them, and carried way too much of the load myself. It took me years (and a lot of stress) to realize that avoiding accountability didn’t make me a nice boss. It made me an exhausted one.

Holding your team accountable is one of the hardest parts of being a leader, especially in a wellness business where relationships run deep and your team might also feel like family. However, if you want to run a sustainable, healthy business that doesn’t depend solely on you, accountability isn’t optional. It’s essential. 

Let’s talk about why you might struggle to keep your team accountable and how to change the script. 

Signs Your Team Lacks Accountability 

Some of you might be reading this and thinking that you’re fairly good at holding your team accountable. Let’s check in, though. Are you:

• Redoing work after someone else because it’s “easier”? 
• Practicing conversations (or editing texts/emails/Slack messages) a ton so you don’t come across as rude/mean? 
• Overexplaining why you want to implement a policy or ask someone to do something? 
• Hesitating to provide honest feedback because you don’t want to “hurt their feelings”?
• Holding team meetings and implementing more “checks and balances” to make sure things get done on time/well/to your standards? 
• Answering late-night texts and calls, or doing other people’s jobs “just this once”? 
• Feeling defeated because your team doesn’t seem to be taking more off your plate? 

Lack of accountability is a bigger problem in growing businesses than we’d like to admit — but it’s because we often aren’t told how to do it. Especially as women, holding people accountable is incredibly foreign! 

Now that we’ve talked about what it looks like to NOT have accountability… let’s talk about how to actually hold your team accountable. 

Clarify Expectations (Before You Enforce Them)

The number one accountability mistake I see? Trying to enforce something that was never clearly communicated.

If your instructors don’t know what “great performance” looks like…

If your admin team doesn’t know what they’re responsible for…

If you haven’t documented policies, workflows, or best practices…

… “Accountability” will always feel like a surprise — and nobody likes surprise feedback.

Take the time to define what success looks like in every role. Use onboarding, checklists, and SOPs to reinforce that clarity. Make sure that you are explicit in your expectations. Remember, clear is kind! 

Don’t Take It Personally

When you finally hold a boundary or give feedback, someone might get defensive. That doesn’t mean you did anything wrong. This is especially hard for women leaders in the fitness and wellness world, where we’re trained to be “nice,” empathetic, and to avoid a fight But you can be kind and direct without being mean. Which leads me to my next point…

Name the Fear: “I Don’t Want to Be the Bad Guy.”

If this thought (“I don’t want to be a bad guy”) runs through your head before giving feedback, enforcing a boundary, or correcting someone’s behavior, you’re not alone. 

But ACCOUNTABILITY IS NOT MEAN. It’s not punishment. It’s clarity. And clear is kind, as they say. I also think we have a natural wish to be liked, but don’t get it twisted: Being respected is much better than being liked in a professional setting like this. 

Accountability is how we help our team grow, and how we reinforce expectations. It’s also what you need to uphold your business’s values and to ensure that your client/patient experience is what you’ve promised.

So no — telling a team member that they dropped the ball or can’t keep showing up late doesn’t make you the bad guy. It makes you a good business owner.

Create Accountability Systems (Not Just Conversations)

I know that when you finally vocalize your boundaries and/or expectations, you might feel like everything is settled. Your team member will start pulling their weight and everything will be fixed! 

I’m sorry to be the one to tell you, but that’s often not the case. Even if you’ve planned check-ins or meetings, those don’t build lasting accountability. If you want your team to take ownership of their role, you need systems that reinforce your expectations automatically and consistently.

Here’s what that can look like in practice:

• Documented roles and responsibilities: Everyone on your team should know what’s expected of them and be able to refer back to it. Job descriptions, SOPs, and onboarding guides help eliminate confusion and give people a clear path to success.

• Task tracking and automated follow-ups: Tools like Momence and Asana make it easy to assign, monitor, and follow up on recurring responsibilities (like closing tasks, intro calls, or membership outreach) without chasing people down manually. When expectations are built into your systems, accountability becomes part of your workflow — not a personal confrontation.

• Regular check-ins and performance reviews: Set a rhythm for reviewing how things are going—monthly, quarterly, or even weekly. These aren’t just about correcting issues; they’re a chance to coach, support, and celebrate progress.

• Tangible metrics and outcomes to own: Whether it’s retention numbers, trial conversions, or social media engagement, let your team see the real impact of their work. When people are connected to results, they’re more likely to stay motivated and aligned.

• Clear career paths: Do you have employees who say they want more responsibility? Make sure you’re giving them a clear path from their role to the role they want to be. For example, if a teacher wants to become a manager. 

These systems do more than just “hold people accountable.” They take the pressure off you to play bad cop, remove the mental load of tracking everything yourself, and build a culture where excellence is expected—not just requested.

Plus, when you participate in these systems, you show that accountability starts at the top and everyone on this team is responsible for their work. 

Learn How to Delegate Without Micromanaging

Sometimes, we avoid holding other people accountable because deep down, we don’t expect them to deliver. Whether your standards are insanely high or their previous work has been terrible, there’s sometimes a disconnect there.

Sometimes it’s for good reason — you haven’t been able to train them fully or you handed off a task without giving them the tools or clarity they needed to do it well. I want to make sure you avoid this element of the accountability trap. Because delegation isn’t about dumping work on someone. It’s about equipping them to take ownership of their work and run with it. 

If you want to see what this looks like in practice, I have a module inside my Fit Biz Foundations membership & course just for you called Elevate & Delegate. I walk through exactly how to make this shift: how to decide what to delegate, who to delegate it to, and how to do it in a way that actually works for both of you. (Spoiler: It’s not about handing off a to-do list. It’s about transferring ownership and setting them up to succeed.)

When you delegate well, you don’t just free up your time. You build a team that feels empowered, not babysat.

Identify When It’s a Performance Issue vs. a Poor Fit

If you thought holding someone accountable was hard… I have some news for you. Letting a bad fit team member go can be much harder! The truth is, though, that not every accountability issue can be fixed.

Sometimes, you have someone in the wrong role or the wrong business entirely. You need to know when it’s time to coach… and when it’s time to cut ties. This can take some nuance and it helps to have someone (or a group of someones) in your corner who can talk through the pros and cons of letting a team member go, and to give you tips on how to do it. 

That’s something I’ve helped dozens of studio owners navigate through one-on-one coaching and inside the Inner Circle, where we talk openly about team turnover, tough decisions, and the real work of leadership.

Get Support as You Strengthen Your Leadership Muscle

If this blog resonated with you, you’re not alone. Many of the women I’ve coached over the last 7+ years struggle to hold their team accountable and to hold systems that make sure people are doing their jobs well. 

But this is the important work we have to do as leaders. Because if we want our businesses to thrive, our clients or patients to find the transformation they’re seeking, and to keep everyone paid… we have to hold people accountable. 

If you want support as you flex your leader muscle and want to know what it takes to run a boutique wellness business that doesn’t rely on you and you alone… Consider joining The Inner Circle.

The Inner Circle is a high-touch, application-only mentorship for established women business owners in boutique fitness, wellness, and healthcare. We focus on sustainable growth, leadership development, and building businesses that support your life, not consume it.