How I Built a Team That’s More Accountable, Appreciative, and Action-Taking
- Brainz Magazine
- Aug 19
- 4 min read
Suzanne Rath is an Executive Health Coach & speaker who gives people their vitality back. She does this through empowering them to take back just 20% more health for more purpose, productivity & prosperity.
When I started my practice, my vision was simple: I wanted to create the kind of clinic I’d want to go to myself. Having navigated my own recovery from the chronic fatigue, constant headaches, focus issues, and intense anxiety that came with a mild traumatic brain injury after a bike accident, I appreciated the ned for whole person, multi-disciplinary health care. And not just that. I’ve always been committed to excellence in life and believe strongly in the power of preventative health. We’re all capable of so much more than we think possible. I wanted clinics with state-of-the-art equipment, beautiful premises, lots of in-house training, and a genuine focus on career progression. A workplace where people could learn, grow, and do their best work.
I believed, mistakenly, that if I provided all the right resources, people would naturally be appreciative and committed. Leadership lesson 101: People don’t behave the same way! Research tells us that if someone receives a bonus after 1.4 times, it becomes an expectation. I saw it firsthand: expectations rose, but implementation of training and systems provides declined. Inefficiencies crept in. I found myself stepping back into roles I’d already trained others to do.
On the surface, we were doing well, multiple clinic spaces, strong finances, but I was drained. And here’s some of how I practiced what I preach in my keynotes and high-performance consultancy, in my own business.
1. Recognising when you’re out of your genius
Doing a Working Genius assessment showed me I was spending too much time galvanising and managing people to get behind ideas instead of working in my zones of genius, big-picture thinking and strategy. I went back to the drawing board, focusing on workforce planning, intentional hiring, and redesigning roles and expectations.
2. Endurance leadership strategies
Leadership starts with how we lead ourselves. So I applied the same strategies I use in endurance sports to my leadership:
Recovery - prioritising rest and boundaries so I could show up at my best
Fuel - looking after my nutrition and energy
Focus - reflecting on goals and aligning my actions to them daily
Efficiency - eliminating wasted effort and making every step count
3. Embedding accountability
We introduced a weekly scorecard. My People and Performance Manager and I worked closely to:
Seek weekly commitments from each team member
Encourage “1%ers,” the small, consistent actions that compound into results
Invite each person to set five bold steps and each team to set five SMART goals per quarter, all based on our scorecard, our values, our yearly theme, and our three core pillars of performance.
4. Leading through vision and values
We doubled down on our vision and values. They’re not just posters on a wall, but living, breathing standards. We hosted storytelling workshops, shared wins, and connected daily actions to our shared purpose.
Through our membership with B1G1: Business for Good, every success contributes to causes beyond ourselves.
5. Protecting culture at all costs
We no longer keep people just because they’re “good at their job” if they erode culture. We give clear expectations, provide great working conditions, and lead with values, but we don’t bend to every request if it compromises the bigger picture.
6. Rewarding the top 20%
I shifted my focus from pleasing everyone to engaging and rewarding high performers, the ones consistently doing the 1%ers and driving the business forward. After all, we go further when we go together.
7. Scaling with metrics and systems
We review goals daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly.
We leverage AI, streamline processes, and remove bottlenecks.
We use position descriptions, 30/60/90-day plans, and shared reward systems to align the team with growth.
Just like endurance athletes, periodise training and check in regularly to see how their performance is tracking!
The result?
A team that’s more accountable because they know what’s expected. More appreciative because we celebrate wins but don’t overindulge entitlement.
More action-taking because they’re clear on their role in the bigger mission.
And the best part?
I’ve reclaimed my energy and am working in my genius, exactly what I help other leaders achieve through my ENDURES strategy and Energy audits.
If you want your team to go further, you need more than vision boards and staff perks. You need clear expectations, values-led leadership, and the courage to hold the line. If you’d like to create a team that’s more accountable, appreciative, and action-taking, speak to me about my keynote, ‘Summit Thinking’, for your next conference or event.
Read more from Suzanne Rath
Suzanne Rath, Executive Health Coach & Speaker
Suzanne Rath is a leader in the health and leadership field. A multi-award-winning Allied Health professional and health entrepreneur whose clinics are at the forefront of innovation and multi-disciplinary health care, her mission is to inspire a million people to take back control of their own health. Having thrived after a life-changing accident which sapped her vitality and later suffering leader burnout, Suzanne aims for participants in her programs to reclaim their vitality, becoming more purposeful, productive & prosperous through taking back control of just 20% more health.
