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Marcus leads a team of eight direct reports, and Jennifer is his star employee. While the other seven team members struggle to complete tasks on time or in the way Marcus asks for them, Jennifer seems to ace any task shes given. She asks questions when shes unclear and owns up to her mistakes. Any time the other employees mess up, Marcus wishes he could clone Jennifer seven times and save himself the hassle. Sound familiar? You may not be able to clone your star employees, but you can help your team replicate the cognitive habits of people like Jennifer to build the skill of accountability across your team. At the NeuroLeadership Institute, weve spent the past year reverse-engineering what accountable people do from a cognitive perspective. Quite literally, weve asked, what are the cognitive habitsthe habits of mindof people who do this well? Three have come into focus: syncing expectations, driving with purpose, and owning ones impact. In short, accountable people get clarity in what theyre supposed to do, execute tasks deliberately and intentionally, and learn from the outcomes they produce, whether good or bad. 3 HABITS OF ACCOUNTABILITY When people attend to these habits in the course of their work, we call it proactive accountability. That is, they see accountability as a way to grow, develop, and innovate. They take ownership of their responsibilities and learn from their mistakes. Proactive accountability stands in contrast to punitive accountability, a practice in which leaders create environments of fear, blame, or punishment that hinder learning and growth, as well as permissive accountability, in which leaders assume performance issues will simply work themselves out. Sync expectations A major factor in cultures with low accountability is a mismatch in expectations. The manager thinks the team member will do one thing, but the team member thinks theyre supposed to do something else. Disappointment and broken trust follow. In the brain, unmet expectations are processed as error signals. Levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine drop, sapping motivation and causing us to feel frustrated or angry, which forces us to adjust our expectations. When expectations are met, however, there is no error signal, dopamine levels hold steady, and trust and satisfaction remain strong. The first habit of proactive accountability, Sync expectations, involves the employee getting clear about whats expected of them. This is an important first step because shared understanding is the foundation of being effective. In the brain this is represented by a temporary synchronization of neural activity, known as neural synchrony. Relationship building During neural synchrony, neurons in both peoples brains are firing in the same patterns because their minds are processing information in nearly identical ways. For this to happen, both people need to discuss and eliminate any potential misunderstandings before moving forward. Syncing expectations also has benefits for relationships at the end of the project because fulfilled expectations breed trust, while unmet expectations erode trust. When two teammates sync expectations up front, they make an investment in sustaining the relationship long-term. Tactic: Encourage your team to sync expectations by communicating in a way thats succinct, specific, and generous (SSG). SSG communication uses a narrow focus to support working memory (succinct); it uses visual, explicit language to enhance processing (specific); and its tailored to create ease of understanding (generous). Its not Get me this report by 5 p.m.rather, its Email me this report by 5 p.m. Eastern Time, and please attach the report as a PDF. SSG communication creates clarity, which promotes synchrony and aligns expectations. Drive with purpose Once the leader and employee have synced expectations, the employee must own the responsibility to execute the task at the highest level. Highly effective people often do this by connecting the goal at hand to a higher purpose, and then working to create the right outcomes with that purpose in mind. Purpose ignites motivation. When we know why were asked to do something, and we can see how the work creates a meaningful impact, were more intrinsically motivated to act. Compared to extrinsic motivators, such as money and status, intrinsic rewards, like a sense of accomplishment or mastery over a task, are much more powerful. Consciously or not, effective people find deeper meaning in their work to summon the energy to keep pushing. They also act deliberately, rather than hastily, investigating as many possibilities as they can and assuming almost nothing. In addition, they check their biases to avoid making rash judgments. Since cognitive biases act as mental shortcuts, they pose risks for an employee completing a task effectively. Someone who acts with an expedience bias, for instance, might move too quickly and miss a crucial part of the work. Tactic: Help your employees identify the impact this work will have on them. Perhaps the project is an opportunity for them to build a new skill or to contribute to an important organizational goal. Asking questions that elicit a clear why will help the employee form a stronger sense of purpose and ownership over their work. Own the impact Accountability doesnt just involve getting things done as expected; it means seeing how those actions play out going forward. Even the best laid plans can produce unexpected results. Accountable leaders own their teams impact, regardless of peoples positive intentions, and then they devise new plans to keep pushing toward success. Proactive accountability requires us to maintain a growth mindset, or the belief that mistakes are chances to improve rather than signs of incompetence. When people always seem to get things done, its because theyre not getting mired in failure or basking in success. They may pause to experience their emotions, but ultimately theyre focused on achieving the next set of goals in front of them. Tactic: The most important time for leaders and team members to own their impact is when things dont go as planned. Help your team apologize well by following (and modeling) a three-step approach: taking responsibility, saying how youll fix things, and asking for others input. Choosing to learn from our mistakes preserves trust and promotes growth: two outcomes that sit at the heart of proactive accountability. DEMYSTIFYING ACCOUNTABILITY With these three habits, Marcus feels more empowered to help his team build the skill of accountability. Jennifer may have a natural talent for getting things done at a high level, but theres no secret to her efficacy. When a new project comes her way, she merely goes through the prescribed steps that neuroscience shows will naturally produce accountability. It will take time to develop the behaviors of proactive accountability and make them habits. But with the right focus, you can help everyone on your team, including yourself, become the kind of person who meets or exceeds expectations in whatever they do. What seems like magic will really just be brain science at work.
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It has been five years since May 25, 2020, when George Floyd gasped for air beneath the knee of a Minneapolis police officer at the corner of 38th Street and Chicago Avenue. Five years since 17-year-old Darnella Frazier stood outside Cup Foods, raised her phone, and bore witness to nine minutes and 29 seconds that would galvanize a global movement against racial injustice. Fraziers video didnt just show what happened. It insisted the world stop and see. Today, that legacy continues in the hands of a different community, facing different threats but wielding the same tools. Across the United States, Latino organizers are raising their phones, not to go viral but to go on record. They livestream Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids, film family separations and document protests outside detention centers. Their footage is not merely content. It is evidence, warningand resistance. Here in Los Angeles where I teach journalism, for example, several images have seared themselves into public memory. One viral video shows a shackled father stepping into a white, unmarked van as his daughter sobs behind the camera, pleading with him not to sign any official documents. He turns, gestures for her to calm down, and blows her a kiss. In another video, filmed across town, Los Angeles Police Department officers on horseback charge into crowds of peaceful protesters, swinging wooden batons with chilling precision. In Spokane, Washington, residents form a spontaneous human chain around their neighbors mid-raid, their bodies and cameras erecting a barricade of defiance. In San Diego, a video shows white allies yelling Shame! as they chase a car full of National Guard troops from their neighborhood. The impact of smartphone witnessing has been immediate and unmistakablevisceral at street level, seismic in statehouses. On the ground, the videos helped inspire a No Kings movement, which organized protests in all 50 states on June 14, 2025. Lawmakers are intensifying their focus on immigration policy as well. As the Trump administration escalates enforcement, Democratic-led states are expanding laws that limit cooperation with federal agents. On June 12, the House Oversight Committee questioned Democratic governors about these measures, with Republican lawmakers citing public safety concerns. The hearing underscored deep divisions between federal and state approaches to immigration enforcement. BREAKING: ICE raid and community resistance in front of Home Depot in Paramount, California.— Jeremy Lindenfeld (@jeremotographs.bsky.social) 2025-06-07T18:27:17.850Z The legacy of Black witnessing Whats unfolding now is not newit is newly visible. As my research shows, Latino organizers are drawing from a playbook that was sharpened in 2020 and rooted in a much older lineage of Black media survival strategies that were forged under extreme oppression. In my 2020 book Bearing Witness While Black: African Americans, Smartphones and the New Protest Journalism, I document how Black Americans have used mediaslave narratives, pamphlets, newspapers, radio and now smartphonesto fight for justice. From Frederick Douglass to Ida B. Wells to Darnella Frazier, Black witnesses have long used journalism as a tool for survival and transformation. Latino mobile journalists are building on that blueprint in 2025, filming state power in moments of overreach, archiving injustice in real time, and expanding the impact of this radical tradition. Their work also echoes the spatial tactics of Black resistance. Just as enslaved Black people once mapped escape routes during slavery and Jim Crow, Latino communities today are engaging in digital cartography to chart ICE-free zones, mutual aid hubs and sanctuary spaces. The People Over Papers map channels the logic of the Black maroonscommunities of self-liberated Africans who escaped plantations to track patrols, share intelligence and build networks of survival. Now, the hideouts are digital. The maps are crowdsourced. The danger remains. Likewise, the Stop ICE Raids Alerts Network revives a civil rights-era tactic. In the 1960s, organizers used wide area telephone service lines and radio to circulate safety updates. Black DJs cloaked dispatches in traffic and weather reportscongestion on the south side signaled police blockades; storm warnings meant violence ahead. Today, the medium is WhatsApp. The signal is encrypted. But the messageprotect each otherhas not changed. Layered across both systems is the DNA of the Negro Motorist Green Book, the guide that once helped Black travelers navigate Jim Crow America by identifying safe towns, gas stations, and lodging. People Over Papers and Stop ICE Raids are digital descendants of that legacy. Where the Green Book used printed pages, todays tools use digital pins. But the mission remains: survival through shared knowledge, protection through mapped resistance. The People Over Papers map is a crowdsourced collection of reports of ICE activity across the U.S. [Screenshot: The Conversation U.S.] Dangerous necessity Five years after George Floyds death, the power of visual evidence remains undeniable. Black witnessing laid the groundwork. In 2025, that tradition continues through the lens of Latino mobile journalists, who draw clear parallels between their own communitys experiences and those of Black Americans. Their footage exposes powerful echoes: ICE raids and overpolicing, border cages and city jails, a door kicked in at dawn and a knee on a neck. Like Black Americans before them, Latino communities are using smartphones to protect, to document and to respond. In cities such as Chicago, Los Angeles, and El Paso, whispers of ICE is in the neighborhood now flash across Telegram, WhatsApp, and Instagram. For undocumented families, pressing record can mean risking retaliation or arrest. But many keep filmingbecause what goes unrecorded can be erased. What they capture are not isolated incidents. They are part of a broader, shared struggle against state violence. And as long as the cameras keep rolling, the stories keep surfacingilluminated by the glow of smartphone screens that refuse to look away. Allissa V. Richardson is an associate professor of journalism at USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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This is your reminder to pause and reflect on your own wellbeing, and check in on those around you. Be it anxiety, depression, burnout, or just a general malaise, its important to stay intentional and proactive about nurturing a healthy mind. These 10 mental health books offer guidance and tips for cultivating inner peace, lasting joy, and emotional comfort. [Photo: The Next Big Idea Club] Taming the Molecule of More: A Step-by-Step Guide to Make Dopamine Work for You By Michael Long Dopamine, the molecule of more, is the chemical in our brains that drives us to seek out newer and better thingsthe latest gadget, the coolest job, the perfect partner. But for many of us, its easy to get stuck in a cycle of never being truly satisfied. Because dopamine can only promise happiness. It can never deliver. That part is up to us. Listen to the Book Bite summary, read by author Michael Long, or view on Amazon [Photo: The Next Big Idea Club] Healing the Modern Brain: Nine Tenets to Build Mental Fitness and Revitalize Your Mind By Drew Ramsey This essential guide explores the nine tenets vital to cultivating mental fitness and provides direct, actionable techniques to improve brain function and emotional health. Listen to the Book Bite summary, read by author Drew Ramsey, or view on Amazon [Photo: The Next Big Idea Club] Unshrunk: A Story of Psychiatric Treatment Resistance By Laura Delano The powerful memoir of one womans experience with psychiatric diagnoses and medications, and her journey to discover herself outside the mental health industry. Listen to the Book Bite summary, read by author Laura Delano, or view on Amazon [Photo: The Next Big Idea Club] Ordinary Magic: The Science of How We Can Achieve Big Change with Small Acts By Gregory Walton Discover simple psychological shifts that build trust, belonging, and confidencefrom the codirector of the Dweck-Walton Lab at Stanford University. Listen to the Book Bite summary, read by author Gregory Walton, or view on Amazon [Photo: The Next Big Idea Club] The Narrowing: A Journey Through Anxiety and the Body By Alexandra Shaker An exploration of the connection between anxiety and the body by a clinical psychologist, drawing from the latest research as well as historical and cultural insights through time, arguing that only through understanding anxietys role in our lives can we transform it into resilience. Listen to the Book Bite summary, read by author Alexandra Shaker, or view on Amazon [Photo: The Next Big Idea Club] Validation: How the Skill Set That Revolutionized Psychology Will Transform Your Relationships, Increase Your Influence, and Change Your Life By Caroline Fleck How the science of seeing and being seen is the key to inner and interpersonal transformation. Listen to the Book Bite summary, read by author Caroline Fleck, or view on Amazon [Photo: The Next Big Idea Club] How to Love Better: The Path to Deeper Connection Through Growth, Kindness, and Compassion By Yung Pueblo Love enters our lives in many forms: friends, family, intimate partners. But all of these relationships are deeply influenced by the love we have for ourselves. If we see our relationships as opportunities to be fully present in our healing and growth, then, Yung Pueblo assures us, we can transform and meet one another with compassion instead of judgment. Listen to the Book Bite summary, read by author Yung Pueblo, or view on Amazon [hoto: The Next Big Idea Club] How Do You Feel?: One Doctors Search for Humanity in Medicine By Jessi Gold A poignant and thought-provoking memoir following one psychiatrist and four of her patients as they deal with the unspoken mental and physical costs of caring for others. Listen to the Book Bite summary, read by author Jessi Gold, or view on Amazon [Photo: The Next Big Idea Club] The Grief Cure: Looking for the End of Loss By Cody Delistraty In this lyrical and moving story of the world of prolonged grief, journalist Cody Delistraty reflects on his experience with loss and explores what modern science, history, and literature reveal about the nature of our relationship to grief and our changing attitudes toward its cure. Listen to the Book Bite summary, read by author Cody Delistraty, or view on Amazon [Photo: The Next Big Idea Club] How to Be Enough: Self-Acceptance for Self-Critics and Perfectionists By Ellen Hendriksen Are you your own toughest critic? Learn to be good to yourself with this clear and compassionate guide. Listen to the Book Bite summary, read by author Ellen Hendriksen, or view on Amazon This article originally appeared in Next Big Idea Club magazine and is reprinted with permission.
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