Workplace coaching often implies some form of accountability in the coach–employee relationship, but there is minimal treatment of accountability in the extant coaching literature. Much of the research on accountability in general treats it as a tool needed for evaluation and ensuring certain activities occur. We draw upon three theories (self-expansion theory, intentional change theory, and self-determination theory) to propose an essential construct for workplace coaching called collaborative accountability. We present this construct as part of a framework of vision-based workplace coaching that describes how a coach enables employee psychological safety, vision clarity, and intrinsic motivation, such that the coach and employee in turn experience relational mutuality and self-expansion. These two elements enable collaborative accountability, which is essential to and enables employee sustained change. We present propositions that serve to invite further coaching research, and we discuss the implications our framework has for the practice of workplace coaching.
