I run an opera program at a state school in the Midwest. That might not seem applicable to some of you, but I spend my time training collegiate-aged people to repeat physical actions in varying environments in a competitive program with individual winners and losers.
When I started I had to kick some people out and do a bunch of yelling to get people on board with my expectations. Now I have to yell at them about once a year and do some light weeding, but in general the accountability is held by the singers to one another. This is vastly superior, both in culture and in collective outcomes. It did take a few years to get my expectations across. So, for me working with college students, the accountability must come from the top, but a good student leader far more valuable than my individual actions, and creating those leaders is the best thing I can do for the program.