Developing a Culture of Accountability (Part 2)
Leadership – Check!
If you are confident that your leadership team is setting a standard of excellence by BEING accountable themselves, it’s time to work on the other factors that influence a culture of accountability. If you haven’t read the first installment of this article, I encourage you to revisit it by clicking here. Today’s message rests on your awareness of last week’s message about accountability starting at the top.
Are your expectations reasonable?
One common reason that teams fail to meet expectations is the expectations themselves being unattainable. While you shouldn’t lower the bar arbitrarily to make the game easier to win, you must be realistic. Striking this balance is a challenge best met as a team. Rather than making decisions about goals and expectations in a vacuum, leaders should collaborate with their teams to establish mutually agreeable targets. With this approach, the increased personal ownership of mutual expectations leads to a higher likelihood of follow through. As you take this collaborative approach, you must truly listen to your team and not force your expectations down their throat. People are less likely to have true commitment when they feel they were pressured into agreement.
How do you know if you’re being reasonable?
There’s no one way to know if an expectation is reasonable since team capabilities vary greatly. Here are a few questions you can ask to provide a reality check:
Does our staff possess the skills to get this done?
Do we have enough staff to get this done?
Do we have the right tools/technology for the job?
Perhaps you need to do some hiring or firing before you can reasonably expect the team to achieve its goals. Maybe the staff needs training to succeed. It is also possible that there are necessary investments in tools or technology required as a next step. Whatever the case, accountable teams must be brutally honest about what they’re lacking and take steps to address those shortcomings.
Making it safe to be honest.
Speaking of brutal honesty, a necessary condition for accountable cultures is the safety to be brutally honest. In an accountable culture, you need people to say, “We won’t meet that deadline if we don’t change X...” and “We’re going to miss budget because I waited too long to procure Y...” Brutal honesty is a necessary ingredient that teams cannot achieve without safety.
If people are afraid to tell the truth, they’ll lie or withhold information to stay safe, which is a recipe for failure every time. Leaders must create an environment where people know they can say what they’re thinking, admit mistakes, and challenge each other regardless of seniority. People must have evidence of this safety before the condition is met. If you attack people when they make a mistake, shut them down when they argue your position, or ridicule their ideas, you have created the opposite of safety, and people will not TAKE accountability or HOLD each other accountable. Finger pointing will be the norm, and nobody will say what’s actually happening on the team for fear of retribution or retaliation.
Encourage and reward the most difficult types of honesty and you’ll get the honesty you need to win.
Consistent courageous action.
Perhaps the hardest thing for great leaders who have done all the other hard work I’ve outlined in this 2-part article is HOLDING people accountable when expectations are missed. Most caring bosses who do a great job with team and culture building also hate reprimanding and even firing people. They look at it through the lens of hurting that person, who they often have gotten to like. If, on the other hand, a leader can begin to look at hard decisions through the lens of what’s best for the team, they’ll see how aggressively fixing performance problems and, when necessary, replacing people on the team is an act of care. When leaders allow poor performance to go unchecked, it lowers the bar for everyone. Don’t allow it. Have the courage to take corrective action quickly and consistently. Hopefully, you’re able to work with people to improve and eliminate the problems they’re causing, but if not, move on and upgrade the position. Leadership is a hard job for reasons like this, but your team will thank you for it.
The Spark Notes:
Unveil the secrets behind a powerful culture of accountability.
Learn strategies for realistic expectations, fostering brutal honesty, and consistent, courageous action.
Elevate your leadership and discover transformative insights to exceed expectations and build thriving teams!
