Capable of Accountability?
Our chief want in life is somebody who shall make us do what we can.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson
When I started to write this, my first thought was to base it on the "Negan style" of accountability, a fictional character in The Walking Dead, who uses "Lucille" to get things done and create fear in many. For all TWD fans, you know Negan has a unique (and horrifying) way of holding people accountable. But, that probably is not the best leadership example. Not to mention, it would get you a lengthy jail sentence.
I have worked with many leaders over the years and accountability always comes up as an important topic. A leader will almost always say, "yes, I hold my employees accountable". Oddly, when you ask employees they will say, "no one is held accountable". Interesting difference in perspective.
Holding yourself and others accountable is about keeping commitments that are made. This is a core skill for coaches and a reason why coaching is so successful. From a coaching perspective, we focus on helping our clients create accountability for themselves. We check in and follow up with our clients to support their progress towards the commitments they make. And, we are a champion for them when they succeed.
Leaders often struggle to effectively hold their employees accountable. They either create a fear based accountability or they avoid it all together. Below are four steps you can take to create accountability within your team.
Step 1 - set clear expectations. This is critical and sets the foundation for holding your employees to their commitments. I suggest using the SMART criteria when setting expectations. For those who are not familiar, SMART is an acronym that stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely.
Step 2 - check in and provide feedback. Don't wait until the due date to find out if things are on track, you should plan regular meetings and provide feedback.
Step 3 - measure against set expectations. Since you used the SMART criteria, you will have a set completion date, at that time you will want to evaluate against the expectations that were set in step 1.
Step 4 - identify the learning. Take the time to discuss what went well and would could be improved next time. This will reinforce the behavior you want repeated as well as identify opportunities for development.
As a leader you will also need to consider how expectations are met over time and look for patterns. Here are a few questions you will want to ask yourself:
Does he/she meet expectations consistently?
Are results consistently acceptable?
If results are not acceptable, what is the impact?
What should the consequence be?
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