Recently I was in a coaching session with one of my clients who is a very successful CEO of a great services company. During our coaching session we were talking about a leader that is not holding his people accountable and she says, “Yes, Nathan it is the lack that allows the slack”. She continued, “When leaders lack accountability, their team’s efforts and results will slack.” This rang so true as I consider not only the hundreds I have coached, but the thousands I have personally worked with over the past few decades. The key to building winnings teams is not just about thriving cultures and servant leadership- it is about leaders being willing to do the selfless act of holding their employees accountable.
Let’s take some time to answer the following questions: why is accountably important? Why don’t leaders hold people accountable? How to hold our people accountable.
Why is accountably important?
Accountability sets the standards of performance. Accountability is better for the customers, the company, the team and the individual being held accountable. It is a selfless act that requires great commitment and effort, but the reward of growth and success is far greater than the short term consequences of effort and time. Leaders, similar to coaches in sports and teachers in education, get paid to hold their people accountable. Accountability is necessary for all successes in life as well as in business.
Why don’t leaders hold people accountable?
The simple answer is we are selfish. You read that right- because leaders are selfish. As leaders- it is important to know and understand that to hold people accountable requires work and risk. When it comes to hard work- it requires conflict and it requires time on setting expectations, inspecting what you expect, follow-up and action. There is also risk that a person may quit or may need to be terminated. This can be seen as causing more work in finding a new person and training a new person. All of this can all be seen as hard work for the leader and in some cases it may cost leaders money- in the short term. This is why it is “Selfishness” to not hold team members accountable. A leader must be selfless and be willing to sacrifice the pain, the work and the possible short term losses to do the right thing for the person, the customer, the company and the team.
How to hold our people accountable.
How falls in the “simple but not easy” category. There are three simple steps that a leader must do to achieve a high level of accountability practice.
- Step one: a leader needs to give written expectations to all of her employees. Expectations is not a job description, rather it is “how a leader expects employees to do their job”. Think of your best employee and how they think, act and work. Use that mindset, practices, disciplines and activities of those top performers and make them the standard for all employees. A leader will be surprised to see how many of their employees will step up to the challenge.
- Step two: implement weekly one on one’s with employees and spend time in the field teaching & coaching employees. This will allow a leader to be more aware of the actual attributes and skills of each employee. Most leaders spend more time managing paper and reports than actually coaching their employees. This is a case of leaders allowing the tasks of their jobs to get in the way of the power of their work!
- Step three: Lastly, the hardest part- a leader must be consistent. The key is for the leader to give the expectations to the employees and also to their boss, to help hold themselves accountable to holding their people accountable and to be consistent, everyday.
When leaders have the discipline to do these three simple, though not easy steps, they will turn their discipline into a habit and ultimately a way of life.
Final thought:
Think of the person that made you better in your life. The leader that you remember never let you get by or slack off. Most of us remember them and are forever grateful for their tough love. I want to be that leader to my people and I want you to be that leader as well. The leader that helped them be their best no matter the consequence. Let’s be that leader that pushes people beyond what they think is possible. Let’s be the servant leader that serves our people by not giving them a fish and not even just teaching them to fish, but the leader that demands they become better fishermen every day. As leaders we have the power- the choice is ours to use it. Because when leaders lack accountability- employees will slack in their efforts and results.
