EP91: Accountability in Leadership [Part Two]
CULTURE OF ACCOUNTABILITY
When it’s healthy, your business results will match.
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(The notes below are only a brief summary of what is discussed in the podcast. Be sure to listen to get all of the goodness! If you would like a full transcription of the episode, please send an email request to: angie@angie-robinson.com. We’d be happy to provide that!)
Note: This topic is broken into two episodes / posts. Be sure to check out Episode 90: Accountability in Leadership [Part One].
In this episode - we talk about what it means to hold others accountable. As a leader – that is one of your responsibilities. This is true for any type of leader…
By way of reminder…the definition of accountability is:
an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or to account for one's actions
a situation in which someone is responsible for things that happen and can give a satisfactory reason for them
It is basically doing what you said you were going to do and also owning the results.
Accountability is Simply An Action
What comes up for you when I talk about holding others accountable?
Do you get energized – do you see it as a part of your role you enjoy?
Is it neutral for you? You can take it or leave it?
Does it bring about a feeling of dread? Is it something you don’t like being responsible for?
However you feel about holding others accountable is driven by a thought. It is driven by what you make it mean to hold others accountable. I’m going to generalize a bit here – but my hunch is that if it energizes you, it’s because you see it as an opportunity to connect with your team and help them learn and grow. You might see it as a part of creating successful results and keeping people on the right track.
Or if it brings you dread – my guess is that you see it as having to have hard conversations or something that takes up too much of your time. It’s something that brings out some discomfort in you.
But accountability is simply an action. It’s neither good nor bad. Not until you make it mean one of those things.
Holding Others Accountable
Here’s what ‘holding others accountable’ actually means:
Providing the conditions for the employee / others to deliver on their commitments.
Making sure you are clear, provide support and follow through with consequences.
What it is not:
It is not getting angry. It is not throwing up your hands in frustration. It is not being passive aggressive. It is not pleading. None of that works. Getting angry with people when they fall short is not a productive process for holding people accountable. It almost always reduces motivation and performance.
It is not taking ownership for others’ actions (although – there is an opportunity to examine your role in the situation).
It’s really where you require them to answer for their actions. You teach them about accountability. Your role is to foster the culture, be clear (expectations and consequences), support and follow through.
Holding yourself and others accountable is about and driven by you, the leader. Those actions of accountability contribute to the overall culture of accountability at your organization or business.
A Culture of Accountability
Organizational culture is the collection of values, expectations, and practices that guide and inform the actions of all team members. So – the values, expectations and practices that of accountability makes up the culture of accountability.
A culture of accountability is:
a culture in which people are intrinsically motivated to own the results of their actions and outcome of their goals (including celebration!) and there is follow through on consequences when expectations are not being met.
The Benefits of a Culture of Accountability
Before I share how to create a healthy or strong culture of accountability, let’s talk about why a culture of accountability benefits an organization.
It contributes to creating high-performing teams. Lack of accountability is bad for business and for company culture, which affects workers’ morale and motivation. If team members see that leaders don’t respect the company’s values, the risk of unethical behavior skyrockets.
It creates alignment on priorities and values. Leadership accountability helps organizations stay on track, even in tense or uncertain work climates. On the business side, this means keeping employees aligned with the strategy no matter what job role they have. When everyone is aligned on priorities and company values, leaders have an easier time getting buy-in and providing targeted and constructive feedback
It fosters better work relationships. Mastering team accountability can help teams have better performance discussions and hold each other accountable in a more supportive way.
It supports quality collaboration and effectiveness. Team members know they can count on each other to get things done.
It promotes personal and professional growth. It encourages individuals to learn from mistakes, adapt and make amends when necessary. It cultivates trust, integrity and a sense of reliability within teams and the organization.
This is all intrinsically linked to performance and results.
Ways to Foster a Culture of Accountability
As you read the ways to foster accountability these – notice your own reaction. Is it new to you? Is it something you are doing and doing well? Does it make you uncomfortable? Do you question if it’s necessary?
Note: To have a healthy and effective culture of accountability – you have to first ensure that you have a psychologically safe environment. In general terms – psychologically safety means: the belief that you will not be punished or humiliated for speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns, or mistakes. In teams, it refers to team members believing that they can take risks without being shamed by other team members. Psychological safety creates trust. This is foundational to building and fostering a culture of accountability. Without this, the team won’t feel comfortable opening up, sharing transparently, and taking ownership if things don’t go as planned. When you build up psychological safety on your team, people feel safer taking risks, asking for feedback, and being vulnerable in front of each other through the ups and downs that inherently come with any job. For more on this topic, listen to my interview with Mary O’Connor in Episode 83.
There are several ways to create a safe environment and foster a culture of accountability:
Ensure there is a shared understanding of accountability. As we talked about earlier – accountability is the willingness to accept responsibility for your actions. Be sure that your team is aligned with that definition and understands why accountability is important. Share that it’s not about discipline, but rather ownership and responsibility. Explain what everyone’s roles are in accountability.
Communicate clear expectations, outcomes + consequences. It may sound obvious, but to do what is expected means there must be clarity around what is expected in the first place. Let’s say you ask someone on your team to “complete the project according to the highest standards and as soon as possible.” This is problematic for many reasons. For starters, if you ask five people what “to the highest standards means,” you'll probably get five different answers. For some, it might mean prioritizing detail and precision. For others, it means completing the work effectively and with agility – speed over perfect. The same problems come up for “as soon as possible” – does it mean in an hour, tomorrow, next week, or sometime this quarter? Unclear expectations and lack of specificity create accountability gaps. To fill these gaps and reduce ambiguity, try to be as specific as possible.
Set and communicate clear goals. When leaders have transparent goals, their teams can see what they’re working toward. This fuels accountability because the signs of success are clear. This encourages leaders to exercise personal accountability and ask for help when they need it. Communicating openly about goals also fosters team camaraderie and aligns everyone on shared objectives.
Build in a daily routine around accountability. This means frequent and open communication around sharing commitments, reporting on progress, and constructively addressing issues promptly and collaboratively.
Model behavior. For personal accountability to truly work, people need to be transparent and honest about where they're at and take complete responsibility through the ups and downs of work. To encourage this behavior, start by modeling it yourself. If you’re having a hard day, say so. If you’re distracted by something outside of work, let them know. If something you tried failed miserably, share that too. Show your commitment to accountability by taking ownership over the impact of your actions (or inactions). If we don’t own our mistakes as leaders, trust may erode.
Empower employees to hold you accountable. In a position of leadership, you’ll be more effective holding your employees accountable if you’re willing to be held accountable by others yourself. Create a system of checks and balances to ensure you and other leaders are held accountable for their actions and that employees can raise concerns when leaders aren’t acting appropriately. Encourage open dialogue between yourself and your team members. Provide an anonymous way for employees to share feedback on you. This demonstrates a commitment to the team and the organization and serves as a reminder that everyone is accountable for their actions and decisions.
Recognize and adapt to others’ personality preferences. When you adapt your style to the other persons, not only does it build connection, it also builds trust.
Encourage self-reflection. Encourage your team to assess their own performance, identify areas for improvement and take the initiative to enhance their skills. This will increase personal ownership.
Consistently follow through on commitments and consequences. Nothing will erode trust and accountability more than when you do not say what you said you would do.
Challenges with Holding Others Accountable as a Leader
Here are some common challenges with holding yourself and others accountable:
Balancing accountability with empathy. Some leaders view accountability and empathy as mutually exclusive — they fear that if they show empathy, sympathy, or compassion to people, they’ll be less effective in holding them accountable. Other leaders lean too far the other way, avoiding holding people accountable because they’re concerned about the personal relationship or how the team member will react. The most effective leaders are those who figure out how to embrace accountability and empathy and foster a working environment of high performance and trust.
Balancing support and performance management. While providing individuals with guidance and encouragement is essential, it is equally vital to establish clear expectations and consequences….overly lenient approaches may lead to a lack of productivity or a disregard for standards. Overly strict approaches can create an environment of fear and demotivation.
Taking on too much responsibility. Another challenge to fostering a culture of accountability is leaning too heavily into responsibility. With this mindset, leaders take on too much responsibility, including performing tasks that should be delegated. The negative consequences include micromanaging, burnout, and failing to develop their team members’ confidence and abilities.
Being worried about how you’ll be viewed as a leader. Most of us want to be liked – and holding someone accountable might make you think that people won’t like you. What people want is clarity, support and to have a voice. Don’t focus on you – focus on them.
Leader, what happens to the work when there is an absence of accountability? The work falls on your shoulders. It still has to get done, right? This can lead to stress, dissatisfaction, burnout, etc.
Your To-Do:
Answer these questions:
What are your thoughts about holding others accountable?
What are your thoughts about fostering a culture of accountability?
On a scale of 1-10, how is your organization at with their culture of accountability? What would it take to get to a 10?
On a scale of 1-10, how are you with holding others accountable and fostering that culture? What would it take to get to a 10?
What do you think?
How did you answer the questions?
Links
Episode 90: Accountability in Leadership [Part One]
Episode 83: Mary O’Connor and Psychological Safety
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