Most leaders agree that expectations and results are the heart of building a culture of accountability. Yet, there are still countless leaders who are completely freaked out when their team members don’t perform the same as THEY would.
It’s an issue I see a lot. There’s the leader who demands weekly phone calls to ensure that team members deliver on results. If a team member fails to produce on-time, there’s hell to pay. Then there’s the leader who insists on micromanaging every aspect of a project, because they are afraid to trust their team to do what needs to be done. Sound familiar?
Building a culture of accountability requires that a leader is self-aware and has taken time to understand his or her own strengths, weaknesses, and reactions. It also requires a recognition of their impact on others.
What most of us don’t realize is that the habit of holding other people accountable is often self-serving, and not as helpful as we might think. It becomes a game of who can hold out the longest before caving, “I will keep on top of you until you comply or go away.”
The Humanized Leader recognizes that the other person has to have some independence to execute. It’s not about telling someone what to do and then micromanaging the outcome; it’s about setting the context for success for another person and then allowing them to do their job. The leader needs to take some risks and allow mistakes to be made — with a conversation after the fact, rather than during.
This can be a tricky wicket. Think of all the experiences you’ve had, the mistakes you’ve already made, and the knowledge you’ve built along the way. Of course, you might be tempted to move into advice giving, so a project can move along faster. But what might seem like a fine way to manage others can turn out to be a disastrous way of leading people, because you create an arc of dependency.
Being all knowing and completely experienced, you spend your time “telling” others what to do, how to do it, and where all the pitfalls occur. Expedient, yes? But your employees aren’t learning. They don’t have to, as you will always be there to show them the way. You have created an environment where they are DEPENDENT upon you.
Short-term satisfaction leads to long-term frustration when you need to decide all the things, direct all the activities, and then micromanage the outcomes. You have the short term satisfaction of checking things off your list, however, you have not enabled your employee to be capable nor even willing to take accountability.
The way out? Make certain that your people understand what success looks like, “When this goal is realized, this is what it looks/feels/sounds like,” or, “This is the result we will celebrate.”
Make sure important deadlines are clear, and explain how accomplishing certain goals will contribute to the greater good. Let them take the lead on brainstorming next steps with you. Agree on timelines and check-ins. And, before you leave the conversation, check for understanding by asking great questions, not by telling them what to do. Then, let go enough that they can find their own way, as fully accountable members of your team.
Et voilà! A giant step toward a culture of accountability.
