Who doesn’t …

Who doesn’t … want to be successful?

Who doesn’t … want others to act accountable?

Who doesn’t … want their team to function as a true team?

I like to share some nuggets from the workshop Holding Others Accountable that I attended, with all credits, of course, to the Accountability Training & Culture Change Company Partners in Leadership:

à Experiences create beliefs, beliefs influence actions, and actions produce results. Two good questions to ask in this context are:

1.    What experiences am I creating with my leadership?

2.    How often do I intervene at the crucial level of beliefs?

à If you want to succeed in holding others accountable, you need clear and agreed upon expectations and a continuous process to check in on the progress as opposed to a one-time check when the deadline has arrived.

à Holding others accountable starts with identifying a key expectation for each person. A key expectation is an expectation where you have decided that NOT delivering is NOT an option. Every key expectation, whether for yourself or others, needs to be framable, obtainable, repeatable, and measurable (similar to the SMART-approach to goals).

à Whatever it is you expect of someone, make sure to have a Why-What-When meeting, with a word of warning not to skip the WHY (see also Simon Sinek’s TED talk on the importance of the ‘why’: http://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action?language=en)

à Don’t just ask for buy-in from people. Let them rate on a scale from 1 to 10 how aligned they are with whatever key expectation you set. This way you allow for a more nuanced answer than just yes or no and you make it easier to voice concerns, since ‘7’ can be considered a reasonable score while it opens up the conversation about how to improve: “What would it take for you to move from a 7 to a 10?”

à If someone is NOT making the progress you expect and need them to make, have a LIFT Conversation:

Listen for obstacles

Identify obstacles the person can influence

Facilitate the Solve It Question

Test for movement towards the expectation

There was so much more to this workshop, and there is so much more to accountability. Another great resource on the topic is the book Question Behind the Question by John G. Miller.

I ask you again, Who Doesn’t …? Let me ask you another question: What is keeping you from holding yourself and from holding others accountable?