How to Hold People Accountable when You’d Rather Eat a Worm
12 reasons holding people accountable is distasteful:
- You naturally pick up the slack when someone falls behind.
- You aren’t accountable to your own responsibilities. (Like holding people accountable.)
- It’s hard to begin something you haven’t been doing.
- Being liked is better than feeling disliked.
- The thought of an argument gives you sweaty hands.
- You hate hurting people’s feelings.
- Responsibilities weren’t clear to begin with.
- Letting people off the hook is easier than watching them squirm.
- Excuse-making is an acceptable practice on your team.
- You aren’t sure when to give second chances.
- Responsibility to hold people accountable doesn’t come with authority to bring consequences.
- Worst-case-thinking dominates your approach. “I’ll just have to terminate them.”
Beginnings:
If you’d like to begin holding people accountable…
#1. Think of accountability as partnership.
“We’re holding each other accountable.”
Discuss and clarify shared and individual responsibilities.
- What are we responsible for…?
- What am I responsible for…?
- What are you responsible for…?
Describe responsibilities in behavioral terms, not simply end results.
#2. Adopt life-giving accountability behaviors and practices.
- Ask, “What can I do to support your success?” before projects begin.
- Be sure that goal setting is done in partnership.
- Define how behaviors impact results.
- Assume responsibility for the success of your team.
- Convince everyone that you’re committed to their success.
#3. Approach accountability as a process, not an event at the end of a project.
- Have regular one-on-ones.
- Set milestones. What do you need to get done today or this week? Annual goals are meaningless until December.
- Include others. Accountability can’t be a secret.
When many people contribute to success, all of them are accountable for success.
#4. Hold people accountable for their growth and development.
#5. Confess that you aren’t good at holding people accountable and discuss how to practice it with your team.
What tips do you have for strengthening a leader’s accountability muscle?
Accountability takes at least two parties engaging in the process. Thanks Dan, for an excellent post. Much appreciated.
Thanks Suzette. You list two important terms, engaging and process. Cheers
So I enable someone when I pick up their slack. It comes back to it is easier for me to the do the job then dealing with the employee. I have worked hard on that and I hope I don’t do that anymore. I do sometimes take the opportunity to show someone how to do something maybe more then once but I don’t do the job. Or am I….
Thanks Walt. Sometimes it’s easier to do it yourself, but often it’s a short-term strategy. I’m sure you know that.
I admire your resolve. It’s not easy to stop helping people.
Delightful and insightful as always. Two weeks ago I led a program for a school district on “Accountability” and two observations really stick out. One is that most people do not have an immediately positive reaction to the word accountability (when in fact, being accountable and working in a culture with accountability is awesome) and the second, is almost everybody thinks they are accountable. I appreciate your calling out accountability being inclusive of behaviors not just a check box for trying to get things done. Your examples of accountability avoidance are spot on.
Thanks Tom. It would be great to elevate the term accountability to something good. In the end, we hold ourselves accountable. If we have to force someone to be accountable/responsible they aren’t the right people for the team.
#5. Confess that you aren’t good at holding people accountable and discuss how to practice it with your team.
This is brilliant! This approach makes accountability a team project and shows your vulnerability. Both open up the honest conversation and allow for better collaboration within the the team.
Love it! Thanks.
Thanks Ranae. I’m glad you found that useful. Some leaders are working way too hard because they’re working by themselves. Perhaps it’s the silly notion that leaders are supposed to have all the answers.
Eat worms while doing your presentation on accountability to your staff. Then offer them up around the room. Accountability can come in many forms!
Thanks Dr. Wayne. 🙂 … nothing like a little worm eating to level the playing field.
I learned in the Army anything that you can eat fast is protein.
Great information. Thank You!
Good evening,
Leadership and management should always embrace the humane and realistic approach to accountability. Is the employee even “aware” that they are slacking in their job? For example, I had a job several years ago and had a meeting with human resources and my direct supervisor who was complaining that I was not fulfilling my tasks in my administrative support position. There was a weekly report that I was supposed to generate in Excel. My supervisor needed the report because he attended a regional conference call with senior management. There was one slight problem with this…I was never even informed of or trained on the task. The co-worker who had trained me had to take a medical leave because her husband became gravely ill. So, she did not have an opportunity to fully train me.
In my opinion, that was a poor example of leadership on the part of my supervisor. My supervisor arranged a series of video conferences for me to attend. He could have easily approached me and inquired why I hadn’t turned in the weekly report. Really just common sense would have revealed this was a communication problem. It was not a calculated and deliberate action on my part.
Leadership and management should always give employees the benefit of the doubt. Of course that falls within the confines of reason and reality. Leadership and managers should never develop over inflated egos. Yet, they should take time to search for “truth” of the matter. Most organizations are concerned with the bottom line and the almighty dollar and never address the “true nature” of workplace issues.
It’s hard to develop the accountability skill, especially when you are a student of systems thinking and causal learning. There are times that you expect employees to take responsibility for things in their realm of control, but how can you fairly hold a single person accountable for anything within an organization? I think the trick to get over that predicament is to realize that you may need to hold more than one party accountable for a single situation. I feel if your spread out the accountability and let it be known that to some extent you yourself should be held accountable it may be easier to get over any fears you may have about stepping in.
Thanks Garry. No one is an island. Perhaps the question is, “How are WE responsible for success?”