In nearly 25% of Businesses Leaders Believe 30%-50% of Employees Avoid Responsibility*
If you want people to take responsibility, hold yourself accountable.
- Hold yourself accountable.
- Invite others to hold you accountable.
- Expect others to take responsibility.
4 powerful expressions of leadership accountability*.
- Devote yourself to getting better.
- Own your performance.
- Commit to deliver results.
- Move forward with solutions.
3 surprising steps toward accountable leadership*:
#1. See yourself through your own eyes.
Growth begins when you see yourself, not until. Leaders who lack self awareness believe others need to change. But they don’t. A sure sign that you’re out of touch is expecting others to take responsibility while letting yourself off the hook.
Lack of self awareness results in blaming behaviors. Blame creates frustration because you wrongly believe others are the solution to issues you should address.
#2. See yourself through the eyes of others.
Leaders develop when they appreciate the impact of their behaviors on others.
#3. Meet the standards of others.
- Own mistakes and commit to make them right.
- Provide credible performance in the eyes of others.
Sean said, “We tend to meet standards that we think are important. What we have to remember is that we are credible in other people’s eyes. … Seek out, understand, and try to meet the standards of others.”
Sean on accountability and credibility (3:18):
*Sean Lynch, co-author of, Spark: How to Lead Yourself and Other to Greater Success
Two practical aspects of accountability:
#1. Accountability requires clarity.
- Know your mission. What are you trying to accomplish. Accountable leaders always clarify the mission. You can work hard, but not succeed, if you don’t know the mission.
- Define answerability. What will you answer for?
- Determine who is committed to help.
#2. Accountability requires follow up.
- When is the first deadline?
- Who needs to be in the loop?
- When and how will you inform others?
How might leaders develop and leverage the power of accountability?
What are the core elements of accountability?
Bonus: Lightening round Q & A with Sean Lynch:
*AMA – Many Employees Seen Trying to “Pass the Buck”
**This post is the result of my interview with Sean Lynch, co-auther of Spark. (purchase it on Amazon.)
Oh so true. Too often, it is often about whoever gets the great idea but does not wish to contribute to overall team concepts. Great post.
A reason people will actively avoid responsibility/accountability is when it isn’t backed up by authority and/or resources.
Too often the discussion follows this form
Boss: “You’re responsible for for delivering this lot. If it goes wrong or is late there’ll be trouble.”
Employee: “What resources do I have? What staff am I using? What measures can I take?””
Boss: ” None. Don’t ask questions, get on with it!”
Too often the reason employees do not want to accept responsibility is because their boss fails to support them, set them up for success, or looks the other way when the effort goes sideways. From the employees’ perspective, they don’t want responsibility unless there is something big in it for them.
Most of the time the top level leardrs are privileged to listen to the good music and entry level guys just frustrated with the piracy because of the FLMs!