Accountability is something most organizations and leaders desire, but few execute well. One key reason is because of a critical fear – “If I hold you accountable, you may just hold me accountable.” Yikes!
However, accountability is vital to the health and success of any team or organization. If this is so important, how can you become better at it?
Consider the following three critical actions that will help you develop a more accountable organizational culture:
1 – Be a Person Others Can Count On
Like all other things in leadership, accountability doesn’t end with you, but it does begin with you. When you become a person others can count on, you set a standard for the rest of your followers. You become a model worth emulating. You have greater credibility when you hold others accountable for their actions and production. Commit to being a leader who consistently does what you say you’ll do.
2 – Help People Count On Each Other
In order to help others count on each other, expectations must be communicated clearly and often. Many frustrations in relationships occur because of unmet expectations. While this will certainly always be a challenge, you can improve accountability between your followers by making sure everyone is aware of who is responsible for the details needing to be accomplished. You also need to monitor and facilitate the health of team relationships. As relationships grow stronger, trust is built. As trust is built, people begin to count on each other more naturally and the speed of success increases.
3 – Cultivate an Accountability Culture
Leadership is a lot like gardening. You need to prepare the soil, plant the seeds, pull the weeds, water the plants, and protect them from intruders. When you take the steps to cultivate an accountability culture, you are taking responsibility for the long-term health and success of your team and organization. As a leader, you must set the standard. You must make sure expectations are clear. You must continually communicate the importance of being accountable and hold one another accountable. You can’t do this on time and let it go. It has to be a continual message because accountability requires intentionality.
Accountability is often the “secret sauce” of highly effective organizations and teams.
Imagine walking into your team meetings where everyone gives a report on having accomplished their required tasks.
Imagine a team full of people holding one another accountable to become better every day.
Imagine outperforming other departments or competitors because each person knows that the others are depending on them to fulfill their duties and responsibilities.
This doesn’t have to be a dream scenario. It can be your reality when you implement these three critical actions in your leadership.
Take the time to do some self-reflection and then begin modeling and building a culture of accountability today.
In my new book, The Magnetic Leader: 18 Essential Actions of Leaders People Love to Follow, I go much deeper into Essential Action #11 – Embraces Accountability. CLICK HERE to learn more and to purchase your copy today!
Until next time…make today GREAT!
