I love what I do for a living. I meet the most incredible people who are building amazing companies. Most recently, I shared this observation with a client CEO, who responded, “Well, if I could only do it without people!” I had to laugh.
The “problem with people” is pervasive. After all, a single human being is complex. Multiply that by many human beings (aka, your employees), and you can have one giant, complicated hairball of an organization. So, how do you get to this thing called “High Performance?” Indeed, the Path of Progress toward high performance is a journey. Let’s focus, though, on how to begin the journey of accountability in the workplace to drive team performance and help you achieve your goals.
The road to high performing teams is a series of conversations—lots of them. You might think people should just know what to do, but they don’t. Don’t force your people to "guestimate" what you want them to do. A leader’s job is to set clear expectations and serve as an accountability coach to their people. So the road to high performance is powered by the power of personal accountability with all of your team members and having a clearly defined leadership accountability model to reach your long term strategic plans. To begin holding others accountable, you must start with yourself.
One simple technique for building personal accountability is the “QBQ.” This terrific and powerful technique helps you help those around you. John G. Miller first popularized it in his book The QBQ: The Question Behind the Question. Let’s look at how this little but powerful technique can help you build a sense of personal accountability.
If you have a high performance organization, you have a collection of individuals who understand and accept personal accountability. Without personal accountability, there can be no team culture of accountability. The key is coaching people to begin thinking for themselves (vs. spoon-feeding them). Instead of telling people what you need them to do, what you want them to do, or how you want them to do it, coach them to come up with their own solutions and strategies. Along the way, you’ll also begin building higher-level critical thinking skills as well (which is so lacking in many organizations) and be more likely to achieve your desired results. Therefore, long-term accountability culture is defined not just by goal setting but by how you coach people to reach your goal. You're well on your way if you've created a culture of accountability and transparency.
The Result: You move the problem-solving to the person; you shift it away from you, and you’re coaching the individual to create his/her own potential solutions to drive personal and team accountability.
Let’s look at an example. George is your head of IT. He’s been with your organization for almost one year. He’s a great guy, but he’s a hard driver. He stomps on everybody’s territory, although he probably doesn’t mean to do that. He’s brilliant (you couldn’t have hired anyone better). Challenges are beginning to emerge, though, relative to George. You notice that his leadership team peers don’t see him as a resource because he talks “above” everyone. There’s a rumble amongst his IT staff; they don’t even like to approach him. Half the time, he gives someone a job, and he ends up butting into the point that he does it himself. Recently, the leadership team had a meeting where George was to present a solution to a big organization-wide IT problem. In typical George fashion, he was arrogant, flippant, and speaking in technical terms versus using general analogies and words so that he could be better understood. In the end, no one sees a solution at all. They see complexity. And during the meeting, he "barked" at Fred when Fred asked a clarifying question.
At this point, you (the wise leader) realize this is all your fault. You’ve tried to talk to George. You’ve told him more than once that he might want to think about interfacing with his colleagues a bit differently. Of course, he always nods in agreement or scoffs and just ends up mumbling something as he walks off. Nothing changes. So, how do you get George to “get it?” How can you coach him toward accepting personal accountability for how he interacts with the leadership team (and with his own team!)? One solution: Incorporate the use of open-ended questions into your conversation with George following the QBQ model.
First, you want to set the stage for your one-on-one conversation with George. Therefore, share your observations with George. Second, ask him for his thoughts and listen. Finally, you want to shift toward guiding George to create his own solution to the challenges you see. Begin this phase of your conversation; then, put the ball in his court with a question that bounces off of something he said as you listen to his side of the story.
So let’s say somewhere in George’s response he says: “IT is complicated! Of course, people don’t understand what I’m saying. It’s a field that takes a great deal of expertise! They should trust me and know that even if they don’t understand what I’m saying, I will solve the problem! I do my job, you know….”
Note: The questions you use depend on how the conversation unfolds. However, these are some sample questions for your toolkit.
The questions are endless. The main point is this: Keep asking questions that begin with “What” and “How.” If your question doesn’t get answered, repeat it. Then, if needed, repeat it. See additional accountability examples.
In the end, sum up the conversation for clarity. For instance:
Cultivating team accountability is hard work, but it starts at the individual level. As a leader, it requires your time, energy, and pure leadership. The journey to building team accountability, though, begins at the individual level.
And along the way, don’t forget to have an accountability discussion with yourself, too. It all begins with you.
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