Who is avoiding accountability?

The Leadership Programme.

If you want to be a better leader you’re in the right place, welcome!

Delivered every Friday and is a minestrone soup of tips, techniques, learnings and thoughts, & the odd disaster, based on my 25+ years of managing teams.

Read time: 2.4567 minutes

I was reflecting on my experience at a company, several years ago.

A time, punctuated with

• missed 1:1s

• no planning, and unclear, contradictory goals or targets;

• erratic schedules, (I was being pushed all over the place for random meetings);

• inconsistent decisions ( erm, you said the opposite last week…)

Lack of accountability leads to just that.

It resulted in broken trust, demotivation, people leaving, and missed targets. And, it was a stressful, disconnected environment.
(I handed in my notice within 3 months. That says it all)

Avoiding Accountability

It’s one of the ‘Five Dysfunctions of a Team’, if you’ve not read the book.
I’ve seen it rear its ugly head in numerous guises, at several companies I’ve worked at.

The tell-tale signs:

Suitably vague goals

There are no clear parameters or plan for success (or failure, come to that.)
No overall owner, or multiple owners.
No clear deadlines, to show when it’s done.

When there’s no clear plan, you can’t allocate responsibility.
If someone doesn’t pull their weight, it’s hard to identify and nail it down.

In theory, no one fails.

The problem is, the whole team fails.

Lack of attention to performance metrics

That’s just sloppy management.
This is a major one. You can’t wait until that last day of the financial year to find you’ve missed your target.

Measure → Monitor → Manage.

Failure to address poor performance

I’ve seen this from managers who walk on eggshells: they want to be liked and avoid conflict.

Conflict in itself, isn’t bad. Sometimes it’s necessary.

Sloping shoulders (as we used to call it)

Is someone happy to point the finger, rather than accept responsibility?
Is it the fault of everything, or everyone, else?

You ask the right questions, and don’t get straight answers

It starts with

“it should have….”
“It could have…”
“It might”

Rather than

“it has…”
“it is…”

You need definite answers, to your specific questions

Inconsistency in Standards

The usual rules that apply to others, don’t apply to them. This can be around practices, deadlines, and values.

Any sound familiar?

How can you develop accountability in a team, others, or, yourself?

A clear, well-communicated plan or goal:

> Team members know how they fit in
> Clear, agreed targets
> Expectations on standards: what does good look like?
> What does completion look like?

A single owner against each action.

Assign tasks, roles & goals, with accountability:

Think :

• skills

• workload

• availability

• development needs.

Monitor progress at 1:1s and / or annual reviews.

• Make it about them.

• Familiarity breeds trust: use regular cadence & format.

• Check trajectory; adjust as needed.

Give feedback:

• Celebrate wins

• ID training needs

• Support learning from mistakes.

Don't put off difficult conversations

It helps no-one, and breeds resentment.
Be fair, and give them a chance to shine.

Open communication

in a safe space.

Your team need to know they can give feedback, on you if necessary.

Set the example

“Your culture and leadership will be measured by what’s tolerated”

Saying one thing, and doing another destroys trust. Start with yourself.

Please don’t hesitate to forward this, to help others learn.

Got sent the email? subscribe here, so you don’t miss any.

Got questions? reply to the email.

Action for the week!

Want to have a practice?
Set some time aside to go through each of the signs listed above.
Any feel familiar?

To be clear, we all have ‘off’ days.
If behaviours happen more than once, maybe it’s not an ‘off day’.

Coaching Question: what imperfect action can you take, today, to prevent reoccurrence?

Extra resources

Additional resources you may want to check out.

I mentioned the book. Useful, when you know your team isn’t performing as well as it should.

Music to get you ready for the weekend!

A mega playlist of supersonic tracks, to get you in the mood for the weekend,

Summer is not far away, and Im feeling it. Thought I’d go for some funk you can dance around the kitchen to. Go for it! 🕺

There’s other ways I can help:

1. 1:1 coaching to help you iron out leadership wrinkles, develop your confidence and direction, and take your career to the next level. Let’s have a chat. Calendly link here.
   

2. Ever had your confidence up and leave you when you least expect, or want, it to? My confidence build mini masterclass may be just what you need. More details here
   

3. FREE RESOURCES Interview Mastery training: to master confidence at that BIG event. It could be an interview, public speaking, or that pitch. Make sure that the very best version of you shows up to that interview. Link here.