Accountability in Leadership

Ownership

Does everyone (including you) take ownership for what you’re supposed to or have agreed to do? Or, does your team (and you) spend your time coming up with masterful, highly creative, and sometimes best-selling fictional excuses for why things didn’t get done as planned, or on time?

Getting stuff done through and with other people is what we leaders get paid for. Period. Yes, we also have to create an engaged team and happy customers and grow revenue and keep an eye on costs, etc.; however, this is all done through and with other people. And that means getting stuff actually done, and showing leadership accountability.

Developing Leadership Accountability

Without getting into a lot of the details of getting stuff done, here is my model for instilling leadership accountability in your team:

1. Clarity around ‘WHY.’ When people understand why they’re doing a project, task, or whatever, they are more likely to be emotionally attach to it.
2. Clarity around ‘WHAT.’ After the ‘Why,’ humans want to know what needs to be done.
3. Clarity around ‘HOW.’ This may be a joint discussion; however, deciding on the ‘How’ the ‘What’ is going to be done, identifies the human and capital resources required.
4. Clarity around ‘WHO’ and by ‘WHEN.’ This is often the missing step and leads to lack of commitment, accountability, and results.
5. Keeping SCORE. Develop a tracking mechanism for all projects and tasks.  It might be as simple as a ‘checkmark’ or a more involved dashboard. Humans like to keep score and see progress.  Help your team by making the scoreboard highly visible.
6. When stuff gets done, have a CELEBRATION! Ideas range from ‘ringing a bell,’ to ice-cream, to bowling, to pizza.

Being a leader that is known for getting stuff done makes you a hot commodity in the world we live in, where 80% (at best) of people are living in mediocre results.

Robert Murray is a Vancouver, BC based Business Strategy Consultant, #1 Best Selling Author, International Keynote Speaker, and TEC Top Speaker of the Year for 2018. For further advice, insight and inspiration on how to unlock your inner leader, follow Robert on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.

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