Modeling Accountability

Your Question:
“How do you help management, or even your boss, become more accountable for being examples of what they expect from their teams?”

Our Answer:
“Example is not the main thing in influencing others, it is the only thing.”
Albert Schweitzer

Setting an example IS, indeed, everything it’s cracked up to be. To help management or your boss become better examples of accountability, frame the message in terms of results. Leaders and managers who exemplify taking accountability for achieving results are more likely to inspire and encourage their people to take greater accountability for achieving results. It’s simply about the results. If you still can’t get their attention, share some Focused Feedback by asking:

“Can I share some feedback with you that I think will help us get
better results?”

Share both appreciative and constructive feedback. Don’t be one-sided. Present a  well-rounded, reasonable point of view. Frame your feedback in terms of impact on results. Most people don’t appreciate it when you beat around the bush, and they rarely like it when you talk behind their backs. Be candid, clear, courageous, and caring. Let them know that you really care about their effectiveness as a leader and about the results of the team. They will probably appreciate a more direct approach, allowing you to gain their respect and their ear.

Examples, Illustrations, Facts, and Figures:
Recent studies have shown that over 50% of people who leave their jobs, leave because of poor relations with managers. And while the recession has temporarily reduced the number of people leaving their jobs, most workplace pollsters expect this percentage to increase in the near future. One in four workers describe their workplace is a “dictatorship.” Only half of all workers claim their bosses treat them well. Seven out of ten workers are either actively or passively disengaged at work. The evidence is clear, organizations need leaders and managers who do a better job of modeling what is needed in the culture. Needless to say, when leaders and managers fail to walk the talk, practice what they preach, or take accountability for modeling the behavior they expect from others, they risk creating work cultures of contradiction, cynicism, and disengagement.

Albert Schweitzer was right. When it comes to leadership, example is everything. So, tell it like it is. Your Focused Feedback will help create greater accountability in your own leaders and managers for doing what they say they need others to do.

Talk to Us:
Thanks for your questions. Keep telling us what you’re thinking and feeling and doing when it comes to issues, challenges, difficulties, concerns, problems, uncertainties, dilemmas, and questions that relate to accountability. To submit your accountability question or issue, go to www.partnersinleadership.com/, then click on “Leave a comment”, at the end of the blog. If your submission turns into an Oz Principle blog, we will send you an autographed book of your choice—The Oz Principle, Journey to the Emerald City, or How Did That Happen?