Seeing It

Have you ever had the sense that people were not telling you every thing you need to hear? If they had the opportunity, if the right circumstances presented themselves, they might tell you something that could make a difference on how effective you are in the job and in working with others on the team?

The first step Above the Line, and the giant step towards greater accountability, is to See It.  People, and organizations, who are able to See It distinguish themselves with their emphasis on getting feedback on a constant basis from everyone.  In fact, they may seem a little carried away as they seek feedback before meetings dismiss, from their peers at lunch, from other teams in the organization—constantly looking for information to help them discover what the real “truth” is so that they can deal with reality and get results.

The first step towards greater accountability is to acknowledge the truth, which, when it comes to people’s perceptions, can be a relative thing—every stakeholder (customers, vendors, bosses, peers, team members, employees, the board) will see things a little differently depending on where they sit.  The benefit of knowing those perspectives, and then acting upon them, allows you to take greater accountability and impact results in a way that, otherwise, would not be available to you.

Accountable people demonstrate what we call the See It best practices of persistently accountable people and organizations. Here are four of these best practices:

1. Obtaining the perspective of others. The only way you get the perspectives of others is to communicate openly, ask for their views and then listen.  This means asking everyone—customers, vendors, suppliers, peers, team members—everyone.
2. Communicating openly and candidly.  Telling people the “truth” as you perceive it and then getting them to do the same with you facilitates the ability for everyone to be accountable.
3. Asking for and offering feedback.  It is essential that you create an environment where everyone is accountable to share feedback—that it is expected and that you want it.
4. Hearing the hard things to see reality.  You have to have a commitment to hear the things that may be hard to hear or you will frequently miss the information that could enable you to achieve the result.

The same is true for organizations.  Those that fail to create work environments where feedback is frequently and freely offered and obtained cannot develop the kind of accountability that gets everyone in the organization focused on results and asking “what else can I do to achieve the result?”

Without feedback flowing in the organization, there is little chance of getting to the “truth” about both why people do what they do and what should be done differently to make sure the job gets done, but also to ensure the ball is not getting dropped somewhere else.

Actively seeking feedback means asking the full range of people you hold accountable for feedback. Only then, can you expect to unleash the true potential of your people and your organization. Feedback creates accountable people and organizations.

To seek feedback from your team and others in the organization go to www.partnersinleadership.com and access complimentary assessments.