Five Critical Ways That Leaders Slip Up

Companies rise and fall on leadership. Period. And there are five areas that top leaders tend to focus their attention. It’s no surprise that these same areas are where unsuccessful leaders make critical mistakes.

These are the most critical mistakes, because by the time the leader or other senior managers can understand what has happened, there is massive momentum heading towards a discouraging future.

The Research

Robert S. Hartman, a Nobel Prize Nominee, devotes his efforts to helping people maximize their leadership potential, understand their thinking and prioritize team dynamics. Through his study of The Science of Axiology (a scientific approach to how people make value judgments in leadership situations), Hartman has developed a valuable assessment tool.

Throughout his research, he noted that high-performance leaders selectively place importance on some information while neglecting other information. The result is criteria for decision-making. After surveying and assessing over 1000 top leaders worldwide, he found a pattern of consistent attention and regular lack of attention to vital areas of leadership.

What follows are The Five Most Common Mistakes Of High Performance Leaders, inspired from the research of Robert Hartman, and from decades of my consulting, coaching and leadership training of high performing leaders.


Five Critical Mistakes that Thwart High-Performance Leaders


1. Lack Of Consistency And Conformity

Although most top executives will profess that consistency and conformity are top priorities for the growth and scaling of their company, in practice many leaders demonstrate and/or embody a different message. Conformity is usually a paradox in growing corporations, where thinking outside the box is heavily encouraged. And consistency could even be a joke – depending on how much rapid growth is occurring at an organization – it is not uncommon for a trend of “fire fighting” to take hold as the company culture.

To avoid this mistake: Messaging how important systems and procedures are to your team, even in rapid growth, is essential. Systems and procedures maintain brand, product, customer service and other departmental consistency to the customer. Internal attention to having growth spurts be individual stages that get gelled back into the corporate structure will pay huge dividends.


2. Lack Of “Strategy Follow Through” Discipline

It is tough to choose a strategic direction, see less then favorable results, and stay the course. The innate human instinct is to jump ship quickly before the ship goes down!

However, more often than not that the problem is not the strategy, but the tactical execution of it. Top leaders often look for the “right” strategy, and although there are likely stratospheres of probability for strategic outcomes, world class leaders focus on execution and course-correction of a strategic direction before abandoning ship. Having the discipline to continue the course-correction process, particularly through the ability to ask probing questions, results in solutions. This is how we solve problems that are real versus solving problems that are an extrapolation of a probable outcome.

To avoid this mistake: Consider the best case, worst case and possible unexpected forks in the road ahead of time. Work with your team to create the expectation of long-term commitment to a strategy – even through tough times. Focus on the execution of a strategy chosen and avoid the temptation to keep returning to the drawing board!

3. Lack Of Mission, Vision, Values

There are very few companies where one could walk into a random office, ask team members to recite the Mission, Vision, Values of the company, and have them actually recall something even similar to the document prominently displayed in the lobby. Yet, this offers the most compelling barometer for all decision-making and emotional engagement of your team. The No. 1 reason the team is not related to the company Mission, Vision, Values is because the leader is not connected to it.

When a leader is disconnected from, not embodying or not presenting the Mission, Vision, Values of the company frequently – in meetings, emails and at corporate events – the entire culture begins to slide. Team cohesion and focus wane, perhaps not all together but surely from the optimum state, and you end up with disengagement and dissatisfaction in the company.

To avoid this mistake: Create a daily habit that connects you with the Mission, Vision and Values of the company. As the leading beacon for the company, this is the leader primary driver, and should be consistently present in both physical and psychological form all day long. If you find that your documented Mission, Vision and Values no longer ring true, make it a priority to update them to ones that you and your entire company can get behind.

4. Lack Of Instilling Responsibility And Integrity

There are two common mistakes that thwart the interest in increasing self-ownership and high accountability in companies.

The first is “Leadership by Friendship.” We all know that a leader who interacts with their team by being the “best buddy” or friend will often fail to make good judgments, hard decisions and key shifts at important inflection points. Most CEOs ask themselves, “How can I get my team to take higher levels of Self Ownership and Accountability?” but often sacrifice what they want most in an attempt to avoid upsetting the “culture.” Once the leader has allowed accountability to drift and get sloppy, the rest of management follows and results inevitably suffer.

The second common mistake that thwarts instilling responsibility and integrity is “Leadership by Fear.” Commonly taking the form of passive-aggressive or simply aggressive interaction, communication and actions, this model requires constant attention and energy by the leader. This model primarily inputs scarcity into the culture – leading to a “good enough to not get your head bitten off” model. The carrot and the stick are only part of the equation that causes self-ownership and high accountability:

Clear Expectation + Owner Agreement + Rewards & Consequences = Ownership And High Accountability

To avoid this mistake: Setting an example of clear, actionable expectations, soliciting agreement from your team and having a published and clear set of Rewards & Consequences will instill responsibility.

5. Little Fostering Of Innovation, Innovative Thinking And Change

How does this jive with Mistake No. 1? Well, along with the need for systems, procedures, conformity and consistency, a company will also need a high level of innovation, innovative thinkers and a drive for constant change.

From a politically correct standpoint, every leader will tell you that they encourage out of the box thinking, or innovative thinking. In practice, many company cultures instill a sense of fear for stepping too far out, really being a true innovator, or creating change. Even if some innovation is allowed, the leader must decide how far down the chain of command there is willingness for innovation and change.

To avoid this mistake: Top companies and leaders have designed systems that support innovation and for employees and key execs to have the experience of their input actually impacting the company (and possibly strategic decisions). A top leader can avoid a stagnant company by fostering innovation from every person at the company and openly rewarding those that contribute.

All the success!

Peter McLees

petercmclees@gmail.com
mobile: 323-854-1713

P. S. Smart Development inc. has a proven track record equipping leaders and companies  to elevate employee and customer engagement. We have helped restaurants, stores, branches, distribution centers, food production facilities, and other businesses create a strong culture, leadership bench strength and the teamwork necessary for growth. Having worked with several companies throughout their growth cycle, we have valuable insights and strategies that would help any late stage startup, small or medium sized company achieve sustained growth and prosperity.

G-R-O-W Your People and They Will Grow the Business

The G-R-O-W Model: Coaching others to improve performance

One key role of any leader is to coach team members to achieve their best. As a "coach" or mentor, you will typically help your team members to solve problems, make better decisions, learn new skills or otherwise progress in their role or career.

 

Whilst some leaders are fortunate enough to get formal training in coaching skills, many are not. They have to develop these for themselves.

Now this may sound daunting. But if you arm yourself with some of proven techniques, find opportunities to practice and learn to trust your instincts, you can become an even better coach, and so enhance your team's performance.

One proven approach that helps with this it the GROW model. GROW is an acronym standing for Goal – Current Reality – Options – Will. The model is a simple yet powerful framework for structuring a coaching or mentoring session.

A useful metaphor for the GROW model is the plan you might make for an important journey. First, you start with a map: With this, you help your team member decide where they are going (their Goal) and establish where they currently are (their Current Reality). Then you explore various ways (the Options) of making the journey. In the final step, establishing the Will, you ensure your team member is committed to making the journey and is prepared for the conditions and obstacles they may meet on their way.

Tip 1: Know Your Own Role
In its traditional application, the GROW model assumes that the coach is not an expert in the mentee’s situation, and therefore must act as an objective facilitator, helping the mentee select the best options and not offering advice or direction.

However, when a leader coaches his or her team members, or acts as a mentor to them, other dynamics are in play: As a leader you will usually have some expert knowledge to offer. Also, it's your job to guide the selection of options which are best for your organization, and amend options that are not useful.

How to Use the Tool:

Use the following steps to structure a coaching session:

1. Establish the Goal:
   First, with your team member, you must define and agree the goal or outcome to be achieved. You should help your team member define a goal that is specific, measurable and realistic.

In doing this, it is useful to ask questions like:

·         "How will you know that you have achieved that goal?"

·         "How will you know the problem is solved?"

2. Examine Current Reality:
   Next, ask your team member to describe their Current Reality. This is a very important step: Too often, people try to solve a problem without fully considering their starting point, and often they are missing some of the information they need to solve the problem effectively.

As the team member tells you about his or her Current Reality, the solution may start to emerge.

          

Useful coaching questions include:

·         "What is happening now?"

·         "What, who, when, how often"

·         "What is the effect or result of that?"

3. Explore the Options:
   Once you and your team member have explored the Current Reality, it's time to explore what is possible – meaning, all the many possible options you have for solving the problem. Help your team member generate as many good options as possible, and discuss these.

By all means, offer your own suggestions. But let your team member offer his or hers first, and let him or her do most of the talking.

Typical questions used to establish the options are:

·         "What else could you do?"

·         "What if this or that constraint were removed?

·         "What are the benefits and downsides of each option?"

·         What factors will you use to weigh up the options?

4. Establish the Will:
   By examining Current Reality and exploring the Options, your team member will now have a good idea of how he or she can achieve their Goal. That's great – but in itself, this may not be enough! So your final step as coach is to get you team member to commit to specific action. In so doing, you will help the team member establish his or her will and motivation.

Useful questions:

• "So what will you do now and when?
• "What could stop you moving forward?"
• "And how will you overcome it?"
• "Will this address your goal?"
• "How likely is this option to succeed?"
• "What else will you do?"

Tip 2: Practice by Coaching Yourself
A great way to practice using the model is to address your own challenges and issues. When you are 'stuck' with something, you can use the technique to coach yourself. By practicing on your own challenges and issues, you will learn how to ask the most helpful questions. Write down some stock questions as prompts for future coaching sessions.

Tip 3: Ask Great Questions and Listen Well
The two most important skills for a coach are the ability to ask good questions, and effective listening.

Don't ask closed questions: "Did that cause a problem?" Do ask open ones: "What affect did that have?" Be prepared with a list of questions to for each stage of the G-R-O-W process.

Listen well and let your mentee do most of the talking. Remember that silence is valuable thinking time: You don't always have to fill silence with the next question.

All the success!

Peter McLees

petercmclees@gmail.com
mobile: 323-854-1713

P. S. Smart Development inc. has a proven track record equipping leaders and companies  to elevate employee and customer engagement. We have helped restaurants, stores, branches, distribution centers, food production facilities, and other businesses create a strong culture, leadership bench strength and the teamwork necessary for growth. Having worked with several companies throughout their growth cycle, we have valuable insights and strategies that would help any late stage startup, small or medium sized company achieve sustained growth and prosperity.

10 Surefire Was for Leaders to Engage Their Team Members

Want to be an excellent leader? A truly inspirational, effective agent of your team’s success? There is literally nothing harder – or more important – in the world of work. That’s why effective leaders are so rare in real life.

If that discourages you, them maybe you don’t have what it takes to lead after all. If it motivates you instead? Well, then, here are a few tips to take it from “in charge guy/gal” to “excellent leader !” who gets the very best from their people.

1. Repeat after me (to your team): “My job is to help you be successful by making your job easier.”

No, your job is not to give them the day off to shop while you finish up their work for them. But your job as leader – your only job, as leader – is to remove impediments and provide the tools for your people’s success. Take the obstacles out of their way and give them the resources so they can do the important work of your company: serving your customers!

2. Foster friendships among your staff.

After work socialization is important – it is! But nothing builds camaraderie and team spirit like shared success as the result of shared struggle. What’s your team’s greater goal? What significant challenges are you confronting that all of you can be proud of overcoming together?

3. Reward for the big things. And the medium things. And even the itty-bitty little things.

We like praise. We want recognition. One winner-takes-all vacation or mega-bonus for the year’s top performer is great and all, but how about a $5 Starbucks, or even a made-up certificate from your printer, because someone filed her report on time? 

4. Push them.

People of quality want to be good at their jobs. Kindly help them to improve. …Kindly, but maybe not gently.
5. Release the “Just Enoughers” to other “opportunities.”
We all know the “Just Enoughers.” Employees that do just enough to avoid getting fired. No one likes to work with slackers – except other slackers. Redeploy them sooner than later. As the old saying goes, “If it’s inevitable, make it immediate.”

6. Hire slowly and caaaaarefully!

Show your current team members and your new recruits that not just anybody belongs on your team. If you want to build an elite group, hire top performers. You’ll have to kiss a lot of frogs as you vet the talent pond.

7. Give them something important to get up for in the morning.

Remember number 2, with the part about shared challenges? Pick a lofty goal. Then make pursuit of that the rallying cry of your team. Change lives, change how business is done; don’t just settle to change who wins this year’s sales contest. 

8. Talk up your people to others.

Talk your team up to your peers, to their peers, to your boss and her boss and heck, to the security guard, too. Be proud of each of them, and share that pride with anyone who’ll listen. Word will filter back to them, and as it does, it will have have a major impact. 

9. Expect the world of them.

Establish with your team how highly you respect and admire them. Expect big things from them. They will live up to your image of them, no matter what it takes.

10. Be worthy of their effort.

Want to really be the best, most effective leader ever? Work to improve yourself every day, in every way that is important to your team’s success. In order to lead a group of champions to new heights, you as leader must be worthy of the team’s time and energy. And that’s a lot more than we have room for in one blog post.


You will never be as good as you can be as a leader. But every hour of every day, if you’re sufficiently devoted to the success of your team, you can improve. Keep at it, and your people will start bragging about you – to their peers, your peers, your boss and her boss. And yes, even to the security guards.

When it percolates back to you how admired you are by those you serve as leader… you’ll be infinitely prouder than if they told you themselves! 


All the success!

Peter McLees

petercmclees@gmail.com
mobile: 323-854-1713

P. S. Smart Development inc. has a proven track record equipping leaders and companies  to elevate employee and customer engagement. We have helped restaurants, stores, branches, distribution centers, food production facilities, and other businesses create a strong culture, leadership bench strength and the teamwork necessary for growth. Having worked with several companies throughout their growth cycle, we have valuable insights and strategies that would help any late stage startup, small or medium sized company achieve sustained growth and prosperity.

Ignite Millennial Engagement!

Want to attract, engage and retain more millennial talent?

Offering only financial stability won’t work.

Wait a sec—the millennial workforce has the highest rate of unemployment and underemployment in the U.S. What does this mean? We’re missing out on a huge resource of talent. The real shocker? Of the millennials that are employed, only 29% are emotionally engaged at work and love their jobs. Whoa!

Why is this so crucial? Because the sheer number of millennials recently surpassed any other generational group. Both the economy and the workforce are highly dependent on this group. If millennials continue to be emotionally disengaged in their jobs the companies they work for will suffer.

How to Attract Millennials

According to a recent report from Gallup, “Millennials want what previous generations wanted: a life well-lived, good jobs with 30-plus hours of work a week, regular paychecks from employers BUT they also want to be engaged (emotionally and behaviorally), they want high levels of well-being, a purposeful life, active community and social ties. They want to spend money not just on what they need, but also on what they want. Only 29% of employed millennials are engaged at work and half of them say they don’t feel good about the amount of money they have to spend and less than 40% are what Gallup defines as ‘thriving’ in any one aspect of well-being.”

Let’s take a closer look at these engagement numbers.
•16% of millennials are actively disengaged. These individuals don’t like their jobs and are actively ensuring others don’t either. Even if it’s not their intention, this will damage their company.
•55% of millennials are not engaged. They are punching in and punching out but they are not fully present while they are at work. Energy and passion are out the window, the company suffers, their customers suffer, and ultimately the economy suffers. Indifference is a company-killer.

Gallup 1

How To Retain Millennials

How do we create a culture that engages and compels millennials?

According to Gallup: performance management requires a constant focus on feedback. 44% of those polled are more likely to be engaged when their manager holds regular meetings with them. This means meeting on a regular basis, and offering consistent feedback. Weekly meetings are key, even if short. Clear and actionable feedback is too. They want to matter, and they must experience safety, belonging, mattering and be connected to a purpose. The purpose is what will compel them to perform well and consistently. It’ll also keep them with your company.

Gallup says there are six functional changes (The Big Six) that need to happen in the organizational culture to attract and keep millennial talent.

Jim Clifton, Chairman and CEO of Gallup made the following statements. I am adding a few tools that will help you achieve the Big Six in your organization.

Gallup 2

1.Millennials don’t just work for a paycheck ― they want a purpose. For millennials, work must have meaning. They want to work for organizations with a mission and purpose. Back in the old days, baby boomers didn’t necessarily need meaning in our jobs. Many wanted a paycheck ― and their mission and purpose were their families and communities. For millennials, compensation is important and must be fair, but it’s no longer the driver. The emphasis for this generation has switched from paycheck to purpose ― and so must your culture.

2.Millennials are not pursuing job satisfaction ― they are pursuing development. Most millennials don’t care about the bells and whistles found in many workplaces today ― the ping pong tables, fancy latte machines and free food that companies offer to try to create job satisfaction. Giving out toys and entitlements is a leadership mistake, and worse, it’s condescending. Purpose and development drive this generation.

3.Millennials don’t want bosses ― they want coaches. The role of an old-style boss is command and control. Millennials care about having managers who can coach them, who value them as both people and employees, and who help them understand and build their strengths.

4.Millennials don’t want annual reviews ― they want ongoing conversations. The way millennials communicate ― texting, tweeting, Skype, etc. ― is now real-time and continuous. This dramatically affects the workplace because millennials are accustomed to constant communication and feedback. Annual reviews no longer work.

5.Millennials don’t want to fix their weaknesses ― they want to develop their strengths. Gallup has discovered that weaknesses never develop into strengths, while strengths develop infinitely. This is arguably the biggest discovery Gallup or any organization has ever made on the subject of human development in the workplace. Organizations shouldn’t ignore weaknesses. Rather, they should minimize weaknesses and maximize strengths. We are recommending our client partners transition to strengths-based cultures, or they won’t attract and keep their stars.

6.It’s not just my job ― it’s my life. One of Gallup’s most important discoveries is that everyone in the world wants a good job. This is especially true for millennials. More so than ever in the history of corporate culture, employees are asking, “Does this organization value my strengths and my contribution? Does this organization give me the chance to do what I do best every day?” Because for millennials, a job is no longer just a job ― it’s their life as well.

Take the time to implement the strategies listed above and let’s make work a whole lot more meaningful for this untapped talent pool.

Surrounded By Negativity At Work? Do This And Soar Above It

“When you point your finger ‘cos your plan fell through, you got three more fingers pointing back at you…” -Dire Straits song “Solid Rock”

What if every organizational problem was a leadership problem? That’s right, you know what’s coming. We’re not going to play the blame game. Not today, not ever.

Too often when silo mentality is happening, teams or people aren’t getting along, political maneuvers are happening, or just general friction is happening (what I call the “critter state”), we participate instead of leading.

Participating feels so good, so safe. It’s not us, it’s them. The human brain is wired up to belong and, in general, belonging is a good and positive thing. Except when it’s not. The urge to belong is primal. For our ancestors belonging to a tribe meant survival. Humans have a long gestation period and remain under the protection of adults longer than most other species. So, for our infant selves, belonging with the family meant survival. That’s why ostracism feels so painful—like a physical injury that could cause death.

So to avoid that feeling, we participate in negative cultures. We gossip—better them on the outs than us. We take sides with one group and damn another, be that one team towards another or one hierarchical level towards another. And we criticize the politicians, not realizing that by noticing but not resolving, we are actually participating.

Truth Is The Antidote

Leaders who want their teams to move toward a positive state need to be willing to risk possible social pain. They need to care enough about a higher value or purpose to tell the truth. This can come from any level, but it means telling the truth directly to the person who can change their behavior and not to anyone else.

Your boss is being a jerk? Have you told him/her? Or do you mutter to your colleagues about how rotten the culture is? If you do, you’re participating. Could you get fired for speaking up? Possibly. Could you create a better relationship with your boss? If you do it right, that’s far more likely.

Does your counterpart on the other team slow your process down and act in generally uncooperative ways? Do you follow up repeatedly like a broken record, by phone or in person? Do you ask, sincerely, what the issue is and how you can help? Or are you participating by hiding your anger and resentment and possibly sending anger bomb emails (wrong format for conflict).

Shifting a culture means holding your higher values clearly in your mind and speaking up directly to the person who’s responsible for any boundaries that are crossed. As cultural leaders we must take a stand and risk the feeling of not belonging with a tribe that’s in critter state.

Remember Safety, Belonging And Mattering

There are three things that people crave: safety, belonging and mattering. These are primal and vital cravings and almost every problem behavior can be linked to times when people don’t feel safe, don’t feel they belong or don’t feel that they and/or their work matter. When someone feels that way they work to get their needs met in other ways—possibly dysfunctional or even toxic ways.

Are you resolved to reduce friction in your workplace? Telling the truth about where you and where your culture stands in terms of safety, belonging and mattering is a great place to start.

Here are three sample questions from the “Safety Belonging and Mattering Index” to get you started. Rate yourself from 0-10 where 0=never, 2.5=rarely, 5=somewhat consistently, 7.5=consistently and 10=always.

Before you solve a problem you need to assess it. Answer the questions first from your personal point of view:

1. When I make a mistake I am corrected with respect and the desire to help me improve.

2. I trust my team members and colleagues to support my and the company’s success.

3. I receive acknowledgement and appreciation at work.

Great. Now that you have a sense of whether you personally feel like you have safety, belonging and mattering, go back and answer the same questions from the point of view of your team.

Done? Notice if and where there are any differences.

No Pain – No Gain

Change is stressful for people even when we logically know it’s for the good. Keeping people aligned is not only crucial for success, but it’s way more engaging and fun.

So remember, even if it feels like telling the truth will be painful, it’s short-term pain for long-term positive results.

Smart Development Inc. specializes in helping leaders engage team members so they are able to contribute in greater ways to key business outcomes.

Call or email us today for more information on how we’ve helped other businesses build positive work cultures in their companies and teams.

Tel: 323-854-1713

Email: petercmclees@gmail.com

3 Ways A Culture of Trust Drives Productivity

Trust: It’s a word everyone understands but few can accurately define or measure. It seems at once essential but fluffy, complex yet simple. According to the Human Capital Institute, trust can be defined as “the willingness to put oneself at risk based on another individual’s actions.”

What does that mean in a business context? And how can trust be measured in economic terms like risk, speed, and cost? Research has shown that high-trust organizations have a total return to shareholders (stock price plus dividends) that is 286 percent higher than low-trust organizations. The top 25% of retail stores that rank high on trust achieve 7% above budget annual sales and 14% sales productivity gains. The impact of trust on productivity and efficiency is clear.

Surprisingly, the simplicity of trust lies in the economics: as trust increases, so does speed. Speed goes up in high-trust cultures because costs and risks go down. In organizations where trust is low, costs and risks go up, resulting in a trust tax that slows down work across the organization.

So it follows that as companies grow, trust often erodes because it becomes increasingly difficult to develop relationships, resulting in layers upon layers of bureaucracy that act as a poor substitute for trust. In fast-paced business environments where companies must evolve quickly to keep up with the speed of technology, building and maintaining trust at scale is more important than ever.

The complexity of trust is that it can be difficult to build, yet easy to break. While trust can take a long time to build, it is also delicate enough to be destroyed through a single action or misconception. Yet the benefits of investing time into building trust can lead to exponential results:

Trust empowers employees to stay engaged.
If employee disengagement is an epidemic that is reducing productivity across organizations in America, trust is the antidote. Research has shown that employees that feel more connected will invest more of themselves in their work. High trust levels yields a greater sense of self responsibility, greater interpersonal insight, and a greater sense of alignment in striving toward common goals. Fear is often abused by management and has been shown to result in negative workplace culture that reduces productivity. When people don’t trust their leaders, they relationship becomes transactional because employees are forced to wonder, “If the organization does not do right by me, why should I do right by them?”

Trust reduces bureaucracy and increases speed.
Because high-trust cultures remove fear, workers at every level can be honest about problems they are encountering without fear of backlash from middle management or distrust from upper management, allowing teams to do what’s right as quickly as necessary. High trust cultures remove six key relationship pitfalls: criticizing, complaining, comparing, competing, contending, and cynicism. In a study analyzing Sarbanes-Oxley, results were staggering: the costs of implementing Section 404 were $35 billion-exceeding the original SEC estimate by 28 times. Compliance regulations are a prime example of the dangerous relationship between low trust, low speed and high cost.

Trust increases quality collaboration.
Honesty and trust create a positive feedback loop that cultivate a culture of openness that improves collaboration within teams. In a study by Franklin Covey, better execution and stronger collaboration were all byproducts of high-trust cultures. Achieving high-quality collaboration relies on having shared and common goals, which are built on an eagerness to share truthful information--a quality that stems from trust. The more easily and quickly a team can provide honest feedback to each other, using tools such as Reflektive, which plug directly into existing workflows, the greater the trust and efficiency of the collaboration.

Because trust is the foundation of a healthy and productive work culture, investing heavily in creating trust within an organization will lead to exponential dividends--especially at scale for high-growth organizations.

How Honest Leaders Destroy Their Leadership 

No trust – - no leadership.
You can coerce without trust but positive influence thrives on the foundation of trust.
Losing influence is easy because losing trust is incredibly easy.

Trust and respect:
It takes more than honesty to preserve trust; you must show respect.
People stop trusting you when you disrespect them, even when you’re honest.

Danger of disrespect:
When you lose trust by making people feel disrespected, people give themselves permission to question your character and motives. Honesty is not the issue.
You can be honest and lose trust.
Not only do they judge your character, they feel justified, even compelled, to “warn” others about you. You can’t be trusted.

Protecting Trust:
People trust you when they feel respected by you.
When they feel disrespected, however, they are disrespected. Perception is reality.

10 Behaviors that help people feel disrespected:

1. Rushed exchanges. You don’t have time for them.
2. Unilateral decisions. Lack of participation in decisions that directly impact them.
3. Poor listening. They don’t feel understood.
4. Rudeness.
5. Unsolicited advice.
6. Emphasizing failure as a tool to motivate forward momentum.
7. Favoritism.
8. Cutting them off when they’re speaking.
9. Rescheduling appointments.
10. Watching your computer while talking.

10 ways to show respect:
1. The opposites of the list above.
2. Invite feedback.
3. Gently, clearly tell it like it is, even when they disagree.
4. Appreciate their skills and talents.
5. Give opportunities.
6. Admire their contribution and accomplishments.
7. Public acknowledgement.
8. Use their title.
9. Acknowledge their challenges and struggles.
10. Hold phone calls and other communications while they’re speaking.

The challenging truth:
They won’t keep trusting you if you don’t convince them they’re respected.

Smart Development Inc. specializes in helping leaders engage team members so they are able to contribute in greater ways to key business outcomes.

Call or email us today for more information on how we’ve helped other businesses build trust in their companies and teams.

Tel: 323-854-1713

Email: petercmclees@gmail.com

Accountability: How the best managers engage their people to take greater ownership for results

The word accountability usually conjures up pictures of a room full of people, ducking behind their chairs or crates and pointing their fingers at someone else shouting, “It’s their fault.” This has nothing to do with accountability. In fact if someone is using accountability in response to a mistake or problem, it is probably too late.  What’s more, people who use accountability as a way to blame others are only hiding in a “victim” mode and avoiding their own involvement.

In a company, division, region, district, branch, store, DC, or office with high accountability, employees ask for support when it is needed, rather than waiting until there is a problem or crisis that causes a breakdown.  Employees don’t just take responsibility for the results in their section; instead they look for ways to support improved performance in the areas of the store they impact outside of the direct task or their job description.

Accountability is the basis for having an environment of trust, support, and commitment to excellence. With accountability, people can depend on each other and don’t have to worry about doing extra work because others failed to keep their commitments.  Accountable people are proactive and continually ask themselves and each other, “what else can I/we do to get the results?”

When employees are accountable to each other, the resulting synergy creates new solutions that no one person could have developed. When people are accountable, they implement good solutions effectively. Many times they accomplish their results in half the time expected, because of the participation and commitment of everyone as a team.

Accountability in the workplace is something every manager wants to have. Accountability has a clear link to higher work performance, but experts indicate that it also results in improved competency and commitment to work, increased employee morale, and work satisfaction (Source: The U.S. Office of Personnel Management). It’s also known to improve creativity and innovation because the employee is more invested in the future of the organization.lack_accountability

However, according to a study (Source: AMA Enterprise, 2015), leaders recognize a significant lack of accountability on the part of employees. In fact, 21 percent of respondents stated that unaccountable employees make up 30-50 percent of their workforce.

What exactly is accountability in the workplace, and why is it essential to high performance? What can leaders do to make accountability part of their organization’s culture?

Accountability: A Flawed Definition

The Traditional View

Most people view accountability as something that belittles them, happens only when performance wanes, or occurs when problems develop or results fail to materialize. In fact, many think accountability only arises when something goes wrong or when someone else wants to isolate the cause of the problem--all for the sake of pinning blame and pointing the finger.

Most dictionaries present a definition of accountability that promotes a seemingly negative view. Consider Webster’s definition:

“Subject to having to report, explain or justify; being answerable, responsible.”

Notice how the definition begins with the words “subject to,” implying little choice in the matter. This confession- oriented and powerless definition suggests what we all have observed--accountability is viewed as a consequence for poor performance; it’s a principle you should fear because it will only end up hurting you. Little wonder people spend so much time avoiding accountability and trying to explain

This confession- oriented and powerless definition suggests what we all have observed--accountability is viewed as a consequence for poor performance; it’s a principle you should fear because it will only end up hurting you. Little wonder people spend so much time avoiding accountability and trying to explain and justify poor results. A more positive and powerful definition of accountability can do more to achieve outstanding results than all the finger pointing and blaming that typically occurs.

The Alternative View

Consider the  following alternative definition  of accountability:

“A personal choice to rise above one’s circumstances and demonstrate the ownership necessary for achieving desired results.”

This definition suggests a mindset or attitude of continually asking, “What else can I do to rise above my circumstances and achieve the desired results?” It involves a process of seeing, owning, solving, and doing, and requires a level of ownership that includes making, keeping, and answering personal  commitments.  Such  a  perspective  embraces both current and future efforts rather than reactive and historical explanations. Armed with this new definition of accountability, organizations can help leaders and employees do everything possible to both overcome difficult circumstances and achieve desired results.

Accountability in the Workplace

High performance teams and organizations empower employees to take ownership, they foster a accountability, and they have a high levels of trust between all levels of the organization. Furthermore, there’s a strong link between these three values and characteristics of high performance.
Ownership is about taking initiative and doing the right thing for the business. It’s about taking responsibility for results and not assuming it’s not someone else’s responsibility. At minimum, taking ownership means that if you recognize something is material to achieving results, that you take the initiative to bring it to the attention of the right people. If ownership is about taking initiative, accountability is about follow through and getting done what you said you’d get done. It’s recognizing that other team members are dependant on the results of your work and not wanting to let them down. It’s about good, open, pro-active communication to keep team members informed on the status of your commitments because you respect that the results of your work has a direct impact on their ability to make their own commitments. Ultimately, when team members consistently demonstrate ownership and accountability, trust is formed.


Key Shifts Needed for Greater Accountability

How do successful organizations enable their people to take ownership for delivering on their intended results?  Staying competitive usually means finding practical answers to that question.  From our perspective, creating higher levels of ownership often drives better results and increases the value and growth of the company. To be truly effective in today’s corporate environment, leaders must be able to help find ways to create higher levels of ownership and joint accountability for achieving key results.

Teams, departments and organization are able to do so by making several key shifts in the way people think and act:

Externalizing vs. Internalizing  
People have a tendency to externalize the need for change. Most people are quite skilled at recognizing there is a problem. For example, “I sure wish marketing would start doing their job better” or, “I wish management would be more responsive.” People inherently struggle, however, with the ability to define themselves within the problem. An accountable mindset is one that says, “If I’m part of the problem, I’m part of the solution.”

Blaming others vs. taking Accountability
Human nature drives people to blame others when things are going wrong. For some organizations, the Blame Game has become so commonplace that it becomes not only accepted but expected when someone doesn't deliver.Organizations that are able to instill a Culture of Accountability are able to take all of the time, energy and resources employed in the Blame Game and channel them into a consistent focus on the organizational results. Internalizing the need For change taking accountability achieving the result. Organizations that are able to instill a Culture of Accountability are able to take all of the time, energy and resources employed in the Blame Game and channel them into a consistent focus on the organizational results.

Doing the Job vs. Achieving the Result
Most leaders are fairly capable when it comes to creating accountability for activity levels. Less common is a leader who has created accountability around organizational results – a key shift in Creating a Culture of Accountability.

Doing the Job vs. Achieving the Result
Most leaders are fairly capable when it comes to creating accountability for activity levels. Less common is a leader who has created accountability around organizational results – a key shift in Creating a Culture of Accountability.

Telling People What to Do vs. engaging the Hearts and Minds of People
The “Tell Me What to Do” Culture is a culture where people check their brains at the door, punch the clock, and check off the list of activities that define their job. This activity-oriented mentality tends to be devoid of pro-activity because, “No one is telling me what to do” A critical shift is engaging the hearts and minds of people instead of just their hands and feet.

To learn how Managers Can Build an Accountable Culture and Hold People Accountable in a Positive Way click on the first attachment.

To learn how Employees can be taught to hold themselves and other accountable click on the second attachment.

How to Make Accountability Part of Your Culture

Here are some of the things leaders can do to help make accountability a key value.

Make accountability a lived value

Make accountability a part of your team’s normal way of operating. Talk about it, share ideas, come to a common consensus about what accountability means in the workplace, and then use that as a foundation everyone works from as they make accountability an organizational goal.

Most importantly, make sure that accountability is more than a stated characteristic of how your team operates. Accountability needs to have consequences which are both positive and negative and those consequences need to be consistently applied. Research consistently contends that business leaders lose the most kudos when poor performance  isn’t dealt with and poor performers are able to continue without repercussion.

Goals are at the heart of accountability

An important step here is to break things down into meaningful goals and measurable metrics for everyone in the organization. Without proper goals, it’s also going to be nearly impossible to effectively enforce accountability.

Goals provide clear expectations for everyone on what’s expected. The less room for ambiguity the better – so goals need to be specific and measurable. In a team environment, this is especially important because of the dependency on each others’ work and the exponential impact of not meeting expectations.

Another important outcome of having goals is defining what is NOT going to be a priority. One of the biggest reasons we fail to live up to our commitments is because we put too much on our plate and become de-focused on key priorities. So goals need to be realistic. We can’t create accountability if what we’re asking people to be accountable for isn’t realistic or achievable.

Show the numbers

There are 3 ways that showing key metrics creates workplace accountability.

First, showing the number declares ownership. Every goal should be measurable and sharing this is a great way to demonstrate commitment to the result and communicate a clear expectation to other team members.

Second, showing the numbers creates some healthy workplace competition. Achieving goals and receiving recognition is a positive consequence of accountability. Missing a goal that’s openly shared with the team has the effect of making us double down the next period to do better.

Third, showing goals helps keep people focused on priorities. It’s easy to get distracted by new projects, but showing goals helps you hold yourself accountable and helps others hold you accountable as well.

Make accountability everyone’s responsibility

Ownership is about taking responsibility and taking initiative whether or not the responsibility is clearly yours. There’s a tendency in group settings for diffusion of responsibility whereby a person is less likely to take responsibility for action or inaction when others are present. In the context of accountability, this may mean you don’t see yourself as responsible for holding others accountable for timeliness, quality and strong communication. Perhaps it isn’t your responsibility – there’s someone more senior in the meeting or team, but this is where taking ownership becomes important. Resist the temptation to ignore when someone on your team needs to be held accountable.

Smart Development Inc. specializes in helping leaders engage team members so they are able to contribute in greater ways to key business outcomes.

Call or email us today for more information on how we’ve helped other businesses build accountability in their companies and teams.

Tel: 323-854-1713

Email: petercmclees@gmail.com