Accountability

One of the primary outcomes of ‘The Rockefeller Habits’ is to create a healthy culture of accountability and when I ask clients to define a culture of accountability they generally agree that accountability means that stuff gets done, when it should, as it should. Running a business without a culture of accountability is exhausting because someone has to constantly check, did we do what we should have done when  we should have done it.

A recent survey by Gallup revealed that ‘Accountability is leadership’s greatest weakness’ Accountability Is Leadership’s Greatest Weakness.

For accountability to be present a few other conditions have to be met. The first is clarity. Precisely who is accountable for what? If there are any grey areas or duplication accountability cannot exist. Either one person is accountable or no one is. If we try to make more than one person accountable sooner or later one of them will think the other was doing it. Please note the person accountable doesn’t necessarily have to do the task but they have to make sure it gets done. This is what we call delegation which is a whole skill set in itself.

There also needs to be clarity on the outcomes, not always on how the job is to be done although in specific circumstances that may also be the case, but there needs to be clarity on the outcomes or standards.

After clarity there also needs to be a willingness or at least an acceptance that getting the job done is not for debate. It is imperative. It is not optional, otherwise the whole machine implodes. There needs to be high levels of trust that the accountable person will do what they say they are going to do, insistently, persistently and consistently. For this to happen there has to be a high level of willingness on the part of the accountable person for, as the Chinese say, you can throw a rock across a river but you can’t throw a bird.

So clarity and commitment are necessary if we are to have accountability. Which then means that as leaders we know what we must do. We have to provide the clarity and make clear the expectations.

I recommend the processes laid out in ‘The 3 x 5 Coach’ by my friend Dave Baney  who proposes a conversation between the job holder and his manager to decide ‘why I get paid’ and how that is measured. This very short summary (it is written on one side of a 3 x 5 card) spells out the top accountabilities and the measurement. For example Gross Profit of more than 40%. Which can be quickly reviewed every time the accounts are published and scored red or green.

Essentially every important metric / process in the business should be on someone’s 3 x 5 card.

Accountability should not be a longer word for blame. We need accountability to make sure stuff gets done, not because we want a scapegoat or someone to blame. When things do go wrong, and they will, the first question should be ‘what is the process?’. If we do not have a process we can’t have someone accountable for it.

A healthier culture of accountability requires that we expect 100%  of our key processes to be done, on time and in the right way. Which means that we must always recognise and reward with praise when it happens and never let a failure go unnoticed, because when we do we are either condoning it or confirming that it doesn’t matter. So this does take effort and skill from leadership but it is worth it in the long run.

Actions

Start listing out the key metrics and the key accountabilities in your business. Make sure each one has an owner (person accountable). Make sure each individual is 100% clear on what they are accountable for and the metric that will confirm this. The best way to do this is on a 3 x 5 card. And review these every 90 days.

Remember as the founder or leader you are technically accountable for everything unless you have clearly and competently delegated any particular accountability specifically to a named individual.