Accountability Killers and How to Overcome Them
“Accountability starts with you. Are you modeling these aspects of accountability that you expect from other people?”
One of the biggest pain points for leaders is their people not doing the work that is expected of them. So what’s the roadblock there, more of than not? A lack of accountability.
In this episode, Michele Marquis, Senior Executive Coach at Floyd Consulting, outlines four accountability killers and the strategies to stop practicing them. Michele highlights the love-hate relationship people have with accountability, and why it is crucial in achieving our goals. Through open dialogue and taking action based on feedback, leaders can create a culture where team members feel valued and heard. Listen in learn more about accountability, creating a positive culture, and leading by example.
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Transcript
we're always talking to leaders like that's this is what we do.
[:So there's some obvious reasons why things aren't getting done. And so a big topic is always around accountability. Like we ask the people that we are working with, do you hold them accountable to the work that is expected of them? And so that always opens up a really interesting conversation and dialogue.
And so that's what the conversation is today. So Michelle, what are your thoughts? Why do you feel like this is such an important topic to dig into and to really help leaders? Oh,
[:People aren't talking to each other you know, all of these things. It's just like. The iceberg, right? I'm frustrated that I'm not getting what I want. But what do you want? And what do you expect? And what do you what are you not seeing? What are you saying? That's good. So we get into this big conversation.
And the other thing that I discovered is accountability has been given a negative connotation, Usually it's I'm going to hold you accountable. Who am I going to hold accountable? Because something went wrong. So accountability that it sort of has a negative connotation. You very rarely see accountability is one of the core values.
It's very interesting to me. So then I thought, okay, why aren't people holding themselves accountable when they know someone wants them to be accountable to something, right? What are my expectations? How do I know if I'm doing a good job? So anyway, long story, I looked and Harvard business review was like 50 percent of managers are not good at this.
they're just not good at it. And so I go, why, why? Well, because they don't talk about it. They don't talk about it in terms of I'm going to hold you accountable. I'm going to hold myself accountable. So today I really wanted to talk about two different areas. One is, accountability killers that most leaders, whether they want to say they're doing it or not, this is a way for them to look in the mirror today and tell yourself whether you're doing these four things.
That's really, you're killing the accountability in your organization. And then four ways for you to really. Model what accountability looks like, then at the end, I'm going to, I'm going to
talk about a challenge. I love
challenging.
[: [: [:Executive business, life coaching, a lot of our dream manager clients. What is the one. Thing that shows up in a lot of the questionnaires that we send out Is the fact that they love that their coach is holding them accountable So it's like we have this love hate relationship with accountability We're like we want to be held accountable because the only way to actually fulfill and achieve the dreams that we have in our lives Is to be held accountable, but also When we're held accountable, we actually know we have to do it and it makes it a little bit scary.
so let's talk about some, what are some of these accountability killers?
[:And so I'm doing it the way that I think it's the right way to go. It's a killer when you start micromanaging people, and it'll lead back to some of the ways that you're going to think about modeling accountability.
So all the four things I'm going to say about killers, we're going to lead back to how do you change that? How do you stop micromanaging people? So think about it right now times. Throughout your day, throughout your month that you're really micromanaging, you've given a task and then you really stay away and let them
do their task.
[:outcome versus the steps it takes to get there. If you really care only about the outcome, let your person do what needs to get done. And if the outcome is great, awesome. Let them do their job. That's why you hired them. So, all right. Love it. Okay. Well, I don't love it. That's not good, but
[:Let's say you're in the middle of a project. You've been assigned a project and you need an answer on something right to move forward. So you reach out either email or whatever, and you don't hear back and you don't hear back and you don't hear back. And then guess what? You're off track. You have a deadline.
It's not getting done.
[:So I'm giving them, I'm giving them guidance. I'm giving them coaching. And so often, Ooh, it's uncomfortable. It's uncomfortable to talk to someone about. The work that they're doing, if it's not at the level that it needs to be, then of course we want to procrastinate because who wants to have that conversation, but the quicker we have it, the better, because we all know it's like the longer that you wait to have it.
It's not going to get any easier. It's not going to get any better. It's actually stressing you out. Cause you're probably thinking about it in the background. So just have the conversation,
[:all right. So the 3rd, 1 is dismissing complaints or concerns. So this is Subtle, because listen, I know there's Debbie downers out there who are always complaining about something, but there may be something in what they're saying that you should pay attention to.
So be careful not to just dismiss complaining or concerns from all your people because there may be golden nuggets in there. And sometimes there's actually a common thread that may be
happening as well.
[:Michelle? What's something that a leader can do today if they are maybe being approached by some of their people, On some of these complaints so that you can actually discern what are people complaining about versus like what do I really need to take a look at because it might keep showing up and there's something to really dig into and have a deeper conversation.
[:If you hear complaint or concern, you have to address it so that you understand it. And maybe it's just a little thing that they just didn't know about. Like, here's a reason why this is happening. That's causing this because people sometimes they make up their own, ideas of what What's going on if they don't know so it just gives you another opportunity to communicate with them to let them know the bigger picture.
Because they may not just understand why
this certain thing is happening
[:If their complaints are something that there's nothing that we really can change or quote unquote fix. We can have a conversation around the why and around what's really bothering you. Like sometimes the real issue for someone isn't actually what's being presented to you. It's got much to Rooted issue.
And so if you can actually, if your people know that if they come to you with a challenge, you don't just brush it under the rug, then they are going to have these conversations with you, which is a beautiful thing. Otherwise, we've all seen organizations where they say, Why do they even do these interviews?
Why do they even do these surveys? Nothing happens. And so we don't want to be in that place where we're just sending out surveys to send them out and we're getting feedback and nothing's happening. But it's really just the communication of, hey, we hear you, we get it. But let's have a deeper understanding of like what this could potentially look like and how we can move forward.
And that's You know, good for all parties involved. and it doesn't mean that, every single thing that your team comes up with and asked for that you're going to bend over backwards and change. That's not the point. The point is to just open up a dialogue and you're going to learn a lot about your people, about what's important to them, about What really is going to help them do their best work and, sometimes, those difficult conversations can be the most fruitful, rich conversations that transform your relationship with your people and the culture of the organization.
[:And then at the end, when I met with everybody, I typed it all out and I went through every single 1 with everybody. Even if it wasn't your concern or your complaint, I went through every single 1 because they usually fell into different categories. It was my manager communication. Training technology. So all of them say there were 100.
I'd have like 25 here, 40 here. so I went through every single one of them and explained and to your point, Kate, they wanted to be heard, they needed to be hurt. And it was almost like you could feel their shoulders drop. And it was like, wow. Okay. She heard me. She heard what we were saying. And I'd say, these are things that I can change.
These are things that are not going to change. These are things that we can work on together. These are things that, I'm going to expect you to do because now that we know, we can't not know. we have to do something about it. so yeah, great point. And then the last thing, which is hard, but not hard.
It's, you're not open to change. So, remote work was the big one, right? So think about how you had to change and how they had to change. But what a great way to really get to know your people on another level, because you all of a sudden went into their personal world, right? You got to know them because people didn't have laptops to work from home.
So you had to get laptops or they didn't have internet. I mean, you've found out so much about your people through that change. You were forced
into that change. So now, how are you going to change so being open to change and talking to your people and really knowing, what they're thinking is super
important.
[:there wasn't a lot of time for that quote unquote transition. It happened immediately, right? It was like
Hey, we're shut down and you're working from home. And all of a sudden people thought it was, Oh, we'll be back in two weeks. Nope. It is like shut down for a Year or two years or whatever it was.
so interesting people don't have the time. And so I think that is just a lesson in life in general, right? Like to be able to be a little bit malleable and be able to be a flexible in the world because businesses transition. Life is transition. We're never not in a state of transition and the people that get really comfortable with that and with change.
And also I find it so interesting how we're working with so many different kinds of people, all different ages, all different backgrounds. And so being open to understanding other cultures and other, just other people's mindsets. we all. See the world through our own lens and we've got to recognize that as leaders that All of our people are coming that way too And so we get to all learn some of my favorite leaders that i've ever worked with have Loved working with as diverse group of people as possible because We all felt like we got to learn and grow with each other.
[: [:I want to get better at accountability. What does that look like? What are some of those things, some of those ways that I can model someone who excels at accountability?
[:That sounds so simple. However, sometimes, as a leader, you get excited and, someone else might be excited and you'll say, Oh yeah, we should do that. We're going to do that because people listen to every word you say as a leader, they're watching every move you make, they're listening to every word you say.
So if, especially if you're an extrovert, extroverts tend to think out loud, right? So if you say something. you don't really mean tomorrow. You mean like someday, but you're saying it and people are like, Oh, well, we're going to have, these new healthcare benefits. Because Michelle said it, and you don't do it.
that's not good. So do what you're saying you're going to do. So be mindful of your words and what you say you're going to do. Especially you extroverts who tend to think out loud and get excited. And if you're really passionate.
Be careful.
[:Because you have people that we love to talk about and vision, right? Leaders are visionaries. They don't really necessarily like to get into the details of it all. So when they're talking, they're like, look at what we're building. And the poor people that are actually doing all the work, they're like, wait a second, what's the deadline?
When do you need this? Let me get the Excel spreadsheet. Let me do all the, things. And you're like, wait, what? So knowing your people is critical for sure.
[:So be specific. About your expectations with people. I can't say that enough about accountability because that's the second question I ask is, do people know what's expected of them? do you have your values clearly defined on how you expect people to behave in terms of a project? do you specifically walk through milestones that you're expecting or whatever it is?
Maybe it's monetary revenue goals that you have to achieve any kind of project or goal that you put out there. Are you specific about your expectations? Because many times, if you look at some of these strategic plans, there aren't a lot of expectations in there. There's a lot of results that I'm looking for in there, but being clear about the expectations.
And that always points back to your values, your mission, is this serving the mission? So that's a big one.
It's huge. It's just huge.
[:Like how many of us have dreams that we keep saying we're going to do and because we're not holding ourselves accountable, a year goes by two years, five years. I'm like, wait a second. I've been talking about this for too long.
[:I think he could have added that on how to build a dynamic culture of accountability, because all those steps that he talks about really do serve to build that accountability piece
[: [:It's something you have to put time into. And it's forever. It's not one and done. It's not like, okay, we're now an accountability company. No, it's all the time. You've got to be feeding it all the time as you're modeling it
yourself.
[: [: [:Most of the time we know exactly the steps that we need to take in order to do them. We just aren't holding ourselves accountable. that's why coaches exist, for that, for, even for the, just the fact that you're investing, you're putting your money where your mouth is and saying, okay, I'm coaching this person, so that whenever we meet.
Every month I have to come to my call and say to Michelle Did or didn't do the thing that I said I was gonna do and nobody wants to come to that meeting saying they didn't do It I mean how many of your clients Michelle how many people have ever said to you? Oh my gosh I literally just got this done right before the call because I wanted to To finally do it.
Yeah.
[:and some people, you know, they get so frustrated with themselves. Like why am I like this? So we come up with different strategies to do it, right? Because what I'm noticing too, there's a lot of apps, new apps out there go yoga and this and that, quit this, quit that. And they're like triggers every day.
So they send you a text message or they send you an email every day. You've got to do that for yourself too. It's you have to every morning say, okay, what am I going to do today to drive accountability in my organization? If you're the leader of that group, I promise you, if you say that every day, you will change and you will start to see it.
Let's get on to number
[: [:You want them to hold themselves accountable So you need to empower them and give them the resources and the tools to do the job. And that's principle number six, you need to have a coaching environment. You need to have a coaching style so that you're not always just telling people what to do, with the little widgets.
No, give them some flexibility in that that's how they create an ownership to what they're doing.
[:And when you have those right people, then it's so it should be easy to not micromanage because they know what's expected of them. They know how they're being evaluated and it's more about the outcome than it is. The daily actions like as long as the things are getting done. I mean, we talked to so many leaders They say I don't care how my people get it done I just want the work to get done as long as we get the outcome that we were looking for great Do your thing because we all work in very different ways and that's a beautiful thing And so when we're more focused on that everyone is happier
[:Okay. And I would every day. What questions do you have? What else can I give you? What do you need? But after 90 days, this is your job. You've got it. I'm here for you. If you ever need me, and we, of course, check in, but that's what they want. And you want those kind of people in your organization. They're going to help drive your organization further than, you can imagine
the fourth one is, this is a big one that I have found also foster high functioning teams. especially in a larger organization, but not always larger, even small organizations. You're the leader and you're assigning different projects to people, but group of people doesn't know that this group of people is working on this and this group of people is working on that.
And sometimes they collide, but they don't know it. They don't. And so something happens over here and you go, Whoa, wait a minute that affected us over here. So it creates friction. between the teams, right? So that the accountability piece is missing. So make sure,everybody knows what everybody else is working on.
So that again, they could say to themselves, Oh, maybe that's something that Kate's working on because I, I think I heard something about that. And then I could go right to Kate versus thinking, the world is falling apart. so really. Make sure that you have highly functioning teams that are being collaborative and working together and they know what the other person is
working on.
[:Especially when you get to bigger teams where there's, hundreds of people and, and people are kind of working on those different projects when we know, hey, we're building this together. We have this vision of what we're building together and these are the departments and what each of them are working on.
I immediately think of sales teams and marketing teams. specifically because they have to really work well together. And we've heard so often where, we've got the marketing team and the sales team and the sales people are, frustrated because they are talking, they're having conversations with people that were marketed in a really strong way.
So they got these really great leads, but they're like, wait, it said what the ad said, what, we don't do that. and then same thing with like, Salespeople and then fulfillment. If you have a sales department and then someone else does the fulfillment, like a project manager, Oh my gosh, there's a lot of conflict there, right?
Because the salesperson's job is just to sell. So they oversell and then the poor project manager is left with the client that might not be so happy because they didn't get what they expected. Oh, that's like a whole other conversation. but
[:example. Absolutely.
[:This isn't a competition. And sometimes we see it with teams. It almost feels like a competition. And if it feels like a competition, that means somewhere in the leadership that's being, that's kind of being portrayed. Like that's what people are showing up. And so, being held accountable, everyone needs to be held accountable.
when I think of accountability too, I always think about. Jocko Willink and his book Extreme Ownership and how he always talks about There's no such thing as bad teams only bad leaders and I like oh, that's so good So good
[:start modeling accountability.
[:And, Michelle, I know you, you have a fun activity. So we always like to give a challenge to people before the end of the episode. So what is the challenge today?
[:this is going to take time. And I'd say, start with one, one thing, one thing that you're either going to stop doing. So look at your list of killers of accountability. I'm going to stop doing this, or I'm going to start doing one of the four models of accountability. So pick one of those, either start or stop.
Start small. Don't try to do everything all at once. One thing. And at the beginning of every day, what's my one thing I want to You know, focus on And then at the end of the day, do an inventory of your day.
How did I do today in my accountability measure? So start to measure yourself, but pick one thing, either stop the killers of accountability or start the model of accountability.
[:So if you are Interested or curious about what that would look like? for you for your people in your organization We would love to have a conversation with you about that and you can go to Floyd coaching dot com. Check that out. And, you'll probably talk to Michelle or one of our other fabulous coaches, about what that would be like.
And I am so grateful that we get to do this show. I hope that you, found it valuable. If there's anything that you want to share with us, especially along the challenges, we love hearing that,
Like we love hearing, from you and which episodes you like, what is impactful and what really resonated with you. Cause that also helps us formulate the different topics for the episodes. and so if you are liking the show and you have not yet written a review, please, write a review.
It does help out the more people, can find it. we would so. So appreciate and be grateful for that.
Until next time, lead with culture.
