Accountability and Building A High Performing Team

In today's current environment of rapid change, shifting priorities, flexible schedules, and work from home, leaders are wrestling with the need to strengthen results and elevate accountability in our organizations.

Because we desire to maintain healthy relationships with our team members, we don't engage in critical conversation, follow up on items, review deadlines, or ask questions about unmet needs or the lack of tangible business results. Our fear of losing talented employees, having open positions, or experiencing increased turnover has left many reluctant to engage in critical conversations. As a result, productivity suffers, revenue declines, and profitability erodes.

Most employees want to do a good job, contribute to their team's success, and positively impact their customers' experience. The key to actively engaging team members, improving business results, and creating a high-performing team (culture) is to:

• Promote trust
• Communicate openly and honestly
• Set clear expectations
• Establish mutual agreement on timelines and deadlines for the work
• Provide positive and constructive feedback?
• Celebrate accomplishments (personal and team achievements)
• Ask for feedback - Ask team members what they did well, would do differently, and how you can support them going forward.

In High Performing Teams, leaders lead by example, clearly articulate priorities, promote organizational alignment, establish deadlines, provide constructive feedback, and celebrate achievements. These behaviors and practices lead to higher levels of commitment, engagement, participation, and collaboration, resulting in higher productivity and more substantial financial results.

While these principles are the foundation of building a culture of accountability and a high-performing team, the most important thing to remember is it starts with you. If your organization's or team's results are not where you would like them to be, remember the adage - "Organizations run at the pace of the leader." As a leader, it's fundamentally important to set the tone, live the core values, role model the desired behaviors, and role model accountability.

If you want to learn more, please send me a message. In the executive coaching practice and our Vistage Peer Advisory Group, we focus on helping CEOs, executives, business owners, and aspiring executives become even better leaders, achieve tangible business outcomes, and build high-performing teams.?