Developing Accountability in Your Organization

In the last five months, we have been focused on leadership principles that are contained in some of the key graphics that we have been using in training and coaching for more than twenty years. This month, we are moving to a more recent one, the Courageous Accountability Model? which we built ten years ago.

Before this model was built, many people had been telling me that accountability was a big problem and that I needed to write a book on the subject of accountability. So in 2016, we launched the book Engage with Honor?: Building a Culture of Courageous Accountability .

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“Unfortunately, the lack of accountability in many areas is still growing rapidly, especially where we have no control. So, honorable leaders must take responsibility for those areas where we do have control and influence.” [Tweet This ]

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Here’s the model, and then I’ve provided more explanation about each step below:?

Character, Courage, and Commitment. As I did the research for that book, it was clear that accountability was not just about “someone” holding people accountable. It needed to be built into the organization’s culture, and it needed to start with the leader’s personal example. As you can see in the model, it was anchored in the three Cs of Character, Courage, and Commitment. Character is step one of being accountable and as we have discussed in recent blogs, character cannot be sustained without courage and commitment.

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Clarify. With the three C’s above as their foundation, leaders need to Communicate and over-communicate to clarify expectations. First is the established and unchanging core values, purpose and boundaries of your organization, and then both the big picture goals for your organization and the specific expectations for them to do their job.

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Connect. Great cultures of accountability also need caring leaders, who connect with the hearts of their people. The more cared about a human being is the more valuable they feel and the more effort they are going to put into their work to achieve their commitments and responsibilities.

Connect also means to connect the person’s work with their talents. Some folks are good at carrying out specific details and some are good at operating in a very fluid manner. Some work best alone and some work best by connecting with other people. For example, if you are holding people accountable to perform in an area where they don’t have natural talents, it will be very difficult and stressful for them to meet your expectations. For example, most outside salespeople are extroverts and most inside accountants and data managers are introverts.

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Collaborate. Working only vertically limits our performance. The more that a group of managers and supervisors collaborate as a team, the more successful they and their people will be. Chapter 8 from the book on accountability mentioned above is entitled “Develop A Mindset for Collaboration” and it shares stories of how collaboration was crucial for the Vietnam POWs and why it’s so important for leaders to develop a collaborative mindset. Then Chapter 9 “Collaborate – Learn to Engage” provides eight key steps for collaboration (including the Leadership Engagement Model?.? Download a complimentary copy of Chapters 8 and 9 from Engage with Honor.

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Closeout. As your team achieves success, it’s important to Celebrate. Remember—celebrating varies for different personalities. Some like to have a party and others just like to know that they have achieved a goal, but all will feel good when they are appreciated in some way. Discuss it with your team (and perhaps your peers) and decide how to do it. If it’s not your thing then delegate the responsibility and jump on board with a smile.

If someone has not been responsible in doing their clarified duty, then you must Confront them. This is an important step, and you don’t want to put it off, but it is important to think it through and make a plan. Remember to confront in a caring way. I can be very direct sometimes, so I found it best just to reflect on the problems and make sure that I have done my part to help them succeed. Then I would ask them to explain why they did not meet the expectations that they were responsible for. More often than not, they would admit that they had failed and then we would discuss that. But accountability had to come and that could vary from more training to shifting to another job, or even once it meant sending an officer to trial and jail.

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This coaching clip expands on this idea. Please watch, and then continue reading the blog below –

Accountability is crucial to success in every organization. Remember, to be successful as a leader it all starts with you, and you must build a culture of Courageous Accountability.

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Save 30% when you Buy the Two-Book Honor Package!

Purchase these award-winning books from Lee Ellis and FreedomStar Media in one package. Leading with Honor outlines the 14 leadership lessons learned in the POW camps of Vietnam. Then, Engage with Honor applies many of the original leadership lessons into a practical Courageous Accountability Model. (includes 1 – Leading with Honor Hardcover book, 1 – Engage with Honor Softcover book)

Purchase Your Honor Package in the Leading with Honor Store

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Online Team Development Training

With over 20 years training and coaching leaders, we know that the most effective development comes in community. And our mission has shifted toward leaders developing their people—the most efficient way—growing and taking others with them. The challenge is that many leaders don’t feel qualified to conduct training, and it’s expensive.

With this Courageous Accountability online development course, we’ve created an online platform using the latest, real-time collaborative learning technology to ensure the best learning environment possible.

Request a Quote to have your team experience the Courageous Accountability Development Course.

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