The Ever Elusive Accountability

Leaders at every level acknowledge that accountability for?team members'?execution?is a challenge. Holding others accountable to a standard can be daunting?and equally exhausting. However, it's not a dead end with no solutions.??

Is it as simple as evaluating whether a person has the will or skill???

Let's look at that question because?it is a great starting point. If the answer is skill,?then we know where to go. We need to identify?the gap in skill, knowledge, understanding, and ability to execute?and do something about it. Perhaps it's more training, assigning a mentor, having them work next to another who?is proficient, or ultimately determining that they don't possess?the needed aptitudes to succeed. Ultimately, it's not a match if they don't have what it takes to do the job.?

If we look at the other option of will, we've determined they have what it takes to do the job but,?for whatever reason,?choose not to apply themselves. Now,?we have opened the proverbial "can of worms." The answers to this question can be difficult to identify as the reasons can be complex and multi-layered in nature and potentially too time-consuming to get to the bottom of, and many times,?the individual doesn't even know?why they don't want to do something they are capable of doing, leaving everyone frustrated. We live in a time where there are unlimited options; often,?people have been enabled by?others, leading?to indecisiveness and paralysis of analysis.?

Here is what you must do:?put on your detective hat and start an investigation. We must ask questions, and we must?ask?more questions to get to the answers. You have to be the armchair psychologist. We need to understand the person's story, where they came from, the lens through which they view life, current events, their motives, and eventually,?where they want to go in life and their career. There is a laundry?list of things we need to understand to evaluate?why someone doesn't execute at the level of their capabilities. All of this takes time,?and?the daily circumstances and the pressure to perform as a team mount.??

Keep going, continue to ask lots of questions, don't compromise the standard to accommodate underperformance, and keep looking for the answers.?