An Introduction to the 10 Steps of Accountability and How to Use Them
I am sure there are many lists and tips about the idea of accountability. This is an area that doesn’t really have a defined right way of doing it. As I mentioned in the last article, there are wrong ways of creating accountability. It shouldn’t be seen as punitive, even though there can be negative consequences associated with failing to meet your obligations and commitments. Having a framework for creating a culture of accountability is very useful for every leader. Whether you are just getting into your first leadership role or you have been leading others for decades, having a process for working through nearly any situation is beneficial.
The ten steps of accountability I am discussing here and in the subsequent articles is just that: a framework from which to build your leadership style and culture around. I would encourage you to make them your own as you review these and the definitions and details of them in the future articles. These will give you the ideas you need to establish a working relationship with anyone in almost every situation. I have found that these ten steps can be used for work and for other life situations. They may seem simple at first, but each are powerful in the role they play relating to each of the others.
Late last year I was introduced to this list. By themselves, none of these were new concepts. However, I was surprised at how they took on additional meaning when combined together in thinking about accountability. Learning how these work, both independently and sequentially, was a real eye-opener. Talk about an area that requires patience and practice. They can really come to life when combining and working them through as a process.
Not every situation allows for a neat movement from step to step, but I think you will quickly realize how they can flow over time. As with so many other things, there is no black and white approach to creating a culture of accountability. Different scenarios will require different timetables.
If you are inheriting a new team, step one below may require several months to fully establish. However, there will be other elements that you can absolutely begin implementing steps two and three. Step six is especially important with a new team, so they can predict your reactions. And areas like those covered in steps eight and nine can be happening all the time.
Let’s look at the list of ten steps.
ESTABLISH Right People, Right Role, Right Time
SET clear expectations
DEFINE mutually understood consequences
CONDUCT detailed follow up
ADJUST when needed
BE consistent
REMAIN involved
ASSUME nothing
CELEBRATE and RECOGNIZE success
RESTART to step 1 if success does not come
As you may notice, none of these feel like a silver bullet. In fact, you may even say at first, yep, nothing different or special here. However, as you begin to apply these to real life situations and think through what each of these can, and maybe, should look like, they take on new meaning. These are applicable to so many situations and relationships that as you ponder through their meaning and how they can be applied, the list of situations grows and the realization of the potential impact becomes enormous.
As you begin to think about how to incorporate these into your environment, understand that different people will react in different ways. Just an introduction to the idea of accountability can stoke fears in others. Remember, accountability sounds scary to many people, and a lot of people assume this means they may get fired. It doesn’t have to (and shouldn’t) be that way. Rolling these out to your team cannot be an email exercise or a ‘one and done’ situation. It will take time to share these to your team and to help define what each piece means. All of these are a two-way street. They require activity and input from both parties. There is an assumption that the leader has just as much ownership in these steps as others.
Over the course of the next several articles we will dive into each of the steps and review the impact they can have, how you can implement and then maintain them with your team. The idea is not to build a process with ten ongoing steps. Rather, this is about building something bigger, something more powerful; a culture of accountability.
Which of the ten steps was most surprising to you? Why?
How will you introduce your team to these ten steps?
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