Accountability – The Missing Success Producing Factor

Taking the proven and replicable steps for developing an accountability practice can help you create your ultimate success. Our premise if that you cannot fail if you use the characteristics of accountability to support your goals, dreams, visions, sales process, team building, and business creation.

Here is how the NMA Team and I define accountability…

NMA’s Definition of Accountability
• Doing what you say you will do when you say you will do it
• Integrity around deadlines
• Providing good work even when you are tired
• Supporting the team and organizational goals
• Showing up when it is hard and doing the right thing even when no one is watching
• Not kidding yourself into thinking you do not have to be responsible

The process of being accountable and holding others accountable involves all of our communication skills because it requires that we consistently ask the questions “who, what, when, why and how” to obtain information we need to create clear results in moving forward.

• Who will be doing this?
• What is the cost?
• When will it be done?
• Why are we working on this project now?
• How will it benefit the team and organization?

When you start asking questions of your people about their ideas and the execution of their work, they can get very defensive. These questions may make them feel like you don’t trust them to get things done. Developing these types of accountability methods can very uncomfortable for both you and them in the beginning.

Use yourself as an example in thinking through asking questions. If someone were to say to you, “Well, Warren, when will it be done?” How do you feel about being asked that question? My clients who begin the process for accountability and the questioning strategy to implement accountability, have reported resistance from the people being asked these questions.

People want you to agree with them. They don’t want to tell you when it will be done, how they will complete it, why it is the way it is, etc. They just want to be able to put the details into their own schedule and complete the task according to their own timing.

And that is the problem.

Many of us do not know how to schedule our time and use it well, plan priorities and/or delegate. So when someone asks you questions about your next steps, you may feel irritated and even incompetent.

However, the questioning strategy within accountability is the most important aspect of creating the timing, projects, results, and products you want when they need to be done…and done well.

Let me point out that there may be a key characteristic missing from your accountability questioning strategy and that is the ability to listen and listen well. I would like to refer you to one of our most read articles, “Effective Listening for Leaders” on our website.

Listening is not easy nor is it common. My dear friend, Mary Warzecha, is a listening guru and she says “Listening is not just waiting to talk.”

In order for people to be accountable, they need to be able to hear you. The tips, techniques and strategies provided in the “Effective Listening for Leaders” article will enable you to easily and quickly review the top best practices for listening. You might want to even share the information with your business partner, team, or entire organization. We would be pleased for more people to improve the quality of their listening by the information we have thoroughly researched and provided in the “Effective Listening for Leaders” article.

Accountability is a behavior and a leadership characteristic that takes practice and awareness. It is also a proven way to guarantee excellence for you, your team, organization, and services/products. Once you, your team and organization learn the value of practicing accountability, the way you spend your time will dramatically change.

Communication will be clear. People will feel supported. Deadlines will be met. Your confidence, as a leader, will increase. I think that all of us would benefit by revisiting how we hold ourselves and others accountable. You deserve to revisit and relearn your accountability best practices to guarantee the successful results that you want for yourself, your team, and your organization.