Accountability begins at the beginning

[00:00:00] Accountability is quite possibly the single most misunderstood, maligned, and misused aspect of work and leadership. Despite its bad reputation, I am a shameless proponent of accountability, and I view it as the foundation of successful leadership and stellar performance. I've researched, reflected on, and written about accountability off and on for the last 20 years.

[00:00:26] And in the sequence of skills we've covered so far this year, vulnerability, empathy, good humor, clarity, you may be wondering, does accountability even belong here? It most certainly does. This is The Well-Led Podcast, and I'm your host, Kate Johnson.

[00:00:54] Accountability is the keystone of performance. Without it, the connection between leader and employee, their shared ability to get work done, falls apart. However, this isn't the common view. Over the years, it's come to be synonymous with punishment, in no small part because many people have only encountered it as such. It comes in the guise of holding people accountable.

[00:01:22] If I were queen, we would ban this phrase. It's done more harm than good, and has only ever created results through leveraging fear and power. And those are not a formula for good leadership. So what is a better formula? Well, true accountability exists when trust and transparency are present,

[00:01:44] and when leaders understand that accountability is an ongoing process that requires maintaining healthy relationships and clear communication. I'm going to proceed as if we've all agreed that accountability is not a bad thing. And understanding that it is not a bad thing, we can also look to five principles that help us maintain this view and allow us to create accountability.

[00:02:09] The first, the best results happen when true accountability exists. Two, accountability begins with expectations. Three, expectations are the foundation for performance management. Four, performance management depends on measurement. And five, measurement is the currency of accountability.

[00:02:37] At the highest level, accountability means having to answer for one's actions. It means knowing in advance that you will have to explain yourself, and that your actions will have consequences. This only works if you actually know in advance that you will have to answer for your actions, and if you trust the processes used to keep track of your actions and tie consequences to them. Managers own the processes for communicating expectations,

[00:03:05] and for tracking, providing feedback, and delivering consequences. This chain of events, expectations, feedback, and consequences, points to the fact that accountability exists within a process that has a before, a during, and an after. When imagining this process, I like to picture a Venn diagram with three overlapping circles.

[00:03:30] At the center, where these circles intersect, we find performance. Let me walk you through each of the three domains. We begin with a blueprint. If we follow the principle that accountability begins with expectations, this is the only way to start. Providing a blueprint means using the time before work begins to lay out the full picture of your expectations.

[00:03:57] It must also include clear communication about the consequences an employee can expect to receive. I have some thoughts about consequences, but that'll come later. It should be no surprise that our conversation about accountability follows our exploration of clarity. They are natural companions, meeting in the space where expectations dwell. So at the intersection of the blueprint step and the next one, we find clarification.

[00:04:26] This is the employee's opportunity to confirm their understanding of your expectations, ask questions, seek guidance, and generally ensure they are equipped to do the work. While its place in the process may make clarification seem like a single event, you should be sure to keep this communication channel open at all times. The second circle contains ongoing observation.

[00:04:53] Your role in maintaining accountability is not solely at the start and end. You have a part to play throughout the completion of any work task. This does not mean that you are present at all moments, hanging over the employee's shoulder to watch them work. It does mean that you are monitoring their progress, determining if they are on track, and providing feedback, which we will cover in detail next month.

[00:05:21] Observation can be in real time, you watch the employee work, or asynchronous, use reports or other tracking tools. What matters here is your engagement with the employee throughout the course of the task or assignment. This is how you collect the data you need to measure their work and manage their performance. Observation intersects with the next step to result in validation.

[00:05:48] This component of accountability is based on your observation, feedback, and the employee's responses to both. This is where you determine if the employee's results match your expectations. The third and final domain involves finishing with follow-through. Once a task is done or a project is complete, you are responsible for follow-through.

[00:06:14] This key aspect of accountability allows you to reconcile results and consequences. Let me take a moment here to make a case for consequences. Much like accountability, this is a concept that has become unnecessarily and exclusively linked to punishment. As you know, I'm fond of examining the root meaning of words to help me understand them more fully. This has been especially helpful in the case of consequences.

[00:06:42] If we break it down to its component parts, we get con, with, and sequence, event, or moment. So a consequence is simply what comes with an event or what follows an action. As such, a consequence is neither inherently bad nor good. What matters is the action or result because it ultimately defines what follows. A consequence can be bad.

[00:07:10] I fail to turn a report in by the deadline and I receive a verbal warning. A consequence can also be good. I complete the report three days early and receive a heartfelt atta girl. All of this to say, your role as a leader is to ensure that both rewards and correction are administered according to the employee's results and in line with what you communicated when setting expectations. Your blueprint.

[00:07:39] Work is often ongoing or at least there is always more to do. So our accountability process continues where follow through and your blueprint intersect. Renewal is the process of confirming that a particular responsibility continues or initiating a new assignment or even performing any tasks associated with the employee moving on to a new job. Throughout this process, you and your employees share responsibility for communication.

[00:08:09] Your roles may be different, but you each play a part in ensuring that results happen. In this model, performance is the natural product of accountability. Accountability. Now that we've walked through this framework for accountability, let's explore how it applies in real world leadership situations. Here are three opportunities where accountability can make or break success. The first is creating accountability when you hire a new employee.

[00:08:39] This is the best chance you have to establish accountability from day one. When you bring a new employee into your team, you can use their orientation to set clear expectations and give them a blueprint for the role. This can include work hours, behavior standards, communication practices, anything and everything that will help them perform their job according to what the work needs.

[00:09:06] During orientation and training, you have the opportunity to observe the new employee's progress. Are they following procedures? Are they making more mistakes than normal for a new hire? Are they forming connections within the team? You can and should use these observations to provide feedback and redirect or affirm what they're doing as appropriate. Follow-through can happen at the conclusion of the introductory period,

[00:09:34] when the new employee is released to work independently, or you use your internal policies and procedures to determine next steps. Follow-through can happen at the conclusion of the introductory period, when the new employee is either released to work independently, or you use your internal policies and procedures to determine next steps. Our second example is creating accountability when you assign someone to a special project.

[00:10:04] The circumstances here may be different, but the process for accountability remains the same. Imagine you have a high-performing employee that you want to grow for a promotion, so you assign them to a special project to give them exposure and the chance to learn more about the business. As a leader who values and practices accountability, you will explain the assignment and your rationale before they begin.

[00:10:31] You will let them know what you hope they will gain from it and how this fits into their professional development. If you're leading the project, you will have the chance to directly observe them and can deliver feedback at the right times. If a colleague is in the lead, you can conduct regular check-ins with the employee to determine how things are progressing and connect with your colleague for further input. Both are forms of asynchronous or indirect observation.

[00:10:59] When the project is done, your follow-through can take the form of a debrief. That includes discussing what the employee learned and where you collaborate on identifying future learning opportunities. Our third example is creating accountability when you address performance improvement needs. Unfortunately, this is probably what most people think of when they think of accountability. Someone hasn't done their job and corrective action is called for.

[00:11:28] If this is the only time you're talking about accountability, you're too late. You are doing it wrong. To be an instance of true accountability, this scenario must be embedded in a larger event. The blueprint, observation, and follow-through associated with the work that didn't meet expectations. Addressing performance concerns is simply a subset of the accountability that should already exist.

[00:11:55] In some respects, this activity is the consequence. Again, regardless of the circumstances, the process is the same. When an employee's performance falls below expectations, you have the opportunity to hit reset and return to the beginning with them. How you present the blueprint and outline the potential consequences may differ, but setting the expectation is always the first step.

[00:12:25] It could sound like this. Jane, as you know, your recent performance was not to the expected standard. We're going to take a little time to review performance expectations and make certain you have the chance to ask questions and discuss what support you may need going forward. I'm documenting this in an improvement plan, and we will revisit this in two weeks. If you're on track to meet your productivity goal by then,

[00:12:53] we'll set another review date. If you haven't improved by then, I want to be clear up front that this would mean a note goes in your file. Before we go any further, what questions do you have right now? Obviously, the details will vary based on your industry and company, but what you can see in this example is how our leader makes connections to establish expectations and take steps to create dialogue.

[00:13:23] They share accountability with the employee. There are a million and more ways to practice accountability in this fashion. You have the opportunity every day to start and refresh accountability with your team. Remember, as a leader, you initiate the process. Specifically, be clear about expectations up front and create mutual agreement about consequences

[00:13:52] for meeting or missing any goals. Again, accountability begins at the beginning of any assignment, project, initiative, etc. If you wait until a missed deadline or an error occurs to discuss accountability, you are too late. In these cases, you are not holding them accountable.

[00:14:20] You are punishing a team member for a mistake. Please note that this is not a leadership quality. It is cruelty. If we hope to repair our understanding of accountability and its role in the workplace, we have to approach it as an ongoing process. Being an accountable leader means your team knows from the start what is expected,

[00:14:50] understands how success will be measured, receives frequent feedback to encourage or correct behavior, and is prepared for the natural consequences of completed work. In short, accountability lives in the daily conversations you have about what work is being done and how. Ask yourself, am I providing my employees with a blueprint? Do I consistently observe their work

[00:15:19] and offer real-time feedback? Am I reinforcing expectations with appropriate consequences? Because if accountability is missing, performance will suffer. We're in the midst of exploring the skills that allow leaders to provide support. Clarity ensures you are clear and defining the work in understandable, actionable ways.

[00:15:48] Accountability is the skill that takes this one step further to directly support not just performance, but success. Living accountability. The ongoing process with moments of leading before, during, and after work is done. This is your method for designing the best conditions for performance. Leading well and supporting your team means you are able to say, I am clear, I am accountable,

[00:16:17] and as we'll uncover next month, I am committed to refining my team's results. This is the direct support your employees need and great leadership, your leadership, depends on getting this right. Thank you for listening to the Well-Led Podcast. If this episode was useful,

[00:16:46] you can support the show by following or subscribing on your preferred podcast platform or by sharing it with someone who's navigating similar challenges. And if you'd like practical tools that accompany these conversations, you can find a link to request the current free leadership toolkit in the show notes. It's designed to help you put ideas from the podcast into practice, and subscribers to the 123 Limited newsletter receive these resources automatically.

[00:17:16] We'll be back next Tuesday with another episode exploring what it means to be well. And before we wrap up, I want to share a quick note about paper, a learning experience I'm currently developing. Paper is a practical analog method for personal effectiveness. Instead of relying on pre-designed planners or productivity apps, it teaches you how to create a simple handwritten system that helps you think clearly about your priorities, responsibilities,

[00:17:46] and goals. In a world full of tools promising organization, paper focuses on something more important, effectiveness, connecting what you do each day to the results that matter most. If clarity about your work and priorities is something you're looking for, you can learn more in the show notes.