"You have to hold people accountable..."

I've talked about the importance of accountability in the past (see "The Accountability-Authority Matrix" and "Sell Ice Cream!" from a few months ago).  The legendary University of Tennessee Women's Basketball Coach Pat Summit said, "Responsibility equals accountability, accountability equals ownership, and a sense of ownership is the most powerful thing a team or organization can have."  

As leaders, we need to be comfortable holding the other members of our team accountable for their actions, their behavior, and their performance.  Another basketball legend, Kobe Bryant said "If you're going to be a leader, you're not going to please everybody.  You have to hold people accountable, even if you have that moment of being uncomfortable."

Two more leadership experts offered their take on accountability.  Patrick Lencioni, author of the best-selling book The Five Dysfunctions of a Team said, "Failing to hold someone accountable is ultimately an act of selfishness."  Finally, the mental health educator, speaker, and author Minaa B., whose book Owning Our Struggles: A Path to Healing and Finding Community in a Broken World just came out this past year, said "Being held accountable is an act of generosity and compassion.  It is a gift that someone gives us to correct our wrongs, unlearn, and do better for the sake of our own growth.  It might be uncomfortable, but it is worth the discomfort."

So it seems that a number of leadership experts feel that (1) holding others accountable is part and parcel to being a leader, (2) holding people can be uncomfortable, even for some of the best leaders, (3) holding people accountable will help them grow and develop and is therefore an "act of generosity and compassion", and (4) not holding individuals accountable (and as a consequence, perhaps holding back their professional growth and development) just because it is uncomfortable or unpleasant is ultimately a selfish act.

With all of this in mind, what is the right way to hold people accountable?  Peter Bregman says that in order to foster accountability in the people around us, we need focus on five key areas:

Clear Expectations

Individuals must know and understand the standards to which they are being held accountable to as they work in the organization.  Leaders have to be clear (and fully transparent) about the outcome that they're looking for, how they will measure success in achieving that outcome, and how their teams should go about achieving that objective.

Clear Capability

Individuals on the team have to have the knowledge and skills to be able to perform up to their leader's expectations.  Just as important, it is the leader's job to make sure that the team is provided with the right resources to be able to achieve their goals and objectives.

Clear Measurements

As mentioned above, individuals have to know and understand their metrics of success.  Clear, measurable, objective targets and goals are absolutely the way to go here.

Clear Feedback

Honest, open, and ongoing feedback is critically important.  Feedback should be provided as frequently as possible, so that individuals can course correct along the way.  The end of the year performance evaluation is not the time to finally hold someone accountable - ideally those conversations should have been held throughout the year so that there are no surprises at the end of the year evaluation.

Clear Consequences

Just as important, individuals have to understand what happens if they fail to meet the leader's expectations.  Conversely, they also need to understand what happens if the do meet or even exceed those same expectations.  

As Bregman concludes, "These are the building blocks for a culture of accountability.  The magic is in the way they work together as a system.  If you miss any one, accountability will fall through that gap."  And as discussed above, if accountability does fall through the gap, we as leaders have missed out on a very important opportunity to show our compassion and generosity!