Accountability – To get better results, ask better questions!

Accountability – much talked about and little practiced.
Increasing accountability in your organization is a great
New Year’s resolution.  But, if your corporate culture
doesn’t have a few key behaviors, the discipline of
accountability will remain elusive in your organization.
These behaviors fall into two basic cultural mandates.

The mandates? Support honesty and respect more than fear.
Value questions as much as answers.

First, honesty and respect.  If your culture supports this
mandate, you’ll see the behaviors listed below in your team.

Team members:
(1) Are willing to say “I don’t know.”      
(2) Don’t get “beat up” for bringing news you don’t want to
hear.      
(3) Admit mistakes.      
(4) Apologize when appropriate and accept others’ apologies
readily.    
(5) Listen to what others have to say.    
(6) Take on tough issues directly rather than going around
the problem.

Second, valuing questions as much as answers.  Good
questions are essential to high quality decision-making,
learning, and accountability for results.

Here are some questions that are especially useful in
supporting accountability.  
(1) When a new goal is set, ask “Where will that increase
in revenue come from?” or “How will our competitors likely
react to the new marketing campaign?”  
(2)  When a project schedule is moved up, ask “How will you
meet that target date?” or “What is the first milestone
where we’ll know if we’re on target?”  
(3) When production delays arise, ask “How is this
different from our other plants?” or “What has changed from
last month?”

As Larry Bossidy says in the book, “Execution,” “The leader
who executes often does not even have to tell people what
to do; she asks questions so they can figure out what they
need to do.”

Asking “how” questions like those listed above will enhance
your ability to hold members of your team accountable and
that’s key to achieving superior execution.

Try this action tip to enhance accountability in your team.
In your next staff meeting, ask team members to find
opportunities to ask “how” something will get done instead
of just whether or when it will get done.  Lead the way by
coming prepared with plenty of your own “how” questions.
This doesn’t need to be an aggressive challenge, just an
“inquiring mind.”

Two key mandates for accountability: Support honesty and
respect more than fear. Value questions as much as answers.

If you can get your culture firmly supporting these two
mandates, accountability, results, and success will come
much more readily.

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Learn how to manage your culture more effectively!  Visit
http://www.TameTheGorilla.com for free resources.  Dr.
Linda Ford helps leaders create organizations that achieve
superior performance. She has consulted to companies
ranging from small start-ups to Fortune 100 companies as
well as non-profit organizations. To learn more about her
experience, visit http://www.FordBusinessConsulting.com .