Accountability 101: Installment #4 - THE ACCOUNTABILITY CREDO

When it comes to accountability as we’ve defined it…

Personal Accountability is doing the right thing, consistently, day after day, in both tasks and relationships, to live the mission and values of the organization and advance its vision.

…my bottom line is that, to a large extent, personal accountability can be learned and is a choice that adults can intentionally make!

Because it is a choice, to be “fearlessly accountable” requires some work. It’s not always easy to simply “do the right thing.” But what if we had a guide to help us, especially when something happens that lies in that very “gray” area between right and wrong?

To that end, I have created an Accountability Credo. A credo is a statement of the beliefs or aims that guide someone’s actions. To have a workplace in which most/all people are accountable we must begin by recognizing and adopting the following beliefs:

• We are a group of capable adults.
• Most people want to do credible work. They want to be good, even great at work.
• We ultimately choose or decide how to ‘be’ at work.
• Accountability is an adult choice.
• Our shared responsibility is to co-create the environmental conditions that foster and reward that choice so that it’s embedded in the very fiber, the DNA, of the organization.

Think of the Accountability Credo as the magnetic needle of an ‘Accountability Compass.’ It helps point the way towards right action. Like the definition of accountability, it is simple and straightforward, but it is not always easy to do because, for some, it pushes our buttons by fundamentally challenging our current ways of thinking, acting and believing.

Here is your challenge: Allow the Accountability Credo to become your statement of belief that guides your everyday actions. See yourself and others as everyday heroes and think of accountability as your superpower! It may just be a power that can change your world.


If you like the idea of an Accountability Credo, then check out our Accountability Credo poster.

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE AN OWN IT! ACCOUNTABILITY CREDO POSTER

Accountability 101: Installment #3 - ACCOUNTABILITY: What’s It All About?

Changing organizational cultures from “renter” to “owner,” is going to take a lot more than a new slogan or the latest “program.” We need to be free to find the courage to approach our tasks and our relationships at work differently so that we can co-create a markedly different and intentionally brighter future together.

Personal accountability is all about the many choices and decisions you (and others) make and the actions and interactions you have throughout your work day. It happens moment by moment; one conversation at a time. It stands to reason that if we all are expected to make dozens, even hundreds, of choices and decisions each day about what to do and who to be using a framework of accountability as our guide, then we must make darn sure that there is a universal understanding of exactly what ‘accountability’ means.

To be candid, most dictionary definitions of accountability seem inadequate to me and leave me cold. So, based on my research, I crafted one that empowers and inspires everyday leadership and is straightforward enough so that everyone can understand it and use it “in the moment” to assess the quality of their decisions and choices. Here it is:

Personal Accountability is doing the right thing, consistently, day after day, in both tasks and relationships, to live the mission and values of the organization and advance its vision.

This definition of accountability is based on the simple yet profound belief that most people know what the right thing to do is most of the time. Yes, at times there are gray areas, but most of the time, most of us know. Whether we choose to act on that knowledge is at the heart of the matter. For example, almost all of us know that gossip is toxic in organizations. But do we accept personal responsibility for walking away when it starts, choosing not to engage in it with others and, even confronting the behavior and encouraging others to change the subject?

That’s why I’ve come to believe that personal accountability is an inside job! Doing the right thing comes from within; it’s intrinsic. When doing the right thing comes from the outside, when it becomes extrinsic instead, then it becomes nothing more than
compliance. I am convinced that relying primarily on compliance will prevent us from being great and having a bright future together.

Right about now, some of you might be thinking….”That’s great, BUT…if accountability is intrinsic, isn’t it a part of your hard-wiring? OR, isn’t accountability something that is embedded in your psyche from early experiences and reinforcement by adults important in our lives (parents, grandparents, teachers, religious leaders)? If you didn’t ‘get it’ then, maybe you’ve missed out permanently.

My answers are yes, yes and no. Yes, it may be that a predisposition to hold oneself accountable is hardwired; and yes, it might seem more natural to us if we were exposed to it regularly as kids when we discussed it as a family or when we witnessed our parents and others role modeling the behavior.

But no, if this isn’t the case for you, you haven’t missed out on the opportunity to be an accountable adult today! It’s my truth that each of us does have a unique genetic endowment and experiences in our formative years. And, while I can’t claim expertise in genetics, my review of the research tells me that education and personal effort can trump your starting point. Even our genes require regular input as we grow and develop to work properly. Don’t use your genes or your background as an excuse not to embrace personal accountability.

My bottom line is that, to a large extent, personal accountability can be learned and is a choice that adults can intentionally make. Because it is a choice, to be “fearlessly accountable” requires some work. It’s not always easy to simply “do the right thing.” But what if we had a guide to help us, especially when something happens that lies in that very “gray” area between right and wrong?

To that end, I have created an Accountability Credo. Learn more about it in my next installment of Accountability 101!!

To be continued… Look for our next post, Finding Your Way To Accountability

Can't wait and interested in developing a culture of owners within YOUR organization?  My latest book, Own It!, is a great place to start.   Own It!  and it's predecessor, Take The Lead are both available for purchase on the Vantage International website.   

Click here to get your copy on the Vantage Website

CLICK HERE TO GET YOUR COPY OF OWN IT! TODAY!

ACCOUNTABILITY 101: Installment #2 - THE SELF-EMPLOYED MINDSET

Here’s another way to look at the idea of accountability:

Ask anyone you know who is self-employed how much they care about their work and how passionate they are about providing their customers with an exceptional experience. They believe wholeheartedly in their vision and mission; their behavior and choices are aligned with their values. They do the right thing and deliver what they promise; otherwise, their company will not be around very long. They literally own their business.  In his book, We Are All Self Employed, Cliff Hakim argues that workers eventually came to believe that those who owned their own companies were self-employed and those who worked for organizations were entitled to their job, benefits, and perks. They were not, however, self-employed. The urgent message of We Are All Self-Employed is that the “employed” attitude no longer serves anyone well. In fact, it is increasingly hamstringing our success together. A “self-employed” attitude has “emerged as the central belief for fueling your work life.” I believe that when anyone in any organization “owns it,” there is a wonderful opportunity to shift from “renter” to “owner,” which is akin to shifting from an “employed” to a “self-employed” mindset.

Today, I believe that this shift in thinking and behaving is our 911 call to action. To be accountable is to see oneself as self-employed and act as an owner. What can you create with that mindset? That is another coaching question I invite you to answer. To start, let’s do a quick “mind storming” exercise. It is engaging not just our brain but our minds. 

Let’s consider the different approaches of someone who views her/ himself as an owner at work versus someone who views her/himself as just an employee. 

I’m an OWNER	I’m just an employee
Go the extra mile	Do what’s asked/expected
Always follow rules, policies, procedures	Usually follow rules, policy
Interested in finding better ways to work	Not all that motivated to improve
Active & creative problem solver	Reluctant problem solver/Waits for others to provide the fix
Generally upbeat w/’can do’ attitude	Attitude is dependent on others/situations
Almost always part of solution	Sometimes part of the problem
Dedicated, committed (all in)	Provisionally committed
Work to see the bigger picture	Focus on j-o-b duties
The buck stops here	‘Not my responsibility’
We’re on in this together	What’s in it for me?
I’m important to the success of my organization	Does what I do each day matter?
Love to learn & grow	Will learn & grow if necessary
Coach self & others	Accept coaching (maybe)
I’m proud to work here	This is a good as any place
Do the right thing	Do the easy thing
Take an active role	Take a more passive role
Choose a winning attitude	Choose a whining attitude

  

Now it’s your turn. Which are you most days? Do you have a “self-employed” or owner’s approach to your work day? Or do you see yourself as “just an employee” with a “renter’s” attitude? Jot down any insights that you have: (NOTE: This is a free-form, no “wrong-answer” zone. Write whatever comes to mind—there is no right or wrong to this and no one need look at it but you.)

To be continued… Look for our next post, Finding Your Way To Accountability

If you're interested in developing a culture of owners within YOUR organization, my latest book, Own It!, is a great place to start.   Own It!  and it's predecessor, Take The Lead are both available for purchase on the Vantage International website.   

Click here to order a copy of Own It! today

ACCOUNTABILITY 101: Installment #1 The Accountability End Game: A Culture of Owners, Not Renters

Alex is a nice young man. He does good (but not great) work as a case manager. In other areas, his performance is pretty uneven. He is regularly tardy; calls in “sick” frequently and at the last minute; and has a habit of taking extended lunches and breaks. Others have noticed this pattern. Some, including his boss, Jerry, look the other way, because he’s such a nice guy.

Most of us know someone like this.  They “phone it in,” and drive the rest of us crazy because everyone else is left picking up the pieces to make sure his work gets done.  We would all rather work with someone like this:

Karen is an administrative assistant. As she and I walked together through her department, she stopped frequently to give directions to several lost clients. She picked up trash, straightened up chairs, and greeted her colleagues across the organization by name. I just knew she was a joy to work with, making sure her work was done well and, at the same time, helping others so that everyone around her was successful.

What’s the difference?  Karen is engaged, cares about her work, her teammates, everything about what she does. Alex, not so much.

 Karen is “leading from her seat,” an expression from the inaugural volume of my Everyday Leadership Series. Take the Lead, which means she has taken on the responsibility to be the very best administrative assistant she can be.  She is admired, listened to, and her coworkers accept her help. She gets the long-term vision of what it might be like if we all showed up as our best selves each day. And she also intrinsically operates from something even more fundamental. She understands what it means to be an owner!

Several years ago, I was facilitating an educational program when someone asked me a question about how you get someone to be fully accountable for their work. Instead of answering her outright, I asked her this provocative question: What’s the difference between someone who owns their home and rents it?

This analogy is not intended as a “put down” to owners, renters or landlords. I have owned my own home, rented my home, and I have been a landlord, and I sincerely believe that an owner has a different attitude or mindset about their home than someone who is renting. (Do you agree with me?) 

Here are some of the sentiments that I think owners often have:

“I’m proud of my property! The way that I maintain and enhance this home is a reflection on me”

“Everything that I do creates more value in the property.”

“If something needs attention, it’s on me to get that done.”

“I’m in this for the long haul.”

And these are some of the ways that renters may think:

“I’ll do what I’m obligated to do in my renter’s agreement (contract), but not a whole lot more.”

“I’m not going to live here forever, so I’m not going to improve things too much. After all, what would I get out of it?”

“If something goes wrong, I’m not responsible. It’s the owners’ problem to handle. I have his number programmed into my phone.”

It’s not hard to see where I’m going with this.  Working in the “same-old same-old” pattern of boss/employee creates a culture of renters. A person taking responsibility not only for their own position but for the overall well-being of entire organization is an owner.

Let’s revisit the two people with whom I started this post.  Karen, the conscientious administrative assistant “owns” her work.  Alex, the case manager, is a renter and unfortunately a fairly poor one at that. Alex is just doing his j-o-b so he can get his paycheck. He’s unhappy, and it shows. Karen gets that leading from your seat, coaching others around you and achieving full throttle engagement is the power and freedom that comes from

being an ‘owner’ of the organization.

What she does every day at work is more than a “j-o-b”: it fulfills her, she has purpose, and she elevates those around her as well.

This analogy should be pretty obvious. It’s the foundational idea of workplace accountability. At its core, a fully accountable culture is full of owners rather than renters!

To be continued…. Look for our next post, The Self-Employed Mindset!

If you're interested in developing a culture of owners within YOUR organization, my latest book, Own It!, is a great place to start.   Own It!  and it's predecessor, Take The Lead are both available for purchase on the Vantage International website.   

Click here to order a copy of Own It! today

Are you an OWNER or a RENTER?

That’s the provocative question that each of us must answer as, together, we roll up our sleeves and take on one of the toughest yet potentially most influential issues in our workplace today – Accountability.

Before I answer the question, let’s use the analogy of home ownership to tee up the conversation with a slightly altered version of that question. Does someone who owns their home think about it talk about it and behave toward it differently than those who are renting the property? My answer is YES!

Here are some of the sentiments that owners might have:

  µ  “I’m proud of my property. After all, it’s a reflection of me.”

  µ  “I’m in this for the long haul.”

  µ  “If something needs fixing, It’s on me to get that done.”

And here are some of the ways that most renters think;

  µ  “I’m not going to live here for too long so I’m not going to improve things too much.         After all, wat would I get out of it?”

  µ  “If something goes wrong, I’m not responsible. It’s the owner’s problem to solve.”

It’s not too hard to see where I’m going with this, is it? Team members who ‘phone it in’ each day, hold onto ‘same old same old thoughts and actions, make excuses and blame others are renters. A team member showing up as the best version of themselves each day, ready to be better and different, offering suggestions for improvement and understanding how their seemingly modest contribution adds to the success of the whole organization; well, that person is an owner!

Think about it…ownership isn’t a passive experience; it’s an active, intentional one! Owners participate instead of spectate. Each of us can ‘take ownership’ no matter what our position in the organization. And not only on our ‘good days’ – but moment by moment each day, regardless of the circumstances, the people involved, our mood or the weather.

At its core, an accountability-rich culture is full of owners rather than renters!

Accountability-rich organizations are defined by the willingness & ability of almost everyone to …

own their thoughts & emotions

own their reactions

own their behaviors

own their words

own their attitude & mindset

own their professional growth

own their mistakes/problems/solutions

In other words, they own the moment!

So, back to our original question: Are you an owner or a renter? I’ve chosen to be an owner. How about you?

Kick-start your journey to accountability - grab a copy of Leta's latest book, Own It, and it's accompanying Accountability Credo poster on Leta's website!  

CLICK HERE TO OWN IT!

A Conspiracy of Goodness at Work

The first time that I came across this power phrase—a conspiracy of goodness—was in a story about a small French mountain village, Le Chambon-sur-Lignon. During World War II, the entire town took the great risk to quietly shelter five-thousand Jews during the Nazi occupation of France. They were ordinary people, often poverty stricken themselves, doing the right thing day in and day out, not for days but for years! Not one person broke the commitment. And not one Jewish person was lost. It is said that these were a very solid, independent and simple people who ‘acted without agonizing instead of agonized without acting.’
’
Now, admittedly, the work of everyday leadership may not rise to this same magnitude or consequence; but that doesn’t mean that it is any less worthy. We too must be courageous and tenacious. And we must be committed to taking action and doing the right thing, not only when it’s easy or a ‘good hair’ day for us, but rather, day in and day out for the longer term.

What would a conspiracy of goodness look like and feel like at work? For me, it’s all about coming together and co-creating a virtuous cycle instead of the vicious cycle with which we’re more familiar. Here are some everyday ideas to kick start your thinking:

• All of us would choose to show up as capable adults at work and do the right thing throughout the day. Even when others make a different choice. That’s my express definition for accountability.
• We would all choose to be constructive rather than destructive in our relationships.
• We would all make and keep our commitment to be a good influence on our team culture and its performance.
• We would all take the risk of standing up to bullying and intolerance.
• We would all welcome new team members and help them to more easily fit in and belong.
• We would all do these kinds of things unconditionally; without expecting something in return. We would do this because we realize that doing the right thing is its own reward.
• We would all regularly discuss ‘doing the right thing’ and decide together what exactly that is in different situations.
• We would all work together to co-create a sense of goodness within our team.

And the list could go on…..

Can we actually unite, make plans and then with unswerving resolve, work collaboratively to bring about a really good result? Think about it, we probably do it in small bursts today and don’t give ourselves nearly enough credit. What if we played big and thought about it on a larger scale??


Leadership Dare

* If you find the idea of a conspiracy of goodness as intriguing as I did, then learn something more about its origins!  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Chambon-sur-Lignon

* Identify what you can do to rally your team mates together and co-create a conspiracy of goodness on your team.

A LEADERSHIP LESSON FROM MARS

I saw the movie, The Martian, shortly after its 2015 release. At the time, I thought that it was a good but not great movie. Matt Damon stars as astronaut Mark Watney on a mission to Mars. (I feel obliged to call a Spoiler Alert here. I’m about to reveal important details of the plot). He’s stranded on Mars alone when his team mates leave for the return trip to earth. He’s rescued and returns heroically to earth. And he continues his career on earth as an instructor in the Astronaut Candidate Program.

I saw the movie again recently and I still don’t think it’s going to win any awards. But… what did catch my attention was both the quantity and quality of memorable leadership moments that are tucked into this two hour film. There are the obvious ones about perseverance, resilience and MacGyver-esque innovation. All worthy topics.

But my favorite leadership lesson came at the very end of the movie, when Mark Watney gave the new class of astronaut candidates a dose of reality based leadership as he described the most important take-away from his experience on Mars. Here’s what he said: “This is space; it does not cooperate. At some point, everything’s going to go south on you – everything! And you’re going to say, this is it. This is how I end. Now, you can either accept that or you can get to work. That’s all it is. You just begin. You solve one problem; one challenge; then you solve the next one. If you solve enough problems, you get to come home.” Simple. Powerful. Brilliant.

I think this leadership lesson applies directly to you and me as we face daily challenges in our work. Ditch the drama. Stop catastrophizing. Lighten up. Be a serial solution seeker. Repeat the next day.