Peer Accountability Exercise
One of my favorite exercises to do around accountability is called the Peer Accountability Exercise. This exercise develops the muscles that you need to not only be vulnerable yourself, but hold your other team members accountable. This exercise was inspired by Patrick Lencioni in the book The Five Dysfunctions of Team, and I do it with my private clients every six months. I recommend you do the same.
The point of this exercise is that each team leader, each and every person on that team, gives their fellow leadership team member feedback on two things: number one, what they do that adds incredible value to the organization or the team, and number two, what they do that hurts the team.
Here are the critical steps:
Sit in a circle. Sit in a circle without a desk or a conference room table in the middle. I don't know what it is, guys, but there is something magical that happens when you get out from behind the desk or the conference room table, you sit in that circle, people are automatically more open and honest with each other when they don't have that barrier in between them.
Take turns giving people feedback. “It really helps when you…” I always start with the CEO, where the CEO gets feedback and everybody goes around the room and says to the CEO, number one, "Hey, CEO, it really helps the team when you X." When you ask us key questions, when you remind us of the vision, when you spark debate to get everybody talking, and I hope you keep doing it. Now, the CEO's response to that, which is critically important, the CEO's response is, "Thank you." It's not "I agree." It's "thank you." Now, why isn't it "I agree"? Because if the CEO says I agree, and then the next person goes and the CEO just says, "Thank you," the first person says "Oh, I guess the CEO didn't agree with what I said." Sometimes you won't agree, but you're going to thank people for giving you that feedback. So you go around the room and the only answer is either thank you, or you might ask a question if you don't understand what they said.
Now, go around the room again. “It really hurts when you…” This is the harder part. "CEO, it really hurts the team when you stifle discussion. It really hurts the team when you roll your eyes like you have a tendency to do, and I'd like you to stop doing that." Now, again, the response is critical. Same thing. You could either ask for clarification if you truly don't understand, or say thank you. There's no agreement, there's no disagreement. Ask for clarification if you need it, or say thank you.
“I commit to…” Lastly, after everybody's had a chance to go around the room (and everybody should be taking notes on the feedback they're getting from everybody else), you go around the room and each leader picks one thing that they're going to commit to doing or to stop doing based on the feedback that they've got. This is critical. As you go around the room and you hear other leaders committing, you now have the right to hold them accountable. So in the next meeting, when they do the same thing they said they weren't going to do anymore, you have the right to say, "Hey, Oscar, remember you said that you were going to stop interrupting people? You kind of did it again." Or the opposite. "Hey, Stephanie, remember you said that you aren't going to roll your eyes anymore? Well, in the last three meetings we've been in, I haven't seen you doing that once, and I really want to thank you for it."