Shine the bright light of accountability

As a leader, you need to shine a bright light of accountability on your team. What does that mean?

Well, number one, that means being crystal clear about your expectations for the company, for the team, for an individual, it means making sure you've got a crystal clear vision of the future. So everyone knows where they're going, it means you've got a crystal clear vision of short term, what are the goals everyone's aligned around, it means you're crystal clear around measurable outcomes that everyone is accountable for in their job. So shining, that bright light of accountability.

Number one is about expectations.

Number two, it's about gaining commitments, be it commitments around major initiatives that someone's accountable for or small commitments, like I'm going to have that done by next Tuesday. You need the folks on your team, not to just set goals, not to say I'll try but commit to the team make a commitment to the team about what they're going to deliver. And when they're going to deliver it. If you're not clear about that, if you don't have true commitment, then that bright light of accountability becomes pretty dim. Because how can you hold someone accountable for something that they haven't committed to?

So number one, it's about expectation, Number two, it's about commitments.

Number three, it's about actions as a result of whether someone met their commitment or didn't meet their commitment. Someone met their commitment, they should be recognized for that they should be praised for that they should be rewarded for that. They didn't meet their commitment. That difficult conversation needs to happen, that coaching session needs to happen. At some point, the hard decision about cutting the cord on someone may need to happen. But as a leader, the expectations, the commitments mean nothing.

If you're not ready to take action, on the results, the patting someone on the back action, as well as the kicking someone in the butt action. And when I find when I start working with a client, and the framework that we put in place, shines that bright light of accountability.

There are two reactions folks have to that bright light of accountability, your superstars, your A-players love that accountability. They wonder why you didn't do it two years ago, they're attracted to that they will commit more, they will get more done, they will be super motivated by that clear vision and the commitment, you're asking them for.

Your underperformers, your mediocre performers, when you shine that bright light of accountability on them, they will scatter. And what you'll find and this seems like the difficult part, but it's an important part is for some folks, when you shine that bright light of accountability down on them, they will realize that it's not the right environment for them. And they may decide to leave. In some cases, you will realize that it's not the right environment for them, and make that decision for them.

I warn my CEOs, when I first start working with a team, that they should absolutely expect that one two or three quarters down the road after we start doing our work together, that their team may look different, that there may be some people on the team right now that just don't belong.

So what are you doing, as a leader to shine that bright light of accountability down on your team to make sure you are crystal clear in your expectations that you're making sure your team is crystal clear on their commitments, and that you are deliberate and proactive in your actions as a result of how your team executes. Shine that bright light of accountability down on your team