What Does Accountability Really Mean?
Lately there has been a great deal of talk about accountability but does anyone really know what it means? The word accountable means to render an account. It surely seems that’s how the majority of people view accountability, – rendering an accounting for one’s actions.
But it seems so reactive. It’s after the fact it comes about, after the damage has been done. It implies that one should have known or anticipated the potential for failure and because you didn’t you will be held accountable and punish for your lack of foresight. It’s as if accountability = punishment. Is there any wonder why people shy away from taking a leadership position?
Developing an environment where people are encouraged to act in a proactive manner where accountability is viewed the way the authors of The Oz Principle define it, “A personal choice to rise above one’s circumstances and demonstrate the ownership for achieving desired results.” Will provide the encouragement people need to view accountability as something not to fear but rather embrace. (http://tawilsonassociates.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/Ten-Steps-to-Convincing-Your-Team-That-Accountability-Isnt-a-Bad-Word.pdf)
When Messrs Connors, Smith & Hickman laid out this definition they provided us with the means to view accountability in a proactive manner, that would – hopefully – lead to people taking the initiative to move forward because they were empowered and did not have to wait to be told what to do. It’s this type of accountability that gives us the stories about Nordstrom employees, who wrap Christmas gifts for customers, bought at other stores, or how a Ritz Carlton hotel manager flew to a customer’s house to deliver a reimbursement check because their hotel laundry failed to remove a stain from the customer’s suit before he left.
To invoke this level of accountability requires a management team that encourages individuals to take ownership of the situation. To be willing to move proactively and not fall back on the common refrain, “it’s not my job.” It means that the management team must clearly lay out what they mean by accountability. It means that they demonstrate – by example – the type of accountability they expect from their direct reports.
By being exemplars of the proactive accountability they are showing they indeed know what accountability means.
© T.A.Wilson & Associates All Rights Reserved.
January 30, 2010
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New Years Resolutions or Goals Which Are Better?
Let me start out by wishing everyone a Happy New Year. I along with many others am glad to see the end of 2009. Last year was very disappointing and frustrating. I think I’m safe in saying that for much of the country it was less than a stellar year for them.
I have already talked to a number of people who are looking forward to what the new year – decade – will bring. Already I’m hearing people discuss the possibilities of change that they envision for themselves and their business. Many are cautiously optimistic about the change they see in the New Year and have made their resolutions for the New Year. Some will keep them, but many will fall by the wayside.
I don’t do resolutions. For me the entire idea of saying that one resolves to do something in itself is froth with non-compliance. I prefer goals which can be measured. Either you did or you didn’t get it done. Also, it’s much easier to get someone that will hold you accountable and when you’re accountable you’re more likely to stay on target. Keep in mind you don’t need a large number of goals, in fact I think a few well thought out and achievable goals that will cause you to stretch and get outside of your comfort zone are much better than a bunch of easy ones that are nothing more than layup shots.
Don’t get me wrong, setting an easy goal, can be the water that primes the goal achievement pump. But if all your goals are ones that are easy for you to do, well I think you may want to review them and make a few changes.
Consider setting goals in several categories, for me personally I have my business goals, development goals, personal goals, and revenue goals. Some have spiritual goals. However, since I feel very strongly that one’s spirituality is something very personal I kept those to myself and do not include them on my goal planning sheet. Each category builds on the next. For me to reach the revenue goals I’ve set I need to establish clear goals for the business. For the business to grow I need to be continually learning and developing my skills. In turn, I need to take time out for my family and myself. It’s a set of building blocks each with a set of measurements that I can review and adjust.
Here’s the key, you need someone that’s going to hold you accountable. Someone that’s going to give you the boot in the rear you need to stay on course. This individual’s sole responsibility is to check in with you to see how you’re doing and to help you make the needed course correction if you’re deviating from you program.
I suppose one could say the same for New Years resolutions. But, let’s be real, which are you more likely to take serious and really work on a resolution or a goal?
January 5, 2010
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Remember Those Who Can’t Be Home For Christmas
In a little over 72 hours it will be Christmas. As I sit at one of my favorite coffee houses it struck me that another year will soon pass and what a difficult one it has been. What’s funny is people seem to be spending what they don’t have on things to give to people that they don’t like.
All of this out of some sense of obligation, to tradition of gift giving, at Christmas time. I’ve always wondered why people have to wait till the end of the year to give family and friends gifts. I mean are the children really going to be any better, if they’re told Santa is checking the list twice?
Please don’t get me wrong, I’m not being Scrooge here, I’ve always thought about what makes this time of year more special than say the 25th of March. As an observer of people it’s really interesting watching people go through a ceremonious frenzy during the month of December. The lists, the concerns, and last minute planning that takes place, is indeed something to behold. I realize for many both Thanksgiving and Christmas are major family holidays. It’s supposed to be a time for family to come together and celebrate. But for so many getting together for the holidays are filled with trepidation, and disappointment despite what we see on the TV commercials.
However, for every family member dreading the family gathering, there is a family who wish desperately that they could be with their families. These are the children, husbands, wives, fathers, mothers, aunts and uncles who have people in the military who are in foreign lands or at sea. For these families who have loved ones so far from them wondering if they are out of harm’s way and hoping and praying that they will get to spend another holiday season with them, this time of year is extremely special for them.
At this time of year we should say a prayer of thanks that people such as these are wiling to volunteer to enter military service to stand on the wall and protect our freedom. I can’t help but believe these individuals would give anything to be home among the bickering and infighting, as it would be much safer than going out on patrol or standing guard in some remote location with only their thoughts of home to keep them comfortable.
So for those who are scrambling to get to the mall for that last minute gift, if you happen to come upon someone in uniform, walk up to them and just say “thank you.” Just two little words will go a long way in making their day.
Happy Holidays to you and yours.
December 21, 2009
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For The Love Of Coffee
My wife left me a note this morning that simply said, “Coffee maker died???” I’m guessing the question marks at the end are intended for me to provide an explanation, of which I have none. Perhaps it might have been more reflective of her mood, since she was deprived of her morning cup of coffee. Something I learned a long time ago never to get in the way of, but I’m more inclined to believe it has to do with the relative newness of this coffee maker. We’ve had this one less than six months.
I honestly don’t know what it is about the short lives of coffee makers in our house. We seem to be on the path of having to purchase one every six months. It’s not that we’re making coffee for throngs of people, we’re empty nesters. I will admit that I drink my fair share of the magic elixir. I’m reminded of a boss I had who admitted he had a coffee addiction. He once told me that he when he couldn’t sleep, he would make a pot of coffee and drink it all himself. Seem to be a bit counter productive, if your objective was to get to sleep, but I found myself understanding what he was going through.
However, I still don’t understand why we go through so many coffee makers. After all they are a relatively simple machine. You put your drip coffee in a filter place the filter in a basket, fill it with water and turn it on and wait for the magic to start, and the kitchen to be filled with the aroma of a freshly brewed pot of the elixir of the gods. To have a coffee maker die in less than six months only tells me that it was shoddy workmanship. For us it doesn’t matter what model of coffee maker we purchase, they all seem to punk out after a short period of use. There was this time when our first coffee maker crapped out, I told my wife we were having the problem because we were buying cheap coffee makers. So I took upon myself to find the one coffee maker that would be right for us and I wasn’t going to let price get in my way.
I came home with a coffee maker that not only brewed coffee it would grow and grind the beans, tell the time in five countries and whistle Dixie when the coffee was done. It was my pride and joy. I fussed and preened over this machine even though I was never able to figure out how to get it to do half the things it was capable of and was thoroughly disappointed to see it replaced by a much simpler machine. When I asked my wife why, she simply said, it sprung a leak. I didn’t believe her after all I paid good money for my top of the line coffee maker. She was prepared for my protest, she handed me a pot of water, and pointed to the machine on the counter and said pour. Knowing to argue with her never boded well for me, I meekly acquiesced and began pouring water into my coffee maker, only to see it come out at the base. My machine was relegated to the basement and subsequently the junk pile. Like the ban on my having tools, my coffee maker purchasing privileges have been revoked.
What bothers me is the short life of this recent purchase. There was a time when things would last. I remember when I was growing up my mother had a Pyrex coffee percolator. She and other people claimed it made great coffee. You can find them on eBay as collector items. There is a company called Modelco that makes glass percolators, and I found a place that sells them. I know my purchasing privileges have been revoked, but I think I still can advise and recommend. I think I’ll give it a try.
December 18, 2009
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What’s Mom Going To Say?
Tiger Woods, the world’s best golf player is in the news not for his golf game, but for possible domestic problems along with the hint of an affair.
This past weekend he had an accident outside his house at 2:30 in the morning he was injured though not seriously. Supposedly his wife knocked out the back widow and pulled him from the car. However, current reports are alleging that she was chasing him with a golf club after confronting him about the alleged affair.
So for the next several weeks we will be hearing about the alleged affair of Tiger Woods along with the possible disharmony in the Woods household. The long arm of scandal has finally reached Tiger Woods, for up till now, he has successfully kept his personal life out of the limelight. For the next several weeks he will be the discussion around the water cooler with people asking, what in the world could he be thinking. He will be the continuous topic of all the morning and evening talk shows, written about in the major newspapers and blogs, contrasted and compared to other celebrities who have had similar problems.
It’s really too bad that for the next several weeks all the work Tiger has done to keep his personal life personal may come undone with noisy and persistent reporters. The fact that he will spend time refuting accusations of marriage infidelity will be taxing on him and his family. But that may not be the most difficult issue he will have to deal with. The toughest issue he will have to deal with will be with his mother.
Can you image how he’s going to have to explain this to his mom? Even though he’s thirty-four, if he’s smart, he’s afraid of what his mom will have to say. And he should be. She’s the only one that can give him a well deserved whack upside the head to get his attention. At just about 5 feet his mom is one tough cookie, check out this picture of her holding a tiger’s head in her www.golfdigest.com/magazine/2009/05/tida lap if you notice there are other tigers around. Anyone with that kind of moxie you think she’s afraid to let her son know what she thinks about what is going on with him.
Another one bites the dust and is caught up in the salacious world of media gossip. For the next several weeks Tiger will be dodging reporters, making carefully crafted statements to the press and media, and dealing with the fallout of this incident. Time will tell if any of the accusations are true. If they are it will cost him a lot financially and his reputation will be a little tarnished. He can handle that.
I don’t think he’s all that worried about the money or his reputation as much as he is receiving the phone call from the only woman who can say, “Eldrick! What were you thinking?” A sure sign that’s he’s in deep trouble.
November 30, 2009
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What A Difference A Week Makes
What a difference a week makes. Last week the coach of the New England Patriots made a decision to go for a first down instead of punting the ball. Those of you who are familiar with the Patriots football team, you’ve seen them make this type of play many times and go on to win the game. But that wasn’t the case this time. Not only didn’t they make the necessary yardage, but they lost the game.
The response to this decision was predicable sportscasters questioned the decision, fans called for the coach to be replaced, and the players, stood by the decision of their coach.
For the remainder of the week this decision was the main topic around water coolers at work, radio talk shows and introductory remarks for those sport commentators who discuss the up coming football games for Sunday afternoon.
This past Sunday the Patriots bounced back from the lost by defeating the New York Jets a team they lost to early in the season. Last weeks lost was hardly mentioned. The home town team had won, and the previous week’s game was mentioned as something they learned from in the post game interview.
Amazing what a win will do. It diverts the attention away from the past to focusing on the present. As a leader can you find ways to use setbacks as a learning process or do you see every misstep as a reason to criticize your team? Does your team have the confidence to take risks not fearing to fail or do you make them pass everything by you for approval?
The Patriots are good because they have talented players, excellent coaches, and understand what it takes to win. They don’t dwell on their mistakes they learn from them.
Leaders, and managers, have to get comfortable with allowing their employees to make mistakes if they are going to get better. If you berate them because they make a mistake it will only cause them to become overly cautious and doubting themselves.
But it’s not just a comfort level with employees, it’s understanding that you too, will make mistakes, you will make what appears to be the wrong call. Like coach Belichick you have to stand by your decision accept what happened and move forward. You will have your moment when you believe you and your team can make the impossible happen. Why? Because you’ve done it before, and the situation you’re in is like so many others. But the measure of you and your team is not how you act when you’re always successful. It’s how you handle the setback.
As way of an example, I had a young Business Systems Analyst working for me. She was the project leader for an important project with one of our internal clients. She made a presentation of how she was going to handle her part of the project that was long on fluff and short on details to an audience that was very detailed oriented. Her proposal was soundly rejected. Fortunately she kept her wits and requested a follow up meeting where she could present a revised plan based on the information she received at the presentation.
She came to me told me what happened and asked for assistance as she had no idea where to start or how to correct the situation. She had a month to come back with a new plan or the client would hire outside help. I pulled down a copy of the newly develop company project management guide and told her we were going to make this project a textbook case using the guide.
From the start I told her it was her project and my role was one of advisor, it was up to her to identify the resources she needed, identify all the steps required for a successful completion of the project which included identifying roles and responsibilities as outlined in the guide.
As we sat in my office a couple of days before her presentation, I told her that I wouldn’t be at the presentation, she had everything she needed and if I was at the meeting they would be asking me questions instead of her. It would have been easy for me to take a more direct role, but that wasn’t my goal. I knew she had the skills and talent to be successful.
Everything turned out fine, the client told her it was one of the better presentations they had seen in a long time and it had all the information they were looking for and were comfortable in moving forward with her leading the project.
She got her win because she learned from her mistakes. Like the Patriots, people talked about the rebound she made as the project moved forward.
Indeed what a difference a week (ok a month) makes.
November 25, 2009
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For a mere $57.95 you can be the Best of Business.
Yesterday I received notification that I had received an award for being an outstanding business. Needless to say I was just a bit surprise, and very skeptical.
I mean I know that I offer value added service to my clients. But I had no idea that the Small Business Commerce Association (the awarder) even knew about me or my company. How could I be so wrong, they are ready to give me a Best of Business award, because they believed “I had achieved exceptional success in my community,” wow how did they know?
Well I checked into to this award, I supposedly won. After checking all the boxes that asked me if the name was spelled correctly, they had the mailing address correct etc. I got to the page that counted. There were a bevy of people who were also recipients of this 2009 Best of Business award. It looked like I would be in some good company. Only one problem, it would cost me $57.95 to get the plaque. They even had a combination offer of a plaque and faceted award for a mere $157.95, such a deal. Oh yes, there was a press release ready on their website “that herby grants T.A.Wilson & Associates a non-exclusive, revocable, license to use, copy, publish, stream, publicly display, reformat, excerpt, and distribute this press release.” Amazing, a plaque or faceted award or both and a ready to go press release how kind of them.
I called my friend “the sage” to let him know about my recent achievement. He listened to me and when I laughingly told him that I would have to pay to get this award, he said, “You pay for all awards, but the ones that count are from your deeds and accomplishments.” This is why I call him “the sage.”
Getting this notification, got me to thinking about how easy it is to have people think you’re more than you really are. Or that you’ve accomplishment more than you really have. I’m not being a prude here, but I feel that if one is given an award it should be – as my friend “the sage” – says through deeds and accomplishments not by the mere fact you can pay for it by giving some company your credit card number.
I know that we live in the age of instant gratification. But if I’m going to get any awards, I want to do it the E.F. Hutton way, I want to earn it. Besides buying it takes away all the fun.
November 11, 2009
Posted in: Tim's Random Thoughts 3 Comments
Can You Deliver A Message In 150 Seconds?
The other day in route to a meeting I was listening to the first CD of a box set by the Platters. For those who are wondering who or what the Platters are, they are a singing group that was very popular during the 50 and 60’s. This was during the era of what was known as doo-wop/ R&B music. Now for those who are laughing at the fact I’m showing my age, I can only say, listen to music of that era compared to what you have now, and I think you will have a better appreciation for the talent of these groups.
What is interesting about groups like the Platters, is the average play time for a song was 150 seconds or 2 ½ minutes. In that time frame, there was an introduction, body, and conclusion of the message of the song they were signing. In that short amount of time you received a clear and concise message about finding the girl of your dreams, loving the girl of your dreams, and losing the girl of your dreams. Clear focus on the message they were sending in musical format in 150 seconds.
In addition to the lyrics being sung, you received a memorable melody that once you heard a few opening strands you immediately knew the song and the artist signing it. How else do you explain people saying they can name a tune if five notes?
Every company I’ve consulted to “lack of clear communication” was part of the top five complaints employees had about management. Not surprisingly, when I asked management if they felt they were communicating effectively and on a frequent basis their response was usually in the affirmative. As often said the truth is somewhere in the middle, I would find it was the haziness of the message being sent that was often the problem.
If the message is hazy, people will try to get clarity which leads to further confusion and lack of action. The sender has a responsibility of sending a clear and focus message that can be understood by the recipients in 150 seconds or 2 ½ minutes. A message that people can say, “I can name that message if five words.”
As leaders, can you deliver a message of importance in 150 seconds? Can members of your management staff convey clear and concise messages to employees in a 2 ½ minute time frame?
When you are meeting with people do they leave the meeting clearly understanding what they are suppose to do and how they are suppose to do it, another way of saying this, what they are accountable for? Or is it necessary to have follow-up meetings to clarify what was said in the first meeting?
For those of you, who are leaders, managers, and supervisors, the next time you have to speak to your people, see if you can convey what you have to say clearly and concisely in a 150 second time frame. If you need some help, go out and buy the Platters Greatest Hit Box Set. It’s a great example of how to deliver a message in the suggested time frame, and you’ll have some great music as an added bonus.
October 22, 2009
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Welcome To My Blog
Welcome to my Blog. What I hope to accomplish with this blog is to share some of my thoughts, ideas, criticisms, complaints about the world of consulting. Some one I admire said: “There are too many blogs from too many people. Most are dull and self-aggrandizing.” I’m going to try not to fall into the category of being dull, however, I can’t promise that I won’t do a little self-aggrandizing, I mean after all I’m a consultant that’s what we do.
I have yet to write a book but that’s not to say it won’t happen, it’s just to point out that if you’re looking for my book you won’t find it. I will share with you some ideas I’ve learned during my 30 years working – it’s really longer but just telling you I’ve worked for 30 years you already think I’m older than Methuselah – I’m not.
My goal of this blog is simple, to share with you what I’ve learn working inside the corporation, and working for myself for the past 10 years, and life lessons that I continue to learn. By the way the person I mentioned in my opening paragraph is Alan Weiss. He is at the top of his game and you should check out his blog.
Some simple guidelines:
For now I will be acting as the administrator until I can find someone else crazy enough to do it. My intent is to publish two new, brief articles every week. One will be on leadership. The other may be on whatever I find interesting or that may be ticking me off at the moment. For the moment comments will be limited to selected posts. I will eventually open all posts up to comments.
- I believe in debate that will move the conversation along. But I will not engage in any name calling, or anything that I feel is in bad taste.
- I’m not a prude but bad language is verboten.
- Be nice to each other.
- If you want to engage in bad behavior you will be removed from this blog.
That’s it for the guidelines, I don’t want to have anymore than the ones you are reading about right now.
October 13, 2009
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When More Than Operational Skills Are Needed
In two posts I wrote about the elephants dancing over at Bank of America. The recent upheavel over Ken Lewis announcing his retirement could have have been avoided with a process known as succession planning. Well check out this recent NY Times Business article by Joe Nocera.
October 3, 2009
Tags: Accountability Posted in: Accountability, Leadership No Comments
