Feb 27 Add Accountability to Boost Productivity
Want to rack up higher performance numbers this year? Start by making each member of your team more accountable and result-oriented.
Unfortunately, we live in an era when accountability is in short supply – whether it’s in Congress, on Wall Street, or in the board room. But how would you possibly run your business if you didn’t have bookkeeping and visible, understandable accounts? You would be throwing darts at the target blindfolded, making important decisions while in the dark. Guess what? That’s how your team feels when you don’t provide accountability feedback and metrics.
Are you timid about elevating expectations? Don’t be! That’s what inspires passionate engagement and personal investment! When people meet or exceed heightened expectations they feel great about themselves. Still, some leaders are shy about insisting on accountability, afraid that they will be perceived as too demanding. But you’ll discover that the opposite is true as long as you do it while providing necessary support and guidance.
People want structure, consistency, and recognition for a job well done – and they appreciate leaders who articulate their vision. Team assignments are no longer a potential source of resentment or backbiting, because nobody on that kind of team thinks they are carrying the load for somebody else.
When you lead that way everyone acknowledges their unique role and sees it in the context of a valuable, irreplaceable contribution. Running a team is just like running a business – it just happens on a smaller scale. Make yours accountable and your leadership will be more effective, insightful, and successful.
So will the development of those who serve on your team. You’ll have an accurate understanding of how to take them to their next stage of career development, because you’ll know exactly where each of them stands in terms of their skills, achievements, and potential weaknesses. Meanwhile you guide your whole team to a higher level of collaboration and measurable productivity. Success inspires success, and your insistence on accountability will also naturally boost morale.
Look around the room and ask yourself, do you have a specific contract of accountability with each individual on your team? Likewise, do they know the concrete ways in which you are committed to being accountable to them as their designated leader? Find the answers to those questions to unearth golden nuggets of leadership wisdom to accelerate your value to your team members, clients, organization, and industry.
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Sarah Hathorn is a leadership development mentor, executive presence coach, image and branding consultant, public speaker & author. She is the founding CEO of her own successful company, Illustra Consulting, and the creator of the proprietary Predictable Promotion™ System.
1-800-267-3245 | www.illustraconsulting.com
Copyright © 2013, Sarah Hathorn, AICI CIP, CPBS
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Sarah Hathorn, CEO of Hathorn Consulting Group, is the go-to-expert in working with leaders and companies to create successful corporate DNA. As an executive coach, consultant and speaker she collaborates globally with clients and brands such as Deloitte, McKesson, Kimberly-Clark, Sherwin-Williams, Home Depot and other leading organizations.
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