Sales Leaders Rule #23: Create a Culture of Accountability

Accountability is something all leaders want and strive for. We want our people to accept challenges and live up to those commitments that they've accepted. What we tend to find is that most people want to be responsible and expect to be held accountable but often the company environment fails to foster that.

The environment for effective accountability is the responsibility of the business leaders. It’s important to follow the process of accountability yourself so that it’s not a hypocritical “do what I say not what I do” scenario. You have to be congruent.

There are three important rules in establishing accountability.

Number one, you're probably unaware that you make commitments and don't live up to them. That's a problem because you are responsible to set the example. So every time you're in a meeting, don't leave that meeting without saying, "What commitments were made here today, including my commitments?" Write down the commitments, who made them, and timelines for completion. Then track the progress, it demonstrates to the team that leaders are serious about commitments made.

Remember the old rule, inspect what you expect. It’s important to hold yourself to a high or higher standard than the team. The team will likely be reluctant to assert accountability on the leader, so proactively say, "I committed to this. I'll have it done by this." Then behave in a way that you want your team to behave. Do you want people to aggressively pursue tasks and complete them early? Then strive to complete your tasks ahead of schedule. Do you want the team to be thorough in their tasks even outside the defined scope? Go above and beyond in what you deliver. In this way leadership is a model for what they want the team to do.

Number two, celebrate success. When somebody steps up to the plate, make sure it’s acknowledged. You might say something like, "Mary, you’re going to take on that challenge? Awesome. Listen, group. I know that everyone's got a full-time job. I appreciate that Mary is willing to take this on and let’s be sure to support her through this initiative." Help your people own their success.

Number, three, own up to falling short on commitments. Leaders are human like everyone else and it’s impossible to meet your objective all the time. But it’s important to acknowledge the shortcoming and set steps to fix the short coming. Now, what happens? Again the team will emulate the leader’s behavior. Rather than worrying about a missed commitment or, worse yet, trying to conceal it, they are more likely to proactively say "Before we start, my bad, I intended to but I didn’t get that commitment done. Here’s how I’m planning to make it right" The fact that they owned it, and have a plan to correct the situation is a sign of a culture of accountability.

Actions speak louder than words. There’s no memo saying, "We will have an atmosphere of accountability" that will overcome a leader who shirks their own personal accountability. Leaders have to be the role model for accountability by being congruent, celebrating successes, and owning up to missed commitments.