What would you prefer to learn about?
3 Habits of
Developing
PERSONAL
ACCOUNTABILITY
4 Habits
of Building
ACCOUNTABLE
RELATIONSHIPS
Creating the
6 Conditions of
ORGANIZATIONAL
ACCOUNTABILITY
www.menti.com
THREE HABITS of Personal Accountability
Don’t Blame
1
Blame kills
accountability
Look in the
Mirror
2
Acknowledge your
part in the problem
Engineer the
Solution
3
Fix the process,
not other people
THREE HABITS of Personal Accountability
Don’t Blame
1
Blame kills
accountability
Look in the
Mirror
2
Acknowledge your
part in the problem
Engineer the
Solution
3
Fix the process,
not other people
Blame is a virus that kills
accountable behaviours.
• Initiative
• Teamwork
• Learn from Mistakes
• Innovation
• Accepting Feedback
• Problem Solving
• Wait Until Told
• Deflect Blame
• Hide Mistakes
• Risk Adverse
• Reject Feedback
• Fight or Flight
THREE HABITS of Personal Accountability
Don’t Blame
1
Blame kills
accountability
Look in the
Mirror
2
Acknowledge your
part in the problem
Engineer the
Solution
3
Fix the process,
not other people
If you are part of the system in which
a problem was discovered,
you likely contributed to the problem.
Any time you encounter a problem,
first ask:
“How may I have
contributed to this
problem?”
THREE HABITS of Personal Accountability
Don’t Blame
1
Blame kills
accountability
Look in the
Mirror
2
Acknowledge your
part in the problem
Engineer the
Solution
3
Fix the process,
not other people
Weak leaders ask
‘Who is to blame’?
Strong leaders ask
‘Where did the system
break down?’
Notes de l'éditeur
I will call on you occasionally to ask for your perspective.
Have your phone handy. Will be doing some live polling.
Workbook
What feelings are associated with this word: more positive or more negative?
It is not blame and punishment
Society has weaponized the word accountability (politician)
Diane
What does it mean to you to “take ownership of results?”
Initiative,
Pride in work, and
Caring more about the results than your ego.
What does it mean to you to “work to improve future results?”
Completing documentation
Planning, and
Shining a light on your mistake so that others may learn from them.
Menti
What percentage of your organization consistently takes ownership of results and works to improve future results?
Does this type of behaviour ever happen in your organization?
How has this attitude manifested itself in your organization?
Low Accountability
Missed deadlines, Excuses, Defensiveness, Finger pointing, “Us” vs “Them”, Lack of trust & cooperation
High Accountability
Going out of way to assist colleagues, Requesting Feedback, Admitting Mistakes, Lessons Learned, Trust & Cooperation
What’s in the Execution Machine?
Performance Management
Incentives
You can have the smartest people and the best systems, but none of that matters if you don’t have a culture of accountability.
Accountability is the nuts and bolts of how execution works.
Three different contexts within which we can influence accountability.
How can I be a better example of accountability?
How can I hold others accountable?
How can I make it easier for my organization to take accountability and consistently get the right results?
Manager complains that nobody is picking up that box that’s been sitting by the back door all day, but he has walked past it 5 times!
Nobody will demonstrate accountability to a higher degree than their leader does.
Leaders set the standard of accountability for their organization.
If you want others to exhibit accountability, you must set a high standard and give them a model to emulate.
Here’s how…
Need to start the survey by 9:30 or skip it.
Mind-blowingly simple. Extremely difficult. They all go against our basic nature.
Blame is a virus because it is highly contagious and it kills healthy behaviours.
Accountability is the willingness to do what needs to be done and the courage to admit mistakes. No one will take the initiative or admit mistakes if they think they will be blamed for doing so.
Your first job is to eliminate blame from your organization.
Breakout Question: When was the last time you blamed someone at work. What was the result?
I know an abrasive lady. Always complaining about her three ex-husbands, her kids, her boss, and how life has been unfair to her.
I’m thinking “YOU are the source of most of your problems, but you don’t want to see it!”
Why do victims tend not to get ahead in life?
A: Give away the power to solve their problems to the people and things they blame.
Do successful people sometimes act like victims?
Yes, whenever we fail to see how we are contributing to our own problems.
Seeing how we contribute to our problems is empowering. Why?
Edwards Deming - TQM
Employee Performance Issue
Carrie didn’t take initiative. When I addressed it, she said “You give very specific instructions…
Delegating: not clarifying the WHY, not providing examples, not specifying a deadline
Chronic Headaches
I belong to a service organization.
Regional leadership asked Grant to serve as chapter president for a multi-year term. Grant was awesome.
Not even halfway through his term, Grant was asked to step down.
Despite his strengths, lead using a command-and-control style. Paid lip service to others suggestions. My way or the highway. Created a fracture in our organization.
Showed character but blamed regional leadership. Focused on their mistakes instead of how he behaved his way into that mess.
Life handed Grant a gift-wrapped leadership lesson that his ego refused to receive.
Leadership is elevating the voices of those you lead far above your own voice and listening to them with a sincere willingness to change your mind when most of them disagree with you.
Which approach do you think is our default explanation for problems?
Pilots confused the flap and landing gear handles because these typically looked and felt the same and were co-located.
Or they mixed up the locations of throttle and propeller controls because these kept changing across different cockpits.
It is far easier to change the environment than try to train human fallibility out of humans.
Systems Approach Mantra
COO social services company called. Tried the 3 habits and they work!
CEO caught a serious mistake in a press release. Written by company’s new Director of Public Affairs.
CEO asked COO if this is what they can expect from Dir Public Affairs. Smart guy.
Remembered 3 habits. “Maybe this is a process problem.”
Changed entire tone and direction of the conversation. Instead of discussing whether we had made a hiring mistake…
Leadership is taking ownership of the problem and the solution REGARDLESS of who is to blame.
As you demonstrate the 3 habits, you will become the kind of leader that others want to emulate. And they too will take ownership of results and work to improve future results.