| | | | Accountability For Leaders Sample | What is an important issue that has been difficult for you to address and resolve with your reports, bosses or peers? For example, "I have a problem inspiring my reports to go out on a limb, use their imaginations and come up with innovative solutions for our safety issues."
Write down what in your opinion are the systemic, behavioral or emotional issues under the surface or at the root of this problem? A possible root cause can be: "Members of my team seem to be afraid to make mistakes. When they do, they either make excuses or point fingers. The past culture of our team and division was one where making mistakes and admitting them was sometimes a fatal decision."
The next question requires particular candor. For a moment, imagine that the problem you're having is only about you and comes from your own history, beliefs, fears or blind spots. Just for this moment, let go of everyone else's involvement, including all the things you think they did wrong, badly or ineffectively, and focus on you.
In the privacy of your own mind, be completely frank – nobody has to know what you're about to reveal but you. How have you been involved or complicit in causing this issue, keeping it alive or not solving it? Pay attention to whatever answer you get – it might surprise you.
You might realize that:- At some point you got your feelings hurt or felt offended in some way by someone else's actions or behavior
- You've been acting like the "wronged party" of someone or something else relative to this problem
- You've seen the problem and ineffective behaviors of the parties involved but have for your own reasons decided to ignore it or have felt reluctant or anxious to bring it up
- You've been acting angry or upset around the issue in an aggressive way that invites the others involved to duck, take cover or keep their mouths shut
No matter what your answer is, you're not alone. From hourly workers on the floor to the most senior managers in the executive suite, everyone has and acts out unconscious blind spots and must face issues they have consciously ignored. When our blind spots show up, each of us is prone to misinterpretation, ineffective behaviors and bad assumptions.
Are you ready to start unraveling the problem? Write down and consider what you've discovered about how you've caused, furthered or been complicit in this problem.
Now, what behaviors have you caused, furthered or been complicit in this problem?
What behavior and actions can you do to demonstrate to the people on the "other side" that:- You want to solve this problem;
- Are willing to be accountable for the part that is yours;
- Are willing to partner with them to create a practical, win-win solution?
The approach above demonstrates the communication competency we help leaders and leadership teams learn: How to get to the strategic root – the behavioral, systemic and emotional issues – of any problem. Everyone involved has an opportunity to become personally accountable for their part in a problem and then, choose what to do to change it. | | |
| |
| | | "In a business age marked by continual and rapid change, my heightened sense of personal accountability is the single most valuable asset I bring to work each day. I am confident that Accountable Communication will enhance the private and professional life of anyone that chooses it."
Jeremy Smith
Senior Manager; Learning Solutions, Herman Miller | | | | | Business Leaders Must Watch Out For Blind Spots | Martha Stewart took an insider's tip and sold stock to prevent a $51,000 loss. That decision cost her two years of painful public scrutiny, massive legal bills, five months in jail and hundreds of million of dollars of net worth. | | | |
| |
|
