The Metiss Group's Blog

Of the 23 personal talent skills we measure, the mean ranking for personal accountability is last – 23^rd.  Perhaps our society has simply accepted the weak behavior trait and essentially enabled it.  You do not need to accept it and you can actually encourage and develop your direct reports’ personal accountability.

To instill greater personal accountability:

1. Establish clear expectations and milestones with each direct report with their input.
2. Be certain to follow-up at the designated milestones for discussions about being on-track toward the ultimate goal.
3. If your direct report is falling off track, NEVER simply move the deadline without serious consideration of the behavior you’re reinforcing.
4. NEVER ask how you can help (that simply allows your direct report to delegate up!).  Instead ask, “What obstacles do you need me to remove or what additional resources do you need to get yourself back on track?”

With this empowering approach you are communicating your confidence that your direct reports are capable of getting themselves back on track.  You’re allowing them to come up with plausible solutions, and you’re encouraging them to experience success in achieving what you both thought reasonable at the onset.

Empower your direct reports by holding them accountable for their commitments; then watch their personal accountability increase, and their achievements multiply.

This entry was posted on January 16, 2011 at 1:57 pm and is filed under Leadership, Performance Acceleration. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site.