The Metiss Group's Blog

The one personal skill that continues to differentiate success from mediocrity is personal accountability.  Personal accountability is defined as the ability to be responsible for the consequences of one’s actions and decisions.  Personal accountability is a personal skill that can be observed and developed.

A person who has a strong sense of personal accountability has an internal responsibility to be accountable; a willingness to “own up” that will be exhibited in the person’s actions.  Someone who has personal accountability will perform well even when expectations are not clear, resources are hard to find, or competition is tough.

How do leaders know if the people they are looking to hire or their direct reports have personal accountability?  Ask these questions:

• Tell me about a time when it was necessary to admit to others that you had made a mistake.  How did you handle it?
• Give an example of a situation where others had made an error or mistake and you had to take the blame for their actions.  How did you react?
• What is the worst business decision you ever made?  What made it the worst? Would knowing what you do now have helped you to avoid making that decision?
• Give me an example of a lesson you have learned from making a mistake.  What did you do differently going forward?

Leaders who understand the personal accountability capacity of each direct report will be empowered and empower others for greater success.

In 1972 at Stanford University, Walter Mischel studied a group of four-year old children and conducted the Stanford Marshmallow Experiment.  Each of the children was given one marshmallow, but were promised two if they waited twenty minutes before eating the first marshmallow. Some children were able to wait the twenty minutes, and some were not.  Mischel then studied the children into adolescence and found that those children able to delay gratification were psychologically better-adjusted, more dependable, and better students.  Bottom line: delaying gratification resulted in more success.

Good impulse control is considered a positive leadership characteristic and as psychologist Daniel Goleman indicates, an important component trait of emotional intelligence.  Leaders are under much pressure to deliver results faster and often forsake greater future success because they choose today’s immediate gratification.

We see this in leaders who hire questionable candidates who can immediately contribute over high-potential candidates needing some grooming.  We see this in leaders who choose to complete a task themselves today instead of delegating it to a developing direct report because it gets done faster.  We see this in leaders who fail to prepare a succession plan for their direct reports because it takes up too much time today and figure they’ll just deal with it later.

Empowered leaders control the impulse of today’s short cuts and experience greater success tomorrow.

One sign of a controlling leader is they become ineffective when they or their cohorts are not around to use external controls.  It’s not uncommon to hear a leader say, “I can’t go on a two week vacation, the place will fall apart if I’m gone that long.”

Going away for two weeks is a perfect way to test for empowerment; however, leaders cannot just dump and run.  Here are some actions leaders can take to ensure they and their direct reports feel confident while they are gone:

• Document the critical aspects of the leader’s position;
• Identify direct reports who are capable of these aspects (they need not all be carried out by the same person);
• Train and/or cross-train;
• Have a direct report do the aspect of the work as a trial run before leaving;
• Finally, enjoy the time away.

By empowering direct reports to perform aspects of the leader’s job while they’re gone and entrusting them to make decisions in their absence, direct reports will successfully increase trust, confidence, engagement, and productivity.  Leaders may even find that allowing the direct report to continue that work upon their return opens new options up for them.

In his book “The Shallows: What The Internet Is Doing To Our Brains”, Nicholas Carr argues that our reliance on the Internet is changing how our brains operate.  As we become more reliant on the Internet, and electronics in general, our brains are required to do less memorization and deep reading.  With facts and data being just a few keystrokes away, why tax our brains with memorization?  Why read a complete article or book, when with a few clicks several summaries and reviews give us what we need to know?

The Internet has made things much easier for our brains.  But the brain is like any other muscle and needs to be exercised or will atrophy.  Leaders must ask themselves how they are challenging their direct reports to exercise their brains.

One leader asked each of his direct reports to read the first chapter of a popular personal development book and send him a brief review of what they read and how their executive team could be more effective.  The direct reports enjoyed the exercise, the leader enjoyed the improvements, and the team became stronger.

Leaders who empower their direct reports to develop their brains will enjoy success too.

One of the most difficult decisions for successful leaders is delegating an important task.  Once the leader finally decides what to delegate, they then need to decide how to delegate.  When delegating, the leader can take a controlling or an empowering approach.  Think empowerment.

Empowerment does not have to mean surrendering control.  Effective, empowering leaders establish borders and boundaries around the delegated task. There are four areas to be established and communicated when empowering direct reports:

1. Describe success;
2. Specify restrictions (non-negotiables, budget, authority);
3. Define time frames (hours to dedicate, milestones, checkpoints/updates, completion date);
4. Identify available resources (people, information, training, processes).

Whether it’s empowering a direct report to purchase the organization’s next computer system or empowering them to plan the holiday party, leaders experience much more success when they and their direct report discuss the borders and boundaries associated with the delegated task rather than micro-managing all the details.

Students receive performance grades each three month long semester.  Public companies are required to report their performance each quarter.  Then why do most leaders review performance of direct reports annually or semi-annually?  This is particularly troublesome when studies have shown the typical leader writing a review only recalls performance over the previous six weeks.

The two biggest reasons given for avoiding quarterly reviews are: 1) leaders don’t have enough time to write the review, and 2) the performance review form is too difficult to use.  Use simple quarterly reviews for at least three of the four quarters in which the leader has the direct report fill out a one-page sheet of paper (5×7 cards work too) answering these four questions:

1.    What did you accomplish last quarter?

2.    What are you going to accomplish next quarter?

3.    How did you demonstrate our core values?

4.    What are your personal development plans?

Benefits: the leader spends little to no time writing the review, is not encumbered by any cumbersome form, and the direct report has committed to the next quarter’s expectations.

Leaders who use simple quarterly reviews to empower direct reports have more success.

Success: (noun) the accomplishment of an aim or purpose – The New Oxford American Dictionary

How do leaders know success when they see it?  In athletics, a look at the scoreboard or standings shows who’s successful.  In school, report cards indicate success.  Businesses use the balance sheet or income statement to determine success.  The pursuit of success inspires hard work, sacrifice, and a commitment to improve.  Leaders must put in measures for their direct reports’ success.

A job accountability matrix defines a job’s accountabilities and corresponding success factors.  Without measurable success factors, direct reports do not know if they have accomplished their aim or purpose.  Documented success factors inspire direct reports to work hard, sacrifice, and improve.

Some common success factors are:

• Zero voluntary turnover of ‘A’ players
• Continued reduction of processing errors
• Attended meetings on-time, prepared, and engaged
• On-going increase in add-on sales
• Weekly status reports submitted on-time and accurately
• Positive (lack of negative) customer feedback

Leaders who empower their direct reports by establishing and updating success factors experience more accomplishments.

Many companies use behavior assessments and skills testing in their selection process.  These crucial instruments assist hiring managers in differentiating among candidates and making the best hire.  However, once the offer is made and the candidate is hired, the assessment results are often filed away and rarely referenced again.

Reviewing the results with the candidate during the on-boarding phase provides them with some personal development guidance. Candidates never score perfectly on their assessments, so understanding where they scored low allows them to address their shortcomings and pursue job-specific learning.  At the very least, the new employee knows their new leader doesn’t expect them to be perfect and intends to provide support in areas that could otherwise be liabilities.

Additionally, the new hire’s direct supervisor can benefit from using the assessment results. The reports can give the supervisor tips for how to motivate and give feedback to the new hire. The results also let the supervisor know when to add support and when to stay out of the way to accelerate the new hire’s performance.

Leaders who empower their new hires and their supervisors with the new hire’s assessment results will experience more success.