Episode 18:A is For Accountability

Welcome to another empowering episode of the Culture Secret podcast! In this thought-provoking edition, we dive deep into the heart of workplace culture, shining a spotlight on a fundamental aspect that holds the key to success: accountability.

Join me as we uncover the transformative power of accountability in cultivating a thriving workplace environment. From small startups to large corporations, fostering a culture of responsibility and ownership is the driving force behind innovation, productivity, and employee satisfaction.

Discover how accountability not only bolsters individual performance but also enhances team dynamics, promoting collaboration and synergy. Unravel the connection between clear communication, goal alignment, and accountability, and unlock the untapped potential of your workforce.

Whether you're a seasoned leader or an aspiring entrepreneur, this episode equips you with actionable takeaways to implement accountability strategies from the ground up. Unleash the true potential of your workplace, fueling an upward spiral of excellence, and future-proofing your organization.

Join me on this enlightening journey towards building a workplace culture that inspires, motivates, and embraces accountability as the beating heart of success. Tune in now to gain invaluable insights and make your mark in the world of thriving workplaces.

**Key Topics:**
- Understanding the essence of accountability in workplace culture
- Nurturing responsibility and ownership among employees
- Communication, goal setting, and accountability: A symbiotic relationship
- Fostering collaboration and synergy through shared accountability

Don't miss this illuminating episode filled with wisdom and actionable advice that will transform your workplace culture for the better. Subscribe to the Culture Secret podcast now and be part of the journey towards building a thriving and accountable work environment. Together, let's unlock the true potential of your organization!

Thanks for listening. Grab the book the podcast is based on at https://mybook.to/culturesecrets . Check out my website www.chelliephillips.com for more great content. Follow me on LinkedIn.

Transcript

Chellie Phillips: 0:06

If workplace culture is your jam, you're in the right place. Check out this episode of culture secrets, the podcast dedicated to creating workplaces where both employees and the companies thrive. Welcome to the culture secret podcast. I'm your host Chellie Phillips. Today I want to focus on the A in my value culture formula. If you're not familiar with that value culture is a people centered workplace culture that is built around five pillars that's vision and values, accountability, leadership, the uniqueness of your people and engagement. When you focus on these five areas, you will not only create an environment your employees thrive in, but you'll also see profitability and productivity increase for the organization as well. As I said, today, I'm focusing on the A or accountability, it can be one of the hardest skills for a new manager or leader to master. Why, because accountability can't just be mandated from the top down. Each employee must develop their own self accountability throughout your culture building process for you to build strong, thriving teams as their leader, you must ensure that each individual team member knows and takes responsibility for their actions. That's easier to do if you've worked together to set the vision and values for the organization because those values determine the behaviors that are expected. But that's a conversation for another episode, many first time managers struggle with setting clear expectations for their teams. So today, I'm talking about how you can do this effectively inside the team setting. First, let's define accountability. Simply put, is the willingness to accept responsibility for one's actions. That's why it's vital that your team members understand their goal responsibilities and expectations you've set for them. Your job is to show each team member what it looks like and help them understand you will be supplying feedback on how well they're accomplishing those things before we move forward. are you demonstrating your own accountability in the workplace? Are you completing tasks that are assigned to you on time? Do you support your team when needed and help champion them to success? When you schedule meetings? Do you respect people's time by showing up prepared? Do you take ownership of problems and help find solutions? Or do you sweep them under the rug and assume the issue is being dealt with by someone else? If you had trouble answering these you need to do some individual work on accountability before moving forward with team activities. However, if you feel your accountability meter is maxed out on the positive side, then let's look at the team aspect of accountability. So how do you know if accountability is an issue on your team? One easy way to check is ask yourself Do we miss deadlines? Are we punctual is unfinished work tolerated? Are others expected to pick up teammates slack? Do we have unmet goals most team members respond well when they have a clear idea of the expectations their manager holds of them. It also helps them feel valued and connected to the outcomes when you can tie their task in with a greater mission for the organization. This clarity is an essential building block for accountability. This understanding also helps you navigate any surprises that might pop up. Team members will have confidence in you as a manager and in their abilities to tackle any unexpected obstacles when they have a clearer view of where they are headed. When you're not 100% clear on what you expect from them than the only thing they can do is start assuming and I'm sure you've heard the old saying about what assuming does to you and me seriously, without the clarity your team members will fail to ask important questions about deadlines, or getting needed information on projects because they fear your reaction, they'll spend extra time on task because they don't have the needed tools to perform effectively. And they'll multitask instead of focusing on what's important. This will slow your productivity and produce an inferior product or outcomes to the members of your team also need to understand there is accountability expectations for the team as a whole and for its individual members. As a manager, you expect your team to behave in a specific way. You have expectations on how they treat your customers or how they interact with each other. Then there's the individual expectations that change based on levels of responsibility. Gary rich with a WD 40 company shared his thoughts on accountability with me. As I was writing my book culture secrets, the first thing is to define what they're accountable for. He said, most people let people down because they haven't defined what we hold each other accountable for. Accountability is about buying into the hole, not weighing in on the pieces. Everyone must be invested and committed to a shared vision to achieve their collective goals. In my book culture secrets, I interviewed Daniel Lawrence. He's the founder and CEO of a tech startup called bots for that located in the UK. I asked him about the importance of countability and this is what he told me Every one needs to be equally accountable if they're going to succeed, we have our annual strategy and we have a quarterly plan. That quarterly plan gets very, very tangible and very, very practical. The outcome is that everyone has some part of it in delivering it. If any one of us misses we all miss is joint accountability. So much as if two of us fail. Well, guess what, we all failed. If I don't get the deals in and get them signed, it fails, and I fail, and there's no money around to go around for extra bonuses. If we don't finish projects on time. We don't get the money, and there's no money for bonuses. All these things are very collaborative, and all joined up closely. We all know that we're all got to succeed for us to all succeed. There's no I did, okay, we either all fail, or we all succeed. Accountability isn't about placing blame. It's about personal ownership taking ownership must become a discussion, even when nothing is going wrong. Too often, we only discuss accountability when there is a problem, or we're looking to place blame somewhere. That's why team members need to understand their implications and consequences for the actions they choose. If you as a leader haven't properly articulated what the consequences are for not following through, why would they take you seriously, your job as a leader is to turn accountability from a negative perception to a positive one, moving everyone to a point where they see accountability as a personal value will take time. But it can be a great tool for growth and development that will lead to overall improve business performance. Just because you tell team members to do something doesn't mean they will unless they're bought into the value that it has to them as an individual. It's also easier to receive that buy in when they say you leading by example, here's a few suggestions that you can use to show your team as their leader that accountability starts at the top and you're committed to embracing the idea of a 360 degree accountability model. First, invite feedback from others on your performance. Second, work on how you provide feedback and remember to not only provide the negative but include positive feedback as well. Three, be truthful do what you say you will do for acknowledge problems five on the situation and circumstances as well as the results and six, ask What else can I do to drive results. A fringe benefit of accountability is that it builds relationships. Accountability encourages employees to communicate with each other and their supervisors. It encourages them to get to know each other at work. And this helps build lasting relationships which helps people foster the feeling of belonging in the workplace. And this is a huge driver for culture and accountability system breaks down barriers between employees and gives them a common goal and provides time to work together in unique ways building accountability system will also serve to reinforce your vision. Accountability keeps everyone on the same page from entry level to upper management, each member should be given a clear understanding of how they can be part of the mission they should clearly understand the follow through is vital and expected. Accountability is essential in creating successful workplace cultures. When everyone has clear expectations and understands the importance of their contribution to the team's success, they're more likely to be motivated and engaged with their work and effective accountability system can help reduce conflict between employees while promoting collaboration and creative problem solving. When you have an accountable team that shares common goals, it will be easier for your organization to reach its objectives and foster an atmosphere of trust and respect among all members. Thanks for listening to this episode of the culture secret podcast. If you're like me, you want to work with people who do what they say they're going to do. I don't appreciate those who look for ways to blame others or make excuses when things aren't going their way. I prefer to work with people who show up carry their weight and contribute in valuable ways. That's accountability. It's not someone else's problem. It starts with you. It starts with me. It's about taking ownership of the ideas and actions needed to move an idea forward. After all, you're in the driver's seat, not anyone else. To learn more about building a value culture in the workplace, you can pick up a copy of my book culture secrets secrets leaders use to build a value culture on Amazon or anywhere books are sold while something hands on are more personal and booking for the first quarter of 2024. For speaking and training events. You can find information about my programs or schedule a time for us to chat by visiting my website at WWW dot Chellie phillips.com that C H E L L I E P h i ll ips.com If you liked what you heard today, please subscribe rate and share this podcast out whether your friends got comments or topics you'd like me to cover. Connect with me on social media, my favorite platforms LinkedIn, or drop me a note in the comment section. Remember building a value culture Is your competitive advantage and the backbone of any successful organization?