Fake accountability throws leaders off and derails team members careers if we don’t recognize it and address it in the moment. There’s a simple word that a team member can use in a discussion that lets me know that they aren’t taking full responsibility in a situation. The word “but”.
Anytime that word gets used in a sentence I can throw out the statement that was made prior to this as the team member is revealing what they really think about the situation in the words that follow but.
If we want to be leaders who exhibit and uphold total accountability in our business or organization there are a couple of things that we can improve on.
- Minimize our ego. Issues that team members experience aren’t about us.
- Listen. Remove your agenda from the situation so that you can ask good questions. Waynes World 2 gives a great example of how not to listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8aXqgoiVb8E
Creating total accountability isn’t easy. It requires commitment and the ability to listen to subtle queues around when someone isn’t taking full accountability.
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