“Accountability” is a big buzz word today. Many politicians use it to attack or defend some government entity or person. People want to “hold someone accountable” for whatever perceived wrong they see. And we, as leaders, are told to hold our team accountable for the outcomes of their work. On the surface, these seem very reasonable.

However, in many of these situations (I could argue “most”), it is completely inappropriate to hold someone accountable. Why is that?

Here is the #1 reason why you should NOT hold someone accountable: It is because you have never told them what they are being held accountable for!

I have heard so many times from leaders that their people should “know” what is expected of them. Why should they “know” this? What have you done to make it clear to them what is expected? Many times, the answer is, “It is obvious!” And they are right; it is obvious to the leader. But in reality, their team has no clue about this so-called obviousness.

I often mention in my posts both good and bad leaders I’ve worked for in the past. As I think back on them, for the most part, the leaders I loved to work for had this in common; I knew exactly what was expected of me, which also means I knew when I met, or failed to meet, their expectations.

On the other hand, those leaders that I really didn’t like working for would get on my case for not meeting their expectations but without making clear to me what those expectations were. In fact, if I happened to have met them, I wasn’t usually recognized for that accomplishment either. So, in a way, this ended up being a lose-lose scenario for me. If I met them, there was no acknowledgement of doing that, yet if I failed to meet them, I was reprimanded. No wonder I didn’t like working for them! In fact, just writing this is getting my blood pressure up!

This has become a pet peeve for me. I most assuredly know that we are not perfect human beings; we all make mistakes. But too many leaders I run across expect too much of their team too many times. By “too much,” I mean that they expect their team to do things that the team has never been informed that they are expected to do. This kind of activity is extremely frustrating to people. If you have a high turnover rate at your workplace, perhaps this is a key contributing factor.

Good and great leaders, the leaders people love, have this in common; they set high expectations for their team, but their team is completely aware of what those expectations are and what results are expected. The team does not have any question about what to do; everything is crystal clear.

How is this accomplished? The great leaders communicate in a clear way what needs to be achieved. They then follow up by asking questions of the individual or team about what has just been communicated. They check for understanding to be sure all is clear to everyone. They ask the individual or team to repeat back what they understand the expectation is to be sure it is understood. If any of this goes amiss, they make a new effort to clarify what needs to be clarified.

The bottom line is this: it is the leader’s responsibility, not the team’s, to make sure all is understood clearly.

But here is an interesting outcome of this bottom line; the individuals on the team that take the responsibility on themselves to understand clearly what you’re asking by querying you about what is expected are the ones who will be your best future leaders. Be on the lookout for them, not as competition, but as people who will help you be a much better leader.

Finally, I need to make clear that there is a difference between high expectations and impossible expectations. You want to be sure that the expectations you set are high and challenging for people; the truly great teams love to be challenged. At the same time, setting impossible expectations just defeats people no matter how accomplished they are. The expectations you set for people must be realistic in that people can achieve them, but do not make them too easy to achieve.

If you remember nothing else from this post, please remember this: You cannot hold someone accountable for something which you did not make clear to them that they were being held accountable for!

In June, our topics address two very important themes for leaders. First is The Leader’s Mindset. How can you be the best leader you can possibly be? And the second is Developing Effective and Devoted Employees. Aren’t these subjects extremely important to us as individuals as well as to our organization? Register here by June 12. 

If improving your leadership team’s skill set is important to you, let’s talk for 30 minutes and I’ll help you figure out what to do about it. To schedule a time to talk, call 720-515-8081 or email john.reeb@crestcom.com.