Project Management – Page 6 – thoughtLEADERS, LLC: Leadership Training for the Real World

Providing Feedback to Your Team Members

September 27, 2023/1 Comment/in Business Toolkit, Career, Leadership, Project Management, Strategy /by Trevor Jones

By following this feedback model, you can remove emotions from your feedback conversations and help your people focus on improving their performance instead of getting defensive.

If we want people to improve, we have to give them feedback. Now, feedback can be really difficult because we feel like, “Maybe I might hurt their feelings, or I have to share an uncomfortable conversation, or I’m telling somebody who I really like and respect that they’re falling short in some regard.” So we avoid feedback, but that’s a huge mistake—especially as the leader of a high performing team.

I’d like to offer an example of a feedback model that can remove the emotion from it and help people focus on improving performance versus getting defensive. The model goes like this:

First, you’ll ask for permission to give somebody feedback and ensure, at that moment, that they’re open to receiving it. Their head may not be in it. They may have come out of a tough meeting or they’re in a rush to go to their next meeting, so making sure they’re ready to receive feedback is critical.

Next, they should let you know that they’re open to receiving that feedback. The next step really matters a lot in terms of removing the emotion from it. You’re going to offer a fact-based observation of something you saw them do, and then confirm that they know it happened so that you’re operating from a common base of fact. They should then confirm to you that they recall the event.

Then you need to let them know, “This is how that made me feel. This is how we that event impacted me. Or, this is how that event impacted somebody else on the team.” Then ask, “Can you see why your behavior impacted me that way?” Hopefully, they can then understand why you felt that way and put themselves in your shoes.

Now comes the request for change. Let them know specifically what behavior you want them to demonstrate going forward and ask them for their commitment to that behavior. Hopefully, they’ll commit to making that behavioral change. Then you thank them for being open to that feedback and for committing to the change, and ideally even offer them, “Let me know how I can help you make these changes if there are things I can be doing differently to support you.”As we walk through this feedback model, hopefully I’ve removed emotion from the conversation and helped them focus on a specific behavior and a specific change that’s delivered in a very non-threatening way.

As you think about providing feedback to your people, I encourage you to follow this feedback model and see how it goes.

Want to learn more about building high-performing teams? How about taking an entire course on it? Check out the video below to learn more about the course and get started. Or you can go directly to the course and start learning how to build high-performing teams. The entire course is available at LinkedIn Learning. Enjoy!

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Resolving Your Team’s Conflicts

September 13, 2023/0 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Career, Leadership, Project Management, Strategy /by Trevor Jones

Your job as a leader is not to mediate conflicts and be a referee. Instead, you need to teach the members of your team how to resolve conflicts with one another.

More often than not, high performing teams operate in high pressure environments. And many times on a high performing team, you have some strong personalities at play. When you combine pressure plus strong personalities there are plenty of opportunities for conflict between the members of your team.

Your job as a leader is not to mediate those conflicts and be a referee. Instead, you need to teach the members of your team how to resolve those conflicts with one another. It’s going to help them build relationships, ultimately it will build their interpersonal skills, and it keeps you from having to dedicate a significant amount of time and energy every time somebody has a conflict with another member of the team.

Your job, when there’s conflict, is first to recognize it. Identify when you have team members who are butting heads and figure out what the root issue is. Then you should suggest that they go figure it out and come back to you when they’ve developed a solution on their own. Hopefully if they’re really high performers they can go in a room, hash it out, come up with a solution that will be acceptable to both of them.

However, there will be certain opportunities that you’re going to have to take advantage of to get involved in it and teach them how to resolve conflict better. When you do so, first sit them down and acknowledge the conflict. Hey look, I know you have a problem with this perspective that the other individual has. Get to the root of the issue and focus on the facts. Here are the facts, let’s remove the emotions from it. What do we disagree on? Then have them define a goal for resolution and what the desired behaviors should be in terms of how they perform with one another. Drive it to the level of specific behaviors where they had points of difference with one another. And then, teach them how to give constructive feedback to one another going forward so they can apply it in their day-to-day conversations with each other.

There will be times where they won’t be able to resolve the conflict on their own. And in those situations you’re going to need to mediate that conflict, but this is a last resort. If they can’t resolve the issue, talk them through the resolution but do so one step at a time. Don’t just jump to the end and say, I know what the answer is, here’s my decision, go make it happen. Because you’re not building their skills in doing so. Instead, talk them through it. Okay, what’s the issue? And have them describe it and have them figure it out. And then ask, what are the emotions that are involved here and why are those emotions coming up? And they’ll talk through that. Then ask them, how are those emotions getting in the way of a resolution?

So for each step of that conflict resolution process, all the way through identifying alternatives and desired behaviors, and then coming to a decision they can live with, you should walk them through that conversation rather then just giving them the answers. At the end, when they’ve identified a solution that’s acceptable to both of them, get their commitment to resolving the issue that way and more importantly set expectations that the next time there’s conflict between them, that they go through this process on their own, before they involve you to mediate the conflict.

By doing so, you’re going to build their skills and their capabilities, you’ll spend less time mediating conflict going forward, and your team members will be able to focus more on execution than arguing.

Want to learn more about building high-performing teams? How about taking an entire course on it? Check out the video below to learn more about the course and get started. Or you can go directly to the course and start learning how to build high-performing teams. The entire course is available at LinkedIn Learning. Enjoy!

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Giving Authority and Responsibility to Members of Your Team

September 6, 2023/0 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Career, Leadership, Project Management, Strategy /by Trevor Jones

Members of high performing teams are going to be the most satisfied when they feel like they can have an impact on the outcome of their work.

Members of high performing teams are going to be the most satisfied when they feel like they can have an impact on the outcome of their work. To get to that point you need to understand the difference between accountability and responsibility and how authority interplays with both of them.

Accountability is an external force. That’s where somebody tells you, “You are responsible for these results and I am going to hold you accountable to meeting them. If you meet them, there are benefits and if you fail to, there are consequences.” Responsibility is when we as individuals hold ourselves accountable. We find that inside and say, “Here’s the standard and I’m going to make sure that I achieve that goal.”

Making sure that people are able to be satisfied in performing those activities requires you, as the leader, to give them authority. Authority is the power to make decisions. It requires you to delegate and accept risk if someone makes a mistake. It empowers people to give them authority and it makes them feel like, “Hey boss, you trust me. You’re letting me make these decisions where I’m accountable for the results.” It’s really unfair to hold someone accountable for a result if we don’t give them the authority to impact the outcome.

At one point in my career, I was responsible for making acquisitions for our division. We would buy companies that were out in the marketplace and try and grow our business unit in doing so. My boss said to me, “You have to do this many deals a year and we need this type of financial return. You’re going to be measured on your performance on how well those deals go. Whatever you have to do to make that deal happen, you are empowered to make those decisions.”

Now the critical piece of this was my boss gave me the authority to impact those decisions. There was one deal that came up where it was pretty contentious between us and the person we were trying to purchase the business from. I personally got to negotiate with this other business owner. I tried multiple different deal structures. I offered certain things and in return asked for others. I was able to negotiate the entire deal, but my boss had empowered me to make those trade-offs and make those decisions.

Ultimately, I was able to hold myself responsible for the performance of that deal. The deal went well, but more important that than was I felt like my boss trusted me. I felt like I had the ability to control the outcome of my work. I probably worked harder on that deal than I’ve worked up to that point in my career because I was excited about it and I owned the result.

As you think about your people and what you hold them accountable to in terms of metrics and performance, you have to be willing to give them the authority to make those decisions. Because if you don’t, it’s unfair to hold them accountable for the result when they can’t affect that result with the decisions that they make. That empowerment is going to be the key to their satisfaction with their work.

Want to learn more about building high-performing teams? How about taking an entire course on it? Check out the video below to learn more about the course and get started. Or you can go directly to the course and start learning how to build high-performing teams. The entire course is available at LinkedIn Learning. Enjoy!

Did you enjoy this post? If so, I highly encourage you to take about 30 seconds to become a regular subscriber to this blog. It’s free, fun, practical, and only a few emails a week (I promise!). SIGN UP HERE to get the thoughtLEADERS blog conveniently delivered right to your inbox!

Empowering the Members of Your Team

August 30, 2023/0 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Career, Leadership, Project Management, Strategy /by Trevor Jones

For you to get the most out of the members of your high performing team, you need to empower them.

For you to get the most out of the members of your high performing team, you need to empower them. Remember, on a high performing team, those team members are typically very self-motivated, and they like being self-directed. You need to understand how letting go of your agenda, creating space for them to flourish, and then accepting that there are different ways of doing things is going to bring out the best in your people. Setting direction is critical for those people, but then as the leader, you need to get out of the way and let them run.

I like to use what I call a concept of lanes where you set a direction for a team member. Say the goal is here, and here are the boundaries within which you can operate. But it’s up to you to decide how you get from here to that goal. You’ll also need to accept, if you’re giving them those lanes, that there are different ways of doing things. A team member may take an approach that you fundamentally disagree with. The measure of a good leader is being willing to step back and say, “Hey, I think you might be going the wrong way. Here’s a different way to think about it. But ultimately, it’s up to you how you want to proceed, and the goal is the same. Let me know what you need from me to be successful.” You have to let go of that agenda and give them the resources, then get out of their way.

I had a great leader I worked for at one point when I was in the army. He was my company commander. He had very specific ways that he wanted to deploy our unit. He would make no bones about it and say, “This is what I want you to do, here’s the map, here’s the route I want you to follow, and here’s what I think will get us the best results.” But what was great about him was he would then say, “I understand when we hit that line of departure, I no longer have control. And you know what the objective is and I want you to go out and achieve it. And if you see a different and better way to achieve it, I’ll support you in that. Now, here are the rules of engagement, and don’t do anything outside of them, but ultimately, it’s up to you how you perform.”

Now there were times I was right and everything worked out great. Even though I didn’t follow my commander’s plan exactly, we got a good result. There were also plenty of times that I made mistakes. I took a course of action that was different than what my company commander told me to take and I learned from it. We had those learning moments because we were able to explore and learn what does and doesn’t work.

So as you think about the members of your team and trying to get the best out of them that you possibly can, take a minute and set a direction, think about the boundary conditions, and then let them go and see what happens.

Want to learn more about building high-performing teams? How about taking an entire course on it? Check out the video below to learn more about the course and get started. Or you can go directly to the course and start learning how to build high-performing teams. The entire course is available at LinkedIn Learning. Enjoy!

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Being a Net Exporter of Talent

August 23, 2023/0 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Career, Leadership, Project Management, Strategy /by Trevor Jones

You can either hoard talent on your team or you can develop it and export it. If you’re a net exporter of talent, there are huge benefits both to the broader organization as well as your individual team.

Some of the strongest leaders I know are what I call net exporters of talent. You can either hoard talent on your team or you can develop it and export it. If you’re a net exporter of talent, there are huge benefits, both to the broader organization as well as your individual team because you’re bringing people in, building them, helping them grow, and then sending them off to new roles outside of your team.

So, let me tell you what it means to be a hoarder of talent. The way the cycle works is: That leader hires somebody and brings them into their team. That individual performs well and they grow and eventually, they become a high performer on that team. But then, the leader fears losing that person because they’re critical and they start discouraging that person from moving elsewhere, which is very selfish from the leader’s standpoint. Ultimately, that individual gets frustrated or they get bored with the role they’re in and they start becoming a poor performer. Their morale drops or they leave the company and go take on a bigger role, something that’s more challenging on a different team outside of the organization.

And then, even worse, that individual might start discouraging other people from joining that leader’s team, saying things like, “Well, you don’t want to go to that team because it’s a dead end. You’ll get there and you won’t grow. You won’t be given new opportunities and you won’t develop.” And ultimately, what happens is the high performers start leaving and that leader is then left with B players and C players who are comfortable where they are. All the great talent eventually flees that team and that leader has a really difficult time finding new people to come into the organization. The negative spiral continues.

Let me offer what it means to be a net exporter of talent. The way the cycle works is: The leader hires somebody to come onto the team. That individual performs well and they grow and they become a high performer in the organization. The leader steps back and says, “Wow, this person’s doing great and they’re running out of head room. They’re running out of challenges to grow and expand.” So, I have to do one of two things as that leader. I either need to expand the individual’s role and their scope on my team or if I don’t have the ability to expand their scope, I should find them another role but within my company because I want to retain that talent within the broader organization.

I then send that individual out to the new role that I’ve helped them find and that I’ve advocated for and they go into that next role and they become a high performer there. They start speaking highly of that leader who’s the net exporter because that leader helped them find that great new role that they’re very excited about. Then new talent within the rest of the organization starts hearing that if you go to that team where that leader is an exporter of talent, you’re going to have some great opportunities. The roles there will enable you to grow and expand your capabilities. Many times, even people outside of your company hear that that team is a destination for growth and development.

The great thing that happens for that leader who is a net exporter of talent is that leader never has a shortage of people seeking roles on their team and the members of the team are actively engaged and growing and contributing first to that leader’s team, but then to the broader organization as they move into new roles. And the leader is also helping those other parts of the organization improve their overall performance because that leader is sending great people out into other corners of the company where they can be high performers in that next role.

Want to learn more about building high-performing teams? How about taking an entire course on it? Check out the video below to learn more about the course and get started. Or you can go directly to the course and start learning how to build high-performing teams. The entire course is available at LinkedIn Learning. Enjoy!

Did you enjoy this post? If so, I highly encourage you to take about 30 seconds to become a regular subscriber to this blog. It’s free, fun, practical, and only a few emails a week (I promise!). SIGN UP HERE to get the thoughtLEADERS blog conveniently delivered right to your inbox!

Using Incentives to Drive Accountabilities

June 14, 2023/0 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Leadership, Project Management, Strategy /by Trevor Jones

The better you’re able to clearly communicate your team’s accountabilities and the corresponding incentives, the more likely you are to drive the behaviors that you want.

Once you’ve defined what people are accountable for, you need to drive their behaviors. Incentives are a very powerful way for doing so. Leaders can create incentives for people who over-deliver on their accountabilities. Things like bonuses or promotions. You can also use punishment or disincentives when people fail to live up to those accountabilities.

Allow me to offer an example. When I was part of an operating division of a large corporation, we knew very clearly what we were accountable for. We had revenue targets and customer account targets. One year we missed our numbers and we didn’t get a bonus. It was extremely frustrating. Now we knew exactly why. We knew what the metric was and we fell short. But it was really difficult watching our colleagues in other divisions get big bonuses that year because they met expectations.

Now the next year, again, we knew what we were accountable for. The numbers were clearly spelled out and we exceeded our numbers and got a huge bonus that year. So the incentives worked. It drove the right set of behaviors. Additionally, in that situation, individuals could still get merit increases based on their own performance of their specific accountabilities. So even in the year where the division didn’t get a bonus, we did have people who had done a great job and they did receive extra incentives.

There are different ways to create incentives, as well. It doesn’t always have to be money. Sometimes you can give people visibility. Put them in front of senior management and let them present. That would mean a lot to them. Or, send them to a training course. Help them build a new skill. Let them work on a project they’re very excited about. Sometimes just a simple thank you note can go a long way in creating the right incentives.

As you look at your team and look at driving accountability and driving the right set of behaviors, review what your people are accountable for. Lay out those metrics in a very clear and concise way. And then help them understand that if they meet that metric or exceed it, they get a reward. And if you miss it, here’s the consequence.

The better you’re able to clearly communicate those accountabilities and the corresponding incentives, the more likely you are to drive the behaviors that you want.

Want to learn more about building accountability into your culture? How about taking an entire course on it? Check out the video below to learn more about the course and get started. Or you can go directly to the course and start learning how to build accountability into your culture. The entire course is available at LinkedIn Learning. Enjoy!

Did you enjoy this post? If so, I highly encourage you to take about 30 seconds to become a regular subscriber to this blog. It’s free, fun, practical, and only a few emails a week (I promise!). SIGN UP HERE to get the thoughtLEADERS blog conveniently delivered right to your inbox!

Give Your Teams the Resources They Need

May 31, 2023/0 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Leadership, Project Management, Strategy /by Trevor Jones

The better you’re able to get your teams what they need to succeed and communicate clearly the incentives and the metrics that you’re measuring, the higher the likelihood that your team is going to be successful.

Leaders are accountable to a lot of people, including the members of their team. They need to make sure that they provide the team the resources they need to deliver on their own goals. Those resources include time, money, approval of initiatives, visibility with senior management, support for whatever the initiative is, and knocking down obstacles.

A leader’s job is to help the team be successful, and it’s unfair for that leader to ask for results without giving the team the resources they need to succeed. Leaders must also be held accountable for setting their teams up to succeed. Leaders need to face the same consequences if they fail to deliver. If the team fails, the leader has failed, and incentives should follow. Now, if the team succeeds, the leader has succeeded, and everybody should get the right bonus and reward that goes along with that performance. Ultimately, a leader is going to build trust between themselves and the members of the team by showing that everyone is in it together.

When I worked for a large financial services firm, we made sure that incentives were aligned at all levels. My boss, one year, was signed up for a $500 million goal. My part of that goal was $100 million. Then we broke that down on my team, and different teams had 30 million or 10 million or 20 million, and it all added up to my 100, which contributed to my boss’s 500. We were all very clear on what we had to deliver. We also understood what the consequences were if we failed and what the rewards were if we exceeded. Fortunately, we had a great year and everyone on the team got a great bonus because we hit our accountabilities.

So, for you as a leader, assess what your team is accountable for and ask them what resources they need to be successful. Then ensure that they have it. If they need budget, go get them budget. If they need you to knock down an obstacle, get to it, because the more you’re able to give them what they need, the higher the likelihood that they’re going to be successful. Next, review the goals and incentives, and make sure they roll up. Everybody’s goals should drive toward the same set of outcomes, and everyone should know, “If we hit our goals, here’s the reward, and if we miss, here are the consequences.”

The better you’re able to get your teams what they need to succeed and communicate clearly the incentives and the metrics that you’re measuring, the higher the likelihood that your team is going to be successful.

Want to learn more about building accountability into your culture? How about taking an entire course on it? Check out the video below to learn more about the course and get started. Or you can go directly to the course and start learning how to build accountability into your culture. The entire course is available at LinkedIn Learning. Enjoy!

Did you enjoy this post? If so, I highly encourage you to take about 30 seconds to become a regular subscriber to this blog. It’s free, fun, practical, and only a few emails a week (I promise!). SIGN UP HERE to get the thoughtLEADERS blog conveniently delivered right to your inbox!

How to Reinforce a Culture of Accountability

May 24, 2023/0 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Leadership, Project Management, Strategy /by Trevor Jones

Your culture is an important asset, and you need to curate it every single day. Look for opportunities to reinforce the behaviors you want to see.

It’s not enough to just build a culture of accountability. You have to strengthen it and reinforce it every single day.

This is about the small behaviors adding up to that broader culture. The organization is going to behave in a manner based on what it sees punished or rewarded. If people see others covering things up or laying blame, and see those people getting ahead or even promoted, then people are going to behave in a manner consistent with that.

On the other hand, if they see that people are stepping up and accepting responsibility, and those behaviors get rewarded, people will behave that way. If people take responsibility for problems and say they’ve made mistakes, and that’s held up by management as, “This is great behavior,” people will behave that way as well.

You need to reinforce your culture every single day. Look for creative ways to do so. When I was a consultant, we had Firm Values Day. We would take all of our consultants off of client work for a full day, which was extremely expensive for the firm. And for that one day we would talk about our values. People would share examples of when they saw the values in action, or they would talk about when they violated the values and what they did to fix it.

Think about your organization. Are there opportunities to include conversations around the values and the culture in progress reviews? Can you use it as a lunch and learn topic? Or at your staff meetings? When people get promoted, hold up those opportunities to say, “This person did great work. They’re living up to our culture. This is what we believe in. This is what we want.” Others will look at that and say, “That person got promoted based on those behaviors. I want to behave the same way.”

Your culture is a very important asset, and you need to curate it every single day. So look for those opportunities to reinforce behaviors to drive a culture of accountability.

Want to learn more about building accountability into your culture? How about taking an entire course on it? Check out the video below to learn more about the course and get started. Or you can go directly to the course and start learning how to build accountability into your culture. The entire course is available at LinkedIn Learning. Enjoy!

Did you enjoy this post? If so, I highly encourage you to take about 30 seconds to become a regular subscriber to this blog. It’s free, fun, practical, and only a few emails a week (I promise!). SIGN UP HERE to get the thoughtLEADERS blog conveniently delivered right to your inbox!

Strengthen Your Brand with a Culture of Accountability

May 17, 2023/0 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Leadership, Project Management, Strategy /by Trevor Jones

Your brand is one of your most valuable assets, and a culture of accountability can help you protect it.

Your brand is one of your most valuable assets, and a culture of accountability is going to help you protect it. A brand is a promise, and you need to remember who you’re ultimately accountable to. Ignoring that bond of trust between you and that final accountable party, whether it’s a patient or a customer, is going to damage your brand. This comes out a lot during a crisis situation. How you handle crises or shortfalls can make or break your brand, and a culture of accountability is what’s going to drive the behaviors in those situations.

For example, Johnson & Johnson had an issue with Tylenol. Some of the pills had been tampered with. Rather than sitting there and figuring out are there specific markets or types of packaging that have been tampered with, they just said “We’re accountable to our customers.” They pulled all the product off the shelves despite the huge negative financial implication of doing so, but by taking that action decisively, they strengthened that brand and that bond of trust between them and consumers.

Contrast that with the auto industry. Many times in the auto industry, we’ve heard of safety issues with a vehicle being covered up or ignored because the manufacturers knew it would have a large financial cost to do a recall. Eventually, it always came to light. People found out, and that bond of trust was broken between the manufacturer and the driver, and ultimately, it damaged that brand.

Contrast that with another auto manufacturer, Tesla Motors. They had an issue that was a safety concern. They immediately looked at it and said, “This is a problem. Let’s recall the vehicles, spend the money, fix them, make them safe, and get them back in the hands of our drivers.” In doing so, they strengthened their reputation and their bond of trust between them and the driver, and that culture of accountability is what drove that decision.

As you think about your organization and strengthening your brand, clearly communicate who people are accountable to. Offer stories for them of expected behaviors. Let people know this is what great looks like. Make those values highly visible, and when people do it well, celebrate broadly. If they fall short, provide the feedback and make the change because it’s the sum of those daily behaviors that is going to build and strengthen your brand.

Want to learn more about building accountability into your culture? How about taking an entire course on it? Check out the video below to learn more about the course and get started. Or you can go directly to the course and start learning how to build accountability into your culture. The entire course is available at LinkedIn Learning. Enjoy!

Did you enjoy this post? If so, I highly encourage you to take about 30 seconds to become a regular subscriber to this blog. It’s free, fun, practical, and only a few emails a week (I promise!). SIGN UP HERE to get the thoughtLEADERS blog conveniently delivered right to your inbox!

Creating a Culture of Accountability

May 10, 2023/0 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Leadership, Project Management, Strategy /by Trevor Jones

Learn how to create a culture of accountability by establishing a set of principles for how you want your teams to behave.

Once you understand your accountabilities as a leader and you’ve clearly defined them for the members of your team, you need to start thinking about the broader organization, and how you can create a culture of accountability.

Culture is nothing more than the sum of our daily actions. And to change culture, you’re going to want to set in place a series of principles for how you want people to behave. And those principles are going to drive those daily behaviors. This will take time. Culture will not change overnight. But those small behaviors every single day, over time, are going to create that very strong culture of accountability. The values need to be articulated and clarified in a manner that everyone in the organization understands them. You also need to give them the latitude to behave in a manner where they’re not afraid of taking a risk and trying to live up to those values.

For example, I ran a large customer service organization at one point. We said we wanted to commit to the customer to give them great service. We also knew we had financial obligations to the broader organization. So what we did was we said we’re going to tell our associates who are on the phone with our customers to just ask themselves one question: is this right for the customer? Whatever they were thinking about doing at that moment in the interaction with the customer, they had to ask themselves: is this right for the customer? If the answer was yes, they should do it. If the answer was no, they needed to find some other solution.

Now, we got some great behaviors because of that. The associates felt empowered to help our customers. And our customers loved it. The service level scores were fantastic. Occasionally, we’d get an associate that would do something that was too right for the customer, and give away a little too much value, which then hampered us on our financial goals. So we were constantly trying to find that balance between delivering great service and meeting our financial goals. But by putting in place that one principle, we were able to shift those small, daily behaviors of our associates on the phone, and create that culture that we wanted.

I had another call center environment where we wanted to treat our customers well. And they were in collections, so it was already an adversarial relationship. We wanted to change that dynamic. So we told our associates to look for signs of willingness in our customers. Let’s believe that they want to pay us back. That they want to meet their obligations. When our associates looked at that principle and started treating our customers that way, we got very different behavior. Customers started finding new ways to pay us back. They actually put us higher in the payment hierarchy than other creditors who were beating them up on the phone, and telling them that they needed to pay now, and threatening them. We were willing to work with them. It was that small principle that we put in place that changed those small behaviors. Our associates knew they were accountable for living up to that set of principles.

As you think about your organization and creating this culture of accountability, first determine the key behaviors that you want, and make sure they’re aligned with the brand of your organization. Communicate those values, let people know who they’re accountable to, and then figure out those small desired daily actions that you want to see out of your people. Be patient. Reinforce those behaviors. And when you see somebody do it right, celebrate that success. Communicate it broadly across the organization, so people know what you’re looking for. And if you’re able to be patient, have that clarity of principle, over time you’ll have the culture of accountability you’re looking for.

Want to learn more about building accountability into your culture? How about taking an entire course on it? Check out the video below to learn more about the course and get started. Or you can go directly to the course and start learning how to build accountability into your culture. The entire course is available at LinkedIn Learning. Enjoy!

Did you enjoy this post? If so, I highly encourage you to take about 30 seconds to become a regular subscriber to this blog. It’s free, fun, practical, and only a few emails a week (I promise!). SIGN UP HERE to get the thoughtLEADERS blog conveniently delivered right to your inbox!

Modeling the Right Behaviors for Your Team

May 3, 2023/0 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Leadership, Project Management, Strategy /by Trevor Jones

Learn why modeling accountability is essential for leaders, and how it can strengthen team culture by creating a transparent and supportive environment.

As a leader, you need to model the behaviors that you want from your team members. People watch a leader’s every move. Setting that example is a critical element of modeling accountability and creating the right culture on your team. The words you use. When you say I versus we. Do you say I when something goes wrong? Or do you only say it when things go right? Do you say we when something goes wrong? Or when something goes right? It sets a tone for who’s accountable for those actions.

As you think about whether you’re modeling the right behaviors or not, some questions you should ask yourself are as follows:

Do I say I or we more frequently? And in what situations do I use those words?

Do I proactively let the team know, “Hey, I’ve made a mistake, and here’s what I’m doing to resolve it?”

Do my team members say I or we? And again, in which situations? And do I reward or praise people for owning up to a mistake and fixing it? Or do I punish them when they bring that mistake forward?

A to-do for you as a leader, as you look to model these accountability behaviors, is to pick a recent mistake you’ve made. And we’ve all made them. Then sit down and discuss it with your team. Let them know, “I made a mistake. Here’s why I made the mistake. And here’s what I’m doing to fix it.” Then go that next step and let them know, “Here’s why we’re having this conversation. I want to model the right set of behaviors for you.”

If you’re able to do this on a regular basis, and praise people for owning up to mistakes, calling things out when you make mistakes, and then driving that accountability where it belongs, you’re going to go a long way to strengthen the culture of accountability on your team.

Want to learn more about building accountability into your culture? How about taking an entire course on it? Check out the video below to learn more about the course and get started. Or you can go directly to the course and start learning how to build accountability into your culture. The entire course is available at LinkedIn Learning. Enjoy!

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From Accountable to Responsible

April 26, 2023/0 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Leadership, Project Management, Strategy /by Trevor Jones

Learn why it’s important for your team to understand the difference between accountability and responsibility.

It’s important to understand the difference between accountability and responsibility. Accountability is an external force. It’s where a leader imposes consequences for failing to meet obligations or offers rewards if you do meet them. Responsibility is internal. It’s being able to be trusted to do what’s right when you’re not being watched. This is where you hold yourself accountable and reward or punish yourself as appropriate.

Moving from accountable, which is that external force telling you what to do, to being responsible, where you’re internally driven for doing the right thing, will set a tone for your team. People will see they need to hold themselves accountable as well. They’re going to make that shift where they’re not waiting for you to tell them what to do, but instead they’re going to do the right thing because they know it’s the right thing.

You’re going to spend less time monitoring people and more time actually getting stuff done. People will do what they need to do without being told, and you’re going to improve the moral/ethical environment of your team. People are going to do the right thing because it’s right, not because they fear getting caught.

If you’re able to help your people see the difference between accountability and responsibility, and encourage them to make that shift, you’re going to free up time for yourself and improve the overall climate of accountability on your team.

Want to learn more about building accountability into your culture? How about taking an entire course on it? Check out the video below to learn more about the course and get started. Or you can go directly to the course and start learning how to build accountability into your culture. The entire course is available at LinkedIn Learning. Enjoy!

Did you enjoy this post? If so, I highly encourage you to take about 30 seconds to become a regular subscriber to this blog. It’s free, fun, practical, and only a few emails a week (I promise!). SIGN UP HERE to get the thoughtLEADERS blog conveniently delivered right to your inbox!