Leader Compass 45 - Own It! The Language and Culture of Accountability

One of the most rare character traits today is that of personal accountability. Blame is so easy. It's simple to select a number or reasons not to take responsibility for one's actions and blame others, outside forces or simply ANYTHING but ourselves.

President Harry Truman kept a sign on his desk that said "The Buck Stops Here." The reference was to the phrase "passing the buck" which means to pass responsibility to someone else. Truman kept the placard on his desk as a reminder to himself and others that he was responsible for his decisions and the consequences of them.

Years ago my parents started a quote book for me as I graduated high school. My dad had one when he was a young man and I read through it often enough that my mom pulled one together for me. Over the years I've accumulated many quotes and ideas in several notebooks and journals. One that was given to me that I didn't really understand until later in life was "when you pick up one end of the stick, you also pick up the other." I'm sure there are many ways to interpret this saying. Here's mine.

We all chose what we do every day. From what we wear, to workout or not, what we eat, to smile or not, the words and phrases we use...everything is a choice. What we can't chose is the consequences of our choices. That's the point...we pick up one end - ours but what we can't chose is the other end - the consequence.

There is a lot or power in this little analogy when it comes to leadership and accountability. This simple statement can change the way you view your interactions and the way you coach your teams. What if, instead of just owning our end of the stick we also own the other end? What if we took on an extreme level of accountability and owned both ends? Let me explain.

Connecting with others can be difficult. Sometimes we don't say the right thing, sometimes we do. How we act and how we are perceived can be two very different things from our point of view. What, however would happen if we owned both the delivery and the reception of our messages. What if we took full accounting for both ends? Would we be quicker to apologize when we have offended? Would we be quicker to adjust when we recognize a poor decision? Would we own our choices and not "pass the buck?" 

Practicing and teaching accountability is much easier than we think. I admit, it requires a bit of practice and a willingness to stay open and not let our egos run the show, but it is remarkably simple.Here are a few keys to adopting the language and culture of accountability.

• Resist Temptation. The "crack cocaine" of emotional relief is passing the buck. When a problem is in front of you resist the temptation to look for blame - don't blame people, the weather or any other outside source. 
• Take Ownership. Use the phrase - "that's mine" or "that's on me" to show yourself and others that you are taking ownership. Something bad happens on your team? "That's on me. I'm the leader and it happened under my watch."
• Use the QBQ Questions. In his book QBQ, The Question Behind the Question John G. Miller challenges that using questions that start with why - "why did this happen?" lead only to blame. Ask the question behind the question. QBQs start with how, what or when. How will I fix this? What will we do to address the problem? When will this be addressed?
• Create a Culture of Accountability. Accountability simply means the ability to account. Create a culture in your workplace and on your team where individuals: 
• Know how to account for their responsibilities and
• Do so regularly
• Kill the Cancer Before if Starts. As a leader it's your job to stop in your mind and in other's words any blame game. Use some of the questions below to refocus and turn from blame to accountability:
• "As you know we have a culture of accountability. How can you think about this problem in that light?"
• "Thank you for your perspective. Instead of asking why, let's use some other questions. What are we going to do? How quickly can we resolve this issue? Who is going to own the fix?"
• "I'm not thinking about this with a full thought. How do I need to see this from an extreme ownership mindset?"
• "Given all the resources we have how can we rectify this challenge?"
• "As the leader of the group this happened under your watch. What are you doing to address the issue now and prevent it from recurring in the future?"
• "I'm confident we are more intelligent than we are showing by playing the blame game. What if we challenge ourselves and take full ownership. How can we utilize our time, talents and energy to address this issue?" 

By taking full accountability and true ownership we expand our emotional intelligence and become more impactful, more intentional and more industrious. What will YOU do to take accountability for your life, your team and your responsibilities? The buck stops with you. Challenge yourself and lead on!  

Leader Compass 44 - Do Less Accomplish More - How to Create Massive Thrust and Achieve Objectives

I'm sure you've never felt stretched too thin. I'm confident you always have every ball you need to juggle perfectly lined up and never drop anything important right? Maybe not. If you are like most you have a tendency to take on too much and lose sight of important priorities.

Ask yourself the following questions to determine if you are currently in a state of ineffective confusion or a massive state of thrust.

1. When you start your day do you have too many competing priorities in your mind that you have a hard time focusing?
2. If pressed, could you answer this question quickly - what it the ONE thing that if you focus on it today would make the largest difference in your business, your team and your results?
3. Are you crystal clear on your focus and have you clearly communicated to your team the key priority for the day, week, month or year?
4. At the end of the day do you wonder "what did I accomplish?" 
5. Are leisure activities creeping in distracting you from your most important need and priority?

The challenge we often run into is we tend to clutter our minds, our schedules and our lives with too much. Too scheduled, less time to be present in the moment. Too many worries, less mind space to create. Too many priorities and none get the appropriate attention. 

Without appropriate focus we can't get any significant thrust and movement in our true priority in life. Note I said our true priority, not priorities. Gaining control and getting thrust requires focus and detail. 

Michelangelo's David is a true masterpiece. It was created by a master who knew how to remove the unnecessary to reveal the true beauty that lay within the marble block. To create a masterpiece in your life you must edit out the things that don't matter right now and only focus on what does. 

As Yvon Chiounard, founder of Patagonia has said "The hardest thing in to do is simplify your life. It's so easy to complicate things." Think about it - were the great masters amazing multi-taskers? Were the best of the best great because they were very "balanced?" No way. The best of the best were and are focused, passionate and perhaps obsessive. All the great thinkers, artists, athletes or business magnates all knew and know one thing - they are the best because they do less but accomplish more.

So the question we need to ask is "how do I create what I want?" How do I gain massive, jet-fighter-like thrust in my life and accomplish more? Let's look at 5 keys to creating thrust. 

1. Discover Your Why. Why do you do what you do? Why are you in business? Why are you a leader? Why did you start doing what you are doing? Why are you you on this earth? Dig deep and then develop a short statement about your why, your mission, and/or your purpose.
2. Get Clear. Determine what you want to accomplish. As a leader what is the most important focus area for your team right now? What is your most important personal focus? Get clear on what you want to accomplish and set a crystal clear objective. 
3. Edit Out. What is wasting your time? What habits do you have that are no longer serving you? What skills are outdated? What are you filling your schedule with that are
   distracting you? Like Michelangelo you need to edit out the non-essentials to create your masterpiece. Make a list and start to edit out the time wasters.
4. Do Less and Obsess. Ask yourself daily "what is the most important thing for me to do today that will move me toward my objective?" Another impact question I ask myself daily is "what will I be most proud of accomplishing at the end of the day?" Scale down and obsess. Commit fully to your growth and know that no one else will get you to your objective. Through passion, focus and obsessive effort you will be well on your way. 
5. Live Examined. Living an examined life is tough. It requires significant time to pause, reflect and examine what you are doing. Regular journal time, accountability conversations with a friend or coach, partnering with peers can all help to keep you accountable in your efforts.  

The 5 keys to thrust will help you move from a state of ineffective confusion to a state of massive thrust. Focused effort can help you develop any skill, improve any area and truly create what you want. Do less, obsess and accomplish more. Lead on!