Patti Cotton

Executive Coach & Career Strategist

business coaching

Holding Others Accountable

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Holding Others Accountable
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Is it easy for you to hold others accountable? Even the most seasoned leaders can find this difficult.

Yet, accountability is the very thing that makes everything work.

Holding others accountable was indeed challenging for Randy, CEO of Andes, Inc., and this meant that the company wasn’t getting the results it needed. What’s more, Andes had begun to lose market share. Would it survive?

Randy was missing just one ingredient in order to turn things around.

Accountability.

Randy had brought in a bevy of consultants to review the company’s challenges. His drawer was full of strategic plans, and employees had undergone training in a number of programs meant to help them work better, smarter, and get greater results. Yet, nothing had worked. Meanwhile, it was discovered that some teams were duplicating efforts, and others weren’t delivering on what was expected. Randy was frustrated, and sometimes lost his temper, wondering why people weren’t just doing what they should do.

The fact was, he simply wasn’t holding his team accountable. And in turn, they weren’t holding their own teams accountable, either.

Things were a mess.

Holding others accountable is what is necessary to helping others to deliver on their commitment so that the work gets done. If you are responsible for organizational or team outcomes, it’s necessary to learn how to do this well so that you get the results you need. Holding others accountable is also a way of saying, “Your contributions matter,” which motivates employees and helps them to be more engaged.

Holding others accountable, however, can feel awkward.

And that’s what Randy felt. He was great at inspiring and motivating others but helping them to follow through was where he fell short. He thought that providing clear feedback felt like criticism, and so he avoided giving others the feedback they needed in order to know they were on track. Left to their own devices, the executive team simply interpreted what they thought should be done, did the best they could, but failed miserably because of a lack of information. They passed on this unfortunate culture of murky mediocrity to the rest of the organization – and this is why it started to fail.

Fortunately, with coaching, Randy turned things around. He met with his team, agreed on what was needed, and shared the 5 steps to hold others accountable. Over time, Andes moved into a position of excellence.

If you feel you need to strengthen your accountability game, use these 5 steps to put in place a system that works:

1. Be clear about your expectations.

In order for others to be able to deliver on your expectations, they need to understand what these are. Be sure that as you share what you expect that you ask them if they have questions and let them know that they will have access to you for questions as they move forward.

2. Help identify the skills and resources needed to support them.

What will they need in order to perform well? Who are the people they need to work with, and what are politics, protocols, and processes of which they need to be aware in order to succeed?

3. Follow up regularly.

Agree on the way in which your reports will keep you updated on their progress. Do you want them to meet with you regularly to report to you, or provide a written report? How often? What elements do you need to see in the report?

4. Give clear and timely feedback.

Honest and ongoing feedback is critical to the process. Be sure you are timely so that this becomes a powerful mentoring experience. And be clear in your feedback. If you are not, you should not expect to see the progress you expect.

5. Clear consequences.

Have you made sure you have done everything you can to help the person succeed in performance?  If they have succeeded, reward this in a way that is appropriate to the outcome such as acknowledgment, recognition, or even a bonus or promotion. If there has been a lack of clarity on your part, be sure you course-correct this by repeating the steps above. And if the person shows signs of inability or commitment to perform, then it’s time to release them from the assignment or role with any other appropriate steps needed.

I challenge you to make accountability a chief focus for the coming season. Your leadership will be even more effective, and your results will help the organization to thrive.

HOW MUCH

DO OTHERS REALLY TRUST YOU?

​Learn the two vital parts to trust and how they can help you become a more highly effective leader.

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The Perils of Living by Transactional Goals

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The Perils of Living by Transactional Goals
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Goals are powerful. Reaching these culminates not only in great reward, but also a sense of achievement, confidence, and moving ahead.

But goal-setting can also be perilous.

In my practice, I generally partner with the CEO or a member of the senior team to work through transitions of all kinds. If they approach me about doing organizational work, they generally seek success in helping the enterprise expand or realign to keep up with current and future demand. If I am brought in to help them or a member of their team on a personal level, they focus on goals such as higher productivity, better performance, or a greater ability to meet company objectives.

The challenges for which these leaders engage me are important. The world demands that we show up and keep up if we are to remain competitive and viable. But these goals are transactional.

And transactional goals can actually be harmful and counterproductive unless these are tied to a bigger transformation.

Before I explain why and how, it’s necessary to explain the difference between transactional and transformational goals.

First, the word transaction relates to the action of conducting business. It calls to mind those tasks and activities that are required to ensure smooth operations. The word transformation, on the other hand, connotes a metamorphosis or life change.

Here are some examples for comparison:


The goals in both columns can be worthy. However, unless you set your transactional goals with the following in mind, you may get into trouble.

Ask yourself the following:

1. Does this goal align with my values?

Unless you begin with your values in mind, you may wind up setting goals that conflict with what you hold most important. For example, if a chief transformation you desire is to become a more attentive and devoted parent, but all of your transactional goals keep you from being with your family, this is a conflict. Before you set any goals, revisit your top values and use these as your compass.

2. Does this goal support my own priorities?

Transactional goals may be subconsciously chosen to please or impress others, instead of being in your own best interest. I have coached executives who seek to achieve more so that they meet an ideal that their deceased parents held dear. Living your life for someone else will eventually wind up as a life “un-lived.” Ask yourself why you have set a particular transactional goal and whether this is truly a priority for you, regardless of others.

3. What transformation does this goal support?

Your transactional goals should support a sought-after transformation. Quite often, we can become addicted to reaching transactional goals and treat these as the “end game,” or tie this to self-worth (“I achieve, therefore, I am worthy”). Either is a dangerous and misleading path. Make sure that your transactional goals are simply milestones toward a larger transformation you desire for yourself. A good example would be, “I will lose 10 pounds (transactional) because this is part my goal to adopt a healthier lifestyle (transformational).”

In addition to these cautions, be sure to respect the journey as you work toward your goals. This is where great growth and transformation – the process of becoming a better version of yourself occurs.

Note: With appreciation to a great friend, Dennis del Valle for inspiring this topic. Dennis is a well-known marriage and family therapist, thought leader and speaker. Part of his practice entails leading small groups of highly successful business leaders to achieve exponential personal and professional growth, and I am privileged to be a part of one of them.

HOW MUCH

DO OTHERS REALLY TRUST YOU?

​Learn the two vital parts to trust and how they can help you become a more highly effective leader.

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Three Ways Adversity Shapes Extraordinary Leadership

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Three Ways Adversity Shapes Extraordinary Leadership
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No one consciously seeks adversity. Oddly, however, confronting fear and uncertainty is what shapes extraordinary leadership.

How can confronting the challenging and unpredictable cause leaders to go from good to great?

And why do some rise to make significant impact for the world around them, while others cause irreparable damage?

It is not the negative challenge that damages – it is the way you respond to it that can make or break your leadership and the impact you cause.

Here are three ways adversity can shape extraordinary leadership.

1. Adversity calls for the “whole leader” to face challenge.

Both your cognitive (competencies) and your emotional (character) skills are called to action as you try to make meaning of the situation and decide how you will respond to it.

Many a leader has fallen because either a character trait has compromised best actions, or a particular competency is not strong enough to execute what needs to be done. In which area do you need to strengthen your own leadership? To begin this self-examination, see How Much Do Others Trust You, which outlines key traits and skills required to build trust and meet challenges effectively.

2. Adversity demands that we bring our best to the front while under pressure.

This is easier said than done. The positive traits with which you regularly lead can quickly become exaggerated and damaging in adverse situations.

For example, under normal conditions, you may enjoy confidence in your opinions while remaining balanced and open to the perspectives of others. However, under pressure, this confidence may turn into a closed-minded dogmatism that does not allow you to consider other alternatives.

Understanding not only how to manage your strengths, but also your tendencies under pressure is important to bringing good responses to bad circumstances. If you are not sure where your own “pressure points” lie, ask a couple of trusted colleagues who have seen you work under pressure. The feedback you receive may make a great difference in your ability to meet the future most effectively.

3. Adversity requires that we learn to make meaning of the new and unexpected.

Our ability to meet difficult circumstances requires that we are able to make meaning of these, and to consider new approaches to solve them. “We cannot solve problems with the same thinking that created them,” quipped Albert Einstein.

This is reflected as we look at Nelson Mandela’s life after his imprisonment of 27 years. The great civil rights leader and former South African president could have incited the country to civil war after being released. However, he saw that reconciliation – not retribution – was what would bring hope and healing to a divided nation. To do this, he had to make meaning of the injustices previously committed, look at a larger and new picture to consider his response, and develop the mindset and approach to meet the challenge.

Warren Bennis, leadership expert and author of On Becoming a Leader once said, “Until you make your life your own, you’re walking in borrowed clothes. Leaders, whatever their field, are made up as much of their experiences as their skills, like everyone else. Unlike everyone else, they use their experiences rather than being used by them.”

Given this, and the potential for you to make even more significant impact through your leadership, how will you choose to meet adversity?

HOW MUCH

DO OTHERS REALLY TRUST YOU?

​Learn the two vital parts to trust and how they can help you become a more highly effective leader.

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Man or Machine: Who Will Win in the Workplace of the Future?

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Man or Machine: Who Will Win in the Workplace of the Future?
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What’s smarter than a human being?

A group of human beings.

Putting our heads together to come up with brilliant ideas and implementation has been recognized for centuries as “brain-trusting,” and is well-known for the rich perspectives, problem-solving, and creativity it can generate.

But now that machines loom larger and smarter, will this mean that we lose brain trust to brawn?

The experts project a loss of 800 million jobs by 2030 to machines.

How will you remain viable and vibrant in the new age of artificial intelligence (AI)?

AI is currently viewed as both an exciting development and a terrible threat. The advances we are able to make today and tomorrow are critical to meet an ever-growing complex world. Yet, we also realize that what has previously been accomplished by humans can now be taken over, at least in part, by machines.

What does that mean for meaningful work for us and for those generations that succeed us?

Will we lose our workplace to the machine?

No.

In fact, work may become more meaningful than ever before – if you and your organization are prepared to meet it.

It is important to understand that we continue to design machines that can take over automated tasks and mundane, repetitive work. We are seeing this in the operation and support of factories and production lines, customer call operations, document classification, and other areas.

With this development, machines will indeed replace a large part of the workforce that has previously performed these tasks.

In addition, machines are now capable of performing other more complex activities such as those requiring the processing of data streams, real-time knowledge, etc. Again, machines will dominate in this particular arena.

Then what is left for us?

How can AI actually benefit and bring more meaningful work opportunities to the human part of the future workforce?

Here are three ways:

1. Opportunities for vertical development.

Instead of emphasizing hard skills and competencies, focus will be on vertical development: developing the ability to perform more complex and adaptive thinking and to “see” with a greater lens and make sense of a world growing in complexity.

Our charge will be oversight and management of machines, rather than performing the tasks.

Abilities required of us at greater levels will be adaptability, network thinking, judgment, and creativity. Acquiring these skills means more career opportunities and greater flexibility in work choices open to us.

The good news is that each of us has been given the seeds to develop vertically – and there are proven ways to develop it systematically.

2. Opportunities to support the need for belonging and growth.

Human beings seek to belong, and they seek growth.

The workplace plays a critical role in helping people to do this. Those organizations embodying a culture of collaboration and offering individual and group growth opportunities will support these needs.

Further, this will benefit the company by lowering employee turnover, and heightening engagement, satisfaction, and productivity. Machines cannot create and support this culture – it is the people alone who are empowered to do this.

What does your company need in order to support this need for belonging and growth?

3. Opportunities to tap into collective intelligence (CI) to become the organization of the future.

CI is shared or group intelligence that emerges from the collaboration and collective efforts of many. And it is key to moving an organization into the future.

Gone is the hierarchical business model of one “general” at the top, several “sergeants” at the next levels, and many “foot soldiers” carrying out the tasks.

Instead, teams are leading teams, from top to bottom – to sideways. As leaders now demand greater leadership at every level, their workforces demand to have more voice and participation in leading the company forward.

We recognize the power of this collective, and welcome the rich brain trust it provides.

As we incorporate greater vertical development, a sense of belonging, and collective intelligence, this means we will have the ability to operate at a higher level of intelligence and meaning than we have ever experienced. And that is pretty exciting!

So where do we go from here? What’s your burning question or concern about man and machine in the workplace?

HOW MUCH

DO OTHERS REALLY TRUST YOU?

​Learn the two vital parts to trust and how they can help you become a more highly effective leader.

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Jumpstart Company Performance with Trust

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Jumpstart Company Performance with Trust
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How high is the trust quotient in your company? If it’s low, you are among the 47% of American companies currently losing significant dollars and competitive edge.

How does trust affect company performance?

Well, compared with people at low-trust companies, people at high-trust companies report: *

  • 74% less stress
  • 106% more energy at work
  • 50% higher productivity
  • 13% fewer sick days
  • 76% more engagement
  • 29% more satisfaction with their lives
  • 40% less burnout

And those factors have everything to do with individual, team, and company performance.

So now what? How do you raise the trust quotient in your organization?

Here are some important steps to building greater trust.

1. Create shared agreement.

You’ve set company goals, but has your workforce integrated these to support them? When was the last time you had your executive team review their areas to ensure these are aligned with the company-wide goals? Do the metrics and milestones support the goals? Are there any conflicting processes or practices that might silo teams from one another?

If so, ferret these out ruthlessly. Otherwise, you are pitting teams against one another, thus causing mistrust to grow.

2. Respect shared accountability.

What are your practices for setting expectations, reporting on progress, and measuring against your projected success?

If any of these are missing, this will create questions and assumptions about the work of others. In the absence of information, people will create stories to make meaning. Unless you have a regular communication process that keeps everyone in the loop, someone may be assuming others are sleeping on the job – or worse. Assumptions are deadly because they erode trust.

3. Be honest.

Do you foresee you will be unable to deliver a product to a customer? Mentor honesty to your company. Make the difficult call to let the customer know as soon as you are aware. Your customer may not be pleased, but will appreciate your integrity.

Once this happens, re-examine your processes and practices to see what needs adjusting so that this is not a trend.

Are you in the planning stages of a downsizing or merger? Plan out your communication plan to your employees. Delivering tough messages is unpleasant, but saying nothing and surprising people is a trust-breaker.

4. Treat mistakes as points of learning.

Model this for your workforce.

Admitting you were wrong about something and sharing what you have learned from it shows others they can do so, as well.

The quickest way to cut creativity and innovation to the quick is to support a culture of perfection. If your employees get the message that perfection is king, they will play it safe by under-committing and performing at a safe, sub-par level because they don’t trust the company to regard them in the same light if they make a mistake.

Celebrate mistakes. It means you support learning, which is part of a successful future.

5. Facilitate “whole-person” growth.

Are you losing employees when they find promotion opportunities outside of your company?

It may be time to chart out the employee journey, with clear tracks, and supportive education and growth opportunities for both personal and professional development.

The organization of the future will keep learning and development as top priority, bringing meaning and fulfillment to its employee base. This creates a trust in them that you have their interests in mind.

When have you experienced a lack of trust at your company? How did you approach remedying this?

*Source: Zak, Paul. “The Neuroscience of Trust.” Harvard Business Review, Jan-Feb 2017.

HOW MUCH

DO OTHERS REALLY TRUST YOU?

​Learn the two vital parts to trust and how they can help you become a more highly effective leader.

GET THE INFOGRAPHIC