Small Business Accountability

In my never-to-be-humble opinion, lack of accountability is one of the 7 deadly mistakes made in business today.

Too many small business owners are not holding their people sufficiently accountable. They are not holding staff accountable for reaching or failing to reach established goals and performance standards. And they are not holding themselves accountable for permitting this to take place.

What’s currently happening in most businesses? Meetings are held, issues are discussed, solutions are proposed, and goals are set. Unfortunately, that's where the story usually ends. Implementation is weak. Follow-up is missing. Follow through is missing. Accountability is missing. Ideas, strategies, tactics and plans never get off the ground. Promises fall through the cracks. Then what is done? Call another meeting! What a colossal waste of time and talent.

Why does it happen? It happens because owners are not functioning as leaders. They are not sufficiently closely monitoring staff and their progress on goals. They are busy, too busy, caught up in the day-to-day technical details working hard "in" the business instead of strategically working "on" the business. They work too hard lead too little.

Business owners functioning as workers become detached from their original vision and are working hard instead of leading hard. They are overwhelmed with all the urgent (crises, putting out fires and dealing with turmoil) instead of being strategically focused on the performance of staff and the overall performance of the company.

Moreover, too many business owners try to be liked instead of respected. Holding people accountable can be confrontational. Accountability is not always pleasant and as a result many owners back away to avoid tension, conflict, and discomfort. Such avoidance is dangerous to your business and limiting in the development of your people. Don’t try to be everyone’s buddy. Don’t try to be popular. Don't try so dang-blasted hard to be liked. This isn’t high school.

As a leader, you need to be respected, not necessarily liked. Above all else, you are their boss and a challenging coach that demands the best of each player. Meet with your key employees or managers at least once a month, at least, for a one-to-one, good old-fashioned accountability session. Remind them of your expectations. Help them to grow and improve. When you create crystal clear clarity of expectations you increase understanding, diminish confusion and create an environment that allows for more initiative, higher energy, effective delegation and full accountability.

Be very careful about letting your employees become your social friends. Of course you want to be friendly with staff but maintain professional boundaries. You need to remain objective to make tough decisions, the hard calls that are in the best interest of the company. If you want a friend, get a pet - a cat, a dog, an iguana. If you want to be liked by everyone sell your business. Go get a job as a greeter at a bix-box store or a sampler at the mall giving away free candies or cookies. Trying to be everyone's friend, attempting to please them all, or be liked by everyone is a sure bet for disaster.

Give people full responsibility, freedom, resources, and support required to get done what needs to be done. Empower them. Let them know they will be held accountable for results. Continually remind them of your expectations. Monitor their progress and intervene only when necessary. Give them feedback. Let them know how they are doing. Notice them. Praise an employee’s progress in public and criticize poor performance in private. However - in public - feel free to express your disappointment and frustration for overall results, overall performance to the entire team. Save the harsh criticism of an individual for behind closed doors. Praise in public; criticize in private.

Here are some basic ground rules for effective accountability:

• Never let committees, groups or multiple persons be accountable for making things happen.
• Make sure one person/one champion is responsible and accountable for each key assignment.
• Establish goals and clarify due dates for results.
• Conduct regularly scheduled follow-up meetings to gauge progress on goals and hold people accountable.
• If they consistently fail to get important things done, give them different jobs or replace them with new people. (Read "Good to Great" by Jim Collins about the importance of having the right people on the bus and kicking off those that don't belong; harsh? maybe, that's what accountability is all about!)

Do not allow poor implementation to infect your business. It’s a cancer, a death sentence. You have only two choices; you can establish a culture that tolerates excuses or one that insists on results. A question for you: Do you want reasons or results? Well duh! For improved results, you must start working less, leading more and holding people accountable.

The good news is that people want to be held accountable. They want to be challenged and receive increased feedback on their performance. They want to learn and to grow. They even want an environment of discipline, healthy discipline, from a strong, caring and determined leader. Time and again surveys of staff indicate these wants. They tell us it helps them develop and reach more of their potential, what Robin Sharma calls leadership without title.

Accountability is beneficial feedback that shows you care. Make certain your employees feel appreciated and important – they crave it! Hold people accountable.

And as CEO, who will hold you accountable? As your coaching will assist staff to get a glimpse of their greatness, you having your own coach will help you discover yours. Get a business coach. Find a mentor. Create a network of people or "Board of Advisors" to push you, encourage you and hold you accountable. Your coach can help you reach your greater potential, your greatness, and, as one of my very best clients told me recently, the right coach can be the occasional "kick in the ass" to keep you on track.

Accountability is essential to the success of any small business. Find your greatness in this key area and see what happens to your capacity to work less, achieve more.

To your success!