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RETAILOBSERVER.COM SEPTEMBER 2022 44 E very manager and leader I've worked with wants to know that their team, their people, are going to be accountable for things that are important to the job: meeting goals, providing great service, caring about quality, committing to innovation. We all want people to follow-up and follow-through, to be in integrity with their word. In fact, we'd really like them to take ownership of whatever's at hand or whatever we've agreed to and go with it. On good days we might be mildly annoyed when they don't show this consistent commitment; on other days, we're ready to don our Terminator T-shirts. What's the deal with accountability? Why do we spend so much time dealing with either the lack of it, or worrying about the lack of it? As in all leader conversations, we need to check our own reflections before going out the door. Be willing to identify and accept your own role in helping create a more accountable culture by creating an environment that supports it. We know that the biggest difference between a Culture of Commitment versus a Culture of Compliance is that the former means everyone is doing the right things because they want to, whereas the latter means everyone is doing things only because they have to. Want-to cultures and teams are so much easier to manage and support than Have-to cultures! Here are three things to consider as you nurture a Culture of Commitment with high levels of Accountability: • Believe in the Agency of each person's potential: Someone has personal agency when they believe in and have confidence in their ability to make their way through something. Often, we make up our minds about someone's agency because we've abandoned Presuming Good Intent (an Influencing Options Foundational Principle), we've become tired and doubtful, or we are exhausted and cynical. We predict someone's ability to follow-up and follow through because of past mistakes, or just the way we are currently seeing things. What if, instead, we refocused our conversations and coaching to instilling confidence and holding the person as capable? In other words, unless there is a very, very good reason to foresee failure, then let's start by believing in the potential for success and provide the support and specificity to set them up. • Give as much Autonomy as possible to engage someone's creativity and spirit. Dan Pink's Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us told us about the importance of Autonomy to improve motivation and engagement of employees. When people believe they can chart their own path, or they have a stake and influence in how things go, they are more motivated to work toward the intended goal. In fact, when managing performance, in very few instances do you need to control everything about how someone meets the goal, your primary focus should be to be clear about what the goal is, be specific about successful criteria to be met, provide a timeframe, and then let them do it. Give good guidelines and parameters, and then give them the Autonomy to make it happen. • Accountability is making committed actions toward an agreement. In our Influencing Options classes, we talk about how to close the gap between a verbal commitment and a behavioral commitment: that's demonstrated accountability. Lots of people can say they are committed, they believe in the mission, or they understand the goals — but it's their behaviors that close that gap and create ownership. Sometimes, there are challenges or obstacles to someone's ability to consistently demonstrate this accountability. Often, we, as leaders, don't know about these challenges because we are neglecting our one-on-ones or check-ins, and we aren't making the time and space for honest conversations about what's going on. Most of the time, my shorthand advice to leaders is this: it's your job to set the vision and clearly articulate the goals . . . then it's your job to remove obstacles and get out of the way. All the other things work themselves out when we allow people Agency and Autonomy to show us how committed and Accountable they can be. Idealistic? Maybe. But this isn't a blind belief in hoping for accountability; this is about making sure you're doing all you can to set yourself and your team up for success. When you commit to a Culture of Commitment, you'll get high trust, high performance, and high accountability! Exciting news! Coming soon in Winter 2022—self-paced virtual classes from Influencing Options: Fearless & Fair Communication, Performance Coaching and Influencing, Leading Through Times of Change. Visit www.libbywagner.com/home/influencing-options for more information. WE ALL WANT THE "A-WORD" What's the deal with accountability? Libby Wagner Culture Coach RO Libby Wagner, author of The Influencing Option: The Art of Building a Profit Culture in Business, works with clients to help them create and sustain Profit Cultures www.libbywagner.com

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