| Greetings!
Many organizations operate at only a fraction of their potential -- burdened with unnecessary stress, friction, missed deadlines and a pervasive sense that things will never get better. We have found that, by far, the fastest way to close the gap between actual and potential performance of a group is to change its mindset.
In sports it is well understood and repeatedly demonstrated that the mindset of the team has an immediate impact on its performance; a good coach will focus on the mindset of the team as much as on its technical prowess. Although the mindset-to-performance linkage is equally obvious in organizations, leaders typically give it little attention, if any.
In this newsletter, we want to address the correlation between mindset and performance in practical terms by looking at two topics that frustrate many leaders:
- How to generate employee initiative, and
- How to maintain accountability.
Sincerely,
Alain Bolea and Scott Brumburgh
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Why is Accountability a "Dirty" Word?
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One obstacle that consistently faces leaders is the subject of accountability. Too often leaders and staff alike experience anxiety and even fear when it comes time to assign responsibility. Leaders may be uncertain how best to set goals and hold their staff accountable in a productive way that does not cause resistance. This often leads the leader to hold back. Incomplete communication from the leader, however, creates confusion on the part of staffers about what is expected of them. When people do not know what to do next, they experience greater stress and anxiety about being evaluated, in turn increasing resistance to the whole concept of accountability.
To reduce this mistrust, a leader must ensure that a logical system of accountability is set up. The system, however, will function best when the team is directly involved in its creation. The main reason for this is that the leader often does not see all the obstacles to performance that a team experiences; the team's feedback is therefore essential when setting goals and establishing a benchmark for accountability that relates directly to the project. Setting goals that are impossible undermines the leader's effectiveness and credibility.
An additional effect of making the process of accountability interactive is a shift in the team's commitment to the project. Leaders will need to "sell" their approach over and over if they assume all responsibility for setting goals. Constantly needing to convince the team adds to the leader's burden and causes the staff to feel more detached from the project. The staff's energy and enthusiasm will taper off quickly if it is the leader alone who determines the criteria for success.
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Longing for Employee Initiative
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When the pressure mounts, few things rile leaders more than employees not taking initiative. To them it's obvious that, if they were really committed, people would step forward without hesitation when help is needed in the organization. If that doesn't happen, it must mean there is something is wrong with employees' motivation. That might be the case for one individual not showing initiative, but if "apathy" is pervasive, something else is necessarily at work.
Taking a closer look, we see that situations where employees lack initiative point back to what leaders do and don't do. The issue stems from a lack of clarity, trust and accountability that are mainly under the influence of leaders.
Clarity
From their vantage point, leaders have an understanding of the pressures the organization faces and the trade-offs it needs to navigate. Leaders work day in, day out in that space and easily forget that others do not have the same panoramic viewpoint. When people sense they're not being told the whole situation, they make up their own explanations. The resulting multiple perspectives keep individuals from effective coordination.
Leaders often jump to soliciting, sometimes demanding, initiative without being specific about what results are expected and why these results are desirable. But the most common omission is a clear definition of how results will be assessed and what behaviors will be rewarded. Uncertainty makes it unpalatable for most people to step away from the comfort and safety of routine.
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