Latest / Daily Influence / 817. Accountability Isn’t Punishment: What Happens After the Conversation

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817. Accountability Isn’t Punishment: What Happens After the Conversation · Daily Influence

• 0:10
  [SPEAKER_01]: Welcome to Daily Influence, your daily dose of positive influence.
• 0:14
  [SPEAKER_01]: I'm Brian Smith founder of IA Business Advisors and co-author of the Iain team series.
• 0:19
  [SPEAKER_01]: Each day we share stories and insights to help you find be and build your influence in a positive and responsible way.
• 0:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I'm Greg Clino, partner at IE Business Advisors, and co-host of Daily Influence.
• 0:32
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• 0:38
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• 0:48
  [SPEAKER_01]: Hey, everybody, Brian Smith here with Gain Team series and your daily influence, and recently we talked about the cost of avoiding hard conversations, but having the conversation really isn't the finish line.
• 1:01
  [SPEAKER_01]: You can sit down with somebody, explain the problem, clarify what needs to change, shake hands, walk away, and still accomplish absolutely nothing, because communication without follow-through, it's just a conversation.
• 1:16
  [SPEAKER_01]: Leadership requires us to move from clarity to accountability, and I think accountability gets a bad reputation because we often associate it with punishment.
• 1:27
  [SPEAKER_01]: We think accountability happens when somebody fails.
• 1:30
  [SPEAKER_01]: I don't see it that way.
• 1:32
  [SPEAKER_01]: Positive and responsible influence means helping people understand what is expected of them.
• 1:37
  [SPEAKER_01]: giving them the opportunity and resources to succeed and then being willing to follow through on what was agreed upon.
• 1:45
  [SPEAKER_01]: So today, I want to talk about what happens after the difficult conversation.
• 1:51
  [SPEAKER_01]: You know, one of the mistakes leaders make is believing that because something was discussed.
• 1:56
  [SPEAKER_01]: It was understood.
• 1:57
  [SPEAKER_01]: Those aren't the same thing.
• 1:59
  [SPEAKER_01]: You might say, we need you to communicate better.
• 2:02
  [SPEAKER_01]: Okay.
• 2:03
  [SPEAKER_01]: What does that mean?
• 2:03
  [SPEAKER_01]: I need you to improve your performance and prove what?
• 2:07
  [SPEAKER_01]: By how much?
• 2:08
  [SPEAKER_01]: By when?
• 2:10
  [SPEAKER_01]: This is where our smart management philosophy becomes incredibly practical.
• 2:15
  [SPEAKER_01]: Expectations need to be specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely.
• 2:21
  [SPEAKER_01]: If somebody walks away from a difficult conversation without knowing exactly what success looks like, we haven't really created accountability, we've created interpretation, and interpretation creates another problem.
• 2:34
  [SPEAKER_01]: Two people can leave the exact same conversation believing completely different things were agreed upon.
• 2:41
  [SPEAKER_01]: Responsible influence requires clarity.
• 2:44
  [SPEAKER_01]: Before that conversation ends, both people should be able to answer, what are we doing, how will we know what happened and when are we going to revisit it?
• 2:53
  [SPEAKER_01]: That's where accountability begins.
• 2:55
  [SPEAKER_01]: Here's another Blake's leaders, sometimes get wrong.
• 2:59
  [SPEAKER_01]: We assign an expectation and then assume accountability belongs entirely to the other person.
• 3:05
  [SPEAKER_01]: Look, it doesn't.
• 3:06
  [SPEAKER_01]: If I'm asking somebody to accomplish something, I have responsibilities too.
• 3:11
  [SPEAKER_01]: Do I provide the necessary resources?
• 3:13
  [SPEAKER_01]: Do I remove obstacles within my control?
• 3:16
  [SPEAKER_01]: Do I establish a reasonable timeline?
• 3:19
  [SPEAKER_01]: And did I make myself available when they needed clarification?
• 3:22
  [SPEAKER_01]: And perhaps most importantly, did I follow up when I said I would?
• 3:27
  [SPEAKER_01]: that's responsible influence.
• 3:29
  [SPEAKER_01]: Accountability shouldn't be something we do to people.
• 3:33
  [SPEAKER_01]: It should be something we build with people.
• 3:35
  [SPEAKER_01]: It doesn't eliminate individual responsibility.
• 3:38
  [SPEAKER_01]: It's quite the opposite.
• 3:40
  [SPEAKER_01]: The individual still owns their choices, their behavior, and the results.
• 3:45
  [SPEAKER_01]: But leadership owns the environment surrounding those expectations.
• 3:50
  [SPEAKER_01]: That's very much a part of what we mean when we talk
• 3:57
  [SPEAKER_01]: Recognize your influence, be intentional with it, then use it to build an environment where other people have the opportunity and responsibility to succeed.
• 4:09
  [SPEAKER_01]: This may be the most important part.
• 4:11
  [SPEAKER_01]: You have the conversation, you establish the expectation, you agree on the timeline.
• 4:17
  [SPEAKER_01]: Then the deadline arrives, and nothing happens.
• 4:21
  [SPEAKER_01]: The leader gets busy, another week goes by, then another.
• 4:25
  [SPEAKER_01]: Eventually, everybody learns something.
• 4:28
  [SPEAKER_01]: but they didn't learn what you intended.
• 4:31
  [SPEAKER_01]: They learned that the expectation wasn't actually an expectation.
• 4:35
  [SPEAKER_01]: That is how culture gets created.
• 4:38
  [SPEAKER_01]: Not simply through the standards we announce, but through the standards we consistently reinforce.
• 4:43
  [SPEAKER_01]: And accountability doesn't require anger, embarrassment, or punishment.
• 4:48
  [SPEAKER_01]: Sometimes it's as simple as, we agree this would happen by Friday, it didn't help me understand why.
• 4:59
  [SPEAKER_01]: Maybe there was a legitimate obstacle.
• 5:01
  [SPEAKER_01]: Maybe the expectation wasn't attainable.
• 5:04
  [SPEAKER_01]: Maybe additional support is necessary, or maybe somebody simply didn't do what they committed to doing.
• 5:10
  [SPEAKER_01]: Those situations require very different responses, but ignoring any of them produce the same result.
• 5:18
  [SPEAKER_01]: The standard becomes optional.
• 5:20
  [SPEAKER_01]: Positive influence can absolutely include empathy.
• 5:25
  [SPEAKER_01]: Responsible influence requires follow-through.
• 5:28
  [SPEAKER_01]: Great leadership requires both.
• 5:30
  [SPEAKER_01]: Look, hard conversations matter.
• 5:33
  [SPEAKER_01]: But what happens after those conversations may matter even more.
• 5:37
  [SPEAKER_01]: Create clarity.
• 5:39
  [SPEAKER_01]: Establish a smart expectation.
• 5:41
  [SPEAKER_01]: Make sure everyone understands their responsibility, including you.
• 5:46
  [SPEAKER_01]: And then follow up, because accountability isn't punishment.
• 5:49
  [SPEAKER_01]: Accountability is honoring the commitments we make to one another.
• 5:53
  [SPEAKER_01]: And when leaders consistently do that, something important begins to happen.
• 5:58
  [SPEAKER_01]: People don't have to guess where they stand.
• 6:01
  [SPEAKER_01]: They understand the standard.
• 6:02
  [SPEAKER_01]: They understand their responsibility.
• 6:05
  [SPEAKER_01]: And they understand that their choice is matter.
• 6:07
  [SPEAKER_01]: That's how we build stronger individuals, stronger teams, and stronger organizations.
• 6:14
  [SPEAKER_01]: Remember, influence is always happening.
• 6:17
  [SPEAKER_01]: The question is whether we're being intentional and responsible with that influence we have.
• 6:23
  [SPEAKER_01]: Until next time, find, be and build your influence.
• 6:28
  [SPEAKER_01]: Have a great day.