Page 18 - GBC Summer 2019 Eng

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Golf Business Canada
“Here’s the other
key piece around taking responsibility - it’s a choice. “
Accountability can be said to be a process and a skill. It can be taught and learned, but it must be modeled.
If you want to build a high- performing team, then you must be a high performer. Accountability starts with the senior leader(s) in your organization; people who hold themselves accountable, and have the willingness and courage to have dif cult conversations.
If members of your team get even a whiff that you fail to hold yourself to account, then you’re scuppered from the get-go.
DEFINITION OF ACCOUNTABILITY
Here’s a de nition of personal accountability that I’ve borrowed from the ManKind Project:
Accountability is taking 100% responsibility for my actions and their consequences, whether intended or unintended.
That’s a powerful statement with two key sections. Firstly, when I take full responsibility for my actions, it’s af rming and empowering. There’s no excuses, no buck pass- ing. When I am solely responsible for my actions, I move with inten- tion and consciousness. It doesn’t mean I’m a martyr. It means I’m taking charge of my life.
Secondly, when I take responsi- bility for the consequences of my actions, it means I am fully conscious of the impact that my actions have— on others and myself. And some- times, there will be unintended con- sequences. You might think that’s unfair—‘Hey, I didn’t mean for that to happen!’—but I’m still responsible. That keeps me conscious.
MAKING CHOICES
Here’s the other key piece around taking responsibility—it’s a choice. Everything we do is based on choice. When someone makes an excuse, saying, ‘I didn’t have enough time to get it done,’ that is a false statement. If I don’t get something done, it means that I made other choices.
Why is taking responsibility for my actions and choices important? Because we can control only one person. Ourselves. The best we can do with others is to in uence them.
If leaders take full responsibility for their actions and their conse- quences, they will absolutely nail the rst and most important part of accountability—being accountable themselves.
AGREEMENTS ARE THE FOUNDATION
When I hold myself accountable, I am asking, ‘Have I kept the com- mitments that I made to myself?’
But when I make a commitment to someone, especially when we have an interdependent relation- ship, I have entered into an agreement. Agreements provide a foundation for accountability.
Just like in families and in organizations, people struggle to communicate clearly from time to time. Quite often, one person has a different idea of what’s expected.
I will often hear managers talk about the importance of ‘setting expectations.’ But I believe the phrase should be banished from
the work place. Expectations are a belief that something will happen. Expectations are subjective, prone to change and often vague.
With expectations, there’s no concrete foundation for account- ability. Expectations tend be grey. Accountability is black and white. Was something done? Or not? That’s the beauty of accountability. It’s solid.
This de nition explains why agreements should be the basis for your commitments to others:
An agreement is a negotiated arrangement between parties on a course of action.
When two people—or a person with a group, or one group to another—enter into an agreement, both parties have discussed, negotiated and, ideally, come to a thorough understanding of what they’ve agreed upon.
That can range from an agree- ment to show up on time for a back- shop shift, to an agreement to lower labour costs in the turf department, tohittingatargetnumberofcorpo- rate tournaments in a season.
COMMITMENT IS KEY
When I have entered into an agree- ment, I have committed to it. This is important because commitment is the engine of accountability. It provides the energy that leads to the action that will satisfy the agreement. Without action, goals are just dreams.