plus four challenges to address.
by anthony zecca
leading from the edge
i’ve been focusing on the leadership accounting firms need to succeed in a future driven by seismic disruptors. we began with strategy, then empowerment. this third post will address the critical element that makes empowerment work – accountability.
more: the art of leadership: empowerment | the art of leadership, lesson one: strategy
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a characteristic of a great “edge” leader is the ability to empower everyone and understanding that as a leader, your responsibility is to lead and not manage. if you are the type of leader that manages, you own accountability since you can’t manage and empower at the same time. as i defined it in my previous post, a simple definition for empowerment that applies to all organizations is, “authority or power given to someone to do something.”
empowerment without accountability is like making ice without water – can’t be done. there are many ways to establish accountability and like empowerment, accountability does not happen because the leader talks about accountability or states, “starting tomorrow everyone will be held accountable.” like empowerment, accountability must exist and be alive at the core of the firm.
accountability is an integral building block of the firm’s culture resulting from the leader’s commitment to building a strong team that accepts responsibility and accountability for results they achieve individually and as a team. effective accountability should be a positive, career-building attribute of the firm’s culture and not a stick that punishes. when accountability is just a euphemism for blame, empowerment and accountability will sink faster than a cement block in water. leadership must be the power that ensures that accountability is a tool that enables every person in the firm to excel – the result is the firm will excel.
accountability is a tool that can be empowering and a strong driver of success and firm performance – or it can be like a rifle firing blanks when leadership does not hold everyone, including the entire leadership team, accountable for results. effective accountability requires that the intended result(s) are clearly communicated. results can be defined in various ways but regardless of how defined, it is essential that when someone is given the authority to do something, that individual understands what is expected in terms of results. in too many firms, too many leaders congratulate effort instead of rewarding results. when leaders accept excuses for why results were not achieved and accept effort as the currency of success, performance-driven accountability cannot exist.
as author tom smith stated, “an attitude of accountability lies at the core of any effort to improve quality, satisfy customers, empower people, build teams, create new products (services), maximize effectiveness, and get results.” smith has captured in one sentence the critical importance of accountability for any firm that wants to be a standout, high-performing firm.
there are four steps necessary to create a culture of accountability that will drive firm success:
- clear expectations: leadership must be very clear regarding expectations and boundaries so that everyone understands their span of decision-making authority as well as what is expected in terms of results.
- timely monitoring: the purpose of monitoring is not to catch individuals but to coach and help everyone make better decisions. mistakes will be made but appropriate monitoring should avoid costly mistakes and be seen as a positive action from leadership and not the “blame game” that exists in far too many firms.
- consistency: empowerment and accountability are inextricably linked and will not flourish and create the intended culture if steps 1 and 2 are not consistently applied. you can’t have one set of rules for partners and another for staff – accountability must be the same for everyone.
- consequences: the purpose for leadership to instill a culture of empowerment and accountability is to create an environment where better decisions are made firmwide at all levels and where every member of the firm is respected and trusted. to achieve that, there have to be consequences when the communicated and expected results are not being achieved. consequences must be relevant and appropriate based on the nature of the issue, and leadership must communicate with a clear message that with the power to make decisions comes the accountability for the results of decisions being made.
empowerment and accountability are not intended to create the wild west where everyone does what they want and makes whatever decisions they want. instilling a culture of accountability requires that leadership take the time to ensure that appropriate training is provided and that the proper tools and resources are available to enable everyone to be successful in decision making. it also requires that there be clear boundaries established and communicated so that everyone understands their span of decision-making authority.
let’s discuss the four key challenges firm leadership must understand and address if a culture of accountability is to flourish. each of these challenges, if not addressed by firm leadership, will result in team members retreating from decision making, forcing leadership to step into the void – result is leadership managing and not leading.
- the first challenge relates to a basic concept of effective decision making – is the data available timely and accurately upon which to base decisions? it is impossible to make correct and timely decisions if the data needed to inform that decision is not available timely and accurately.
- the second challenge has to do with managing risks in a decentralized (empowered) decision-making process. every decision made in the firm affects somebody, another team member, a supervisor, a client, a vendor, etc. although in many cases the issue and therefore the appropriate decision is relatively obvious, generally speaking the more critical the issue the greater the risk surrounding a decision. the higher the probability that the underlying issue will be misunderstood leading to a wrong decision must always be on the radar of leadership so that appropriate oversight (not making the decision) can exist.
- the third challenge is a natural impulsiveness driven by the stress of the decision-making responsibility and the pressure felt (real or imagined) to make a decision now or from simple overconfidence – “i know” versus the need sometimes to ask for help in making the decision.
- the fourth and final challenge relates to a common error made by leaders and every team member at times – making a decision based on preconceived notions. all of us have biases relating to most things and at times, we allow that bias to inform our decisions, which very often results in a poor decision.
the above four challenges exist in every firm and at every level from the firm leader down to the lowest level of administrative personnel because every single day, every single person makes a number of decisions. according to a study done in 2013 by sahakian & labuzetta, adults make about 35,000 conscious decisions each day. wow – did you ever think that you make this many decisions every day? this number may sound absurd, but in fact, we make 226.7 decisions each day on just food alone according to researchers at cornell university (wansink and sobal, 2007).
assuming you sleep 8 hours and work 8 hours and decisions are split between work and non-work hours 30%/70%, that would mean 10,500 decisions during business hours. as your level of responsibility increases, so does the decisions you are faced with – many being routine and low impact, but how many are not routine and high impact? the point is that empowerment and accountability are not just words leaders talk about. they are powerful commitments that require great trust in those who are empowered. they also reflect the importance of accountability for decisions being made at all levels of the firm.
leadership has a great responsibility that requires the leader to trust others and to surround that trust with accountability. leaders must ensure that every person in the firm understands the enormous potential consequence of being given authority and power to make decisions when that power is not taken seriously. leaders must ensure that there is a proper balance between accountability and the level of risk and impact surrounding decisions being made. i would bet that probably 90 percent of daily decisions made within the firm are relatively routine and low impact/risk. it’s the other 10 percent that firm leadership needs to focus on. there must be proper checks and balances surrounding the more critical decisions based on how effective each person has been in making these more difficult decisions.
i would be interested in your thinking about the above. does it make sense? if not, why not?