In this team series, we have discussed trust, healthy conflict, and commitment. The fourth behavior of a cohesive team is accountability. Quite naturally, when you hear the word accountability, you think that the onus is on the leader of the group to ensure that their people are on-task. However, with a cohesive team, the onus is on each member of the team to hold one another accountable and reliance on the leader for said accountability is unnecessary.
It is far more effective when members of the team can go directly to one another and provide honest direct feedback. When accountability remains in the hands of the leader, there is politics and ineffectiveness. Remember the first and most essential behavior of a cohesive team? TRUST! Trust is essential for any of the other four behaviors to manifest.
When teams embrace accountability, the results are phenomenal. Teams that fail to hold one another accountable experience resentment due to conflicting standards of performance, mediocrity, they miss deadlines and key deliverables, place an undue burden on the team leader, and experience higher levels of negative politicking. In short, accountability is the willingness of team members to remind one another when they are not living up to agreed-on performance standards.
Accountability, like the other behaviors we’ve outlined, begins with the leader! When leaders model the expected behavior of the team, it reinforces the desired outcomes. While the leader is the ultimate source for accountability, he should not be the primary source. Remember, the team needs to find ways to hold each other to the standards being set. Visit The Marlo Company today and learn how we can facilitate your team transformation.
