Today we want to talk to you about three rules for Driving Results through Accountability Partners.
We all know the concept of an accountability partner: Someone with whom we share our commitments, knowing that they will hold us accountable and responsible for executing what we told them we would do by when we said we would do it.
Here are some pitfalls of choosing the wrong accountability partner, along with some best practices for knowing whom you should pick.
Number One: Pick someone at the peer level: You should not pick your boss, and you should not pick any of your employees. Why? If you have people who work for you, or if you are working for someone, they may (or may not) have your best interests at heart. You want your partner to be someone at your peer level or someone outside of your organization.
When people are writing your performance review, (or when you are writing someone else’s), you are very unlikely to completely ignore things they told you they are trying to accomplish; things that you know they are not succeeding at.
Example: you might be writing a performance review for someone who is doing a fairly good job at work; and has said they are also trying to lose weight, cut back on Facebook time, and also, quit smoking. Because you know they failed at those, your perception is just a little bit lower than it might otherwise have been. And you, if you are like most human beings, are going on some level to let that impact your review. That would not be fair, because he or she is being rated on business performance, not on anything outside of business.
Number Two: Choose someone who has your best interests at heart. Further, we don’t want you to choose a person you are in competition with. So let’s talk about peers. If I have a peer that I am competing with, either for resources, or a promotion, that person is not a good accountability partner. My accountability partner has to have my best interests at heart.
Number Three: Choose someone who will be assertive and has the courage to tell me when I am messing up; or to challenge me when I am falling behind on a project, so I can achieve my desired business results, on time.
Having chosen an accountability partner, the burden is now on me to make it emotionally safe to challenge me when I am not keeping my commitments (and that’s what a coach must be able to do). So whether your accountability partner is a coach whom you hire externally, or someone whom you work with as a peer, or someone outside of the organization:
• We recommend that you get a partner; and soon.
• We recommend that you proactively publish your commitments and goals to that person; and
• That you make them feel emotionally safe when they do hold you accountable.
These are just a few of the ways you can drive better business results through using accountability partners.
Thank you for your continued interest, and we look forward to bringing you additional insights from our experts in future blogs.
If you want to learn more about Stepping Up, contact us.
As always, we welcome your comments. Join us on LinkedIn to share your experiences, or email us at [email protected].
