CHAPTER 22
The Power of Team Accountability
Olympic basketball final match, 2008, Beijing, China: USA versus Spain. Score: 85-86. Time left on the clock: 35 seconds.
Chris Paul has the ball and is coming up court. He dribbles to the top of the key and sees Kobe Bryant open on his right. Just as he’s ready to pass, Kobe’s iPhone goes off.
Kobe grabs the phone, looks at who’s calling, and answers. He holds up a finger so that Chris will hold the pass.
Time runs out. Gold medal: Spain.
You laugh. No way would Kobe have a phone on the court, and even if he did, he’d never take that call. But let’s imagine that the US team played basketball the way business leaders today run their businesses. Get the point? If executives played in the Olympic games, not only could this happen, but based on the way business leaders live by their smartphones, it would probably be the norm.
Why? Because most business leaders aren’t called out for their unproductive behaviors. Interrupting a meeting to look at an e-mail or pick up a call is disruptive 100 percent of the time. What’s more, it’s unnecessary and disrespectful to the person who is right there, face-to-face, giving you his precious time.
On the other hand, teams that hold each other accountable for unproductive behaviors outperform those that don’t. Unproductive behaviors are the precursor to unproductive results. When leaders model, and teammates are willing to give direct, honest feedback on what is not working, then behaviors change, results improve, and the entire team is raised to a new performance standard.
BREAK THUMPER’S FATHER’S RULE
We encourage you to break Thumper’s father’s rule, from the movie Bambi: If you can’t say somethin’ nice, don’t say anything at all.
That rule destroys teams and relationships! Relationships don’t break down because of the major differences between people. It might look that way, but by the time major differences show up, there have been tons of little annoyances that were never addressed. Those little things that went unspoken will lead to the big chasm. On teams it’s more important, even necessary, to encourage corrective feedback.
Back to Thumper and the real message to take away: If you don’t have anything nice to say, it is probably because you have needed to say something not so nice for a long time.
Most people want the truth. They want honesty, even when it stings. They especially want it from their teammates. As you might remember, CrisMarie and I (Susan) had to learn how to share the hard stuff. It didn’t work at first when I shared my feedback in front of a client, and she shared hers first on the plane ride home. We had to learn how to speak up to each other based on our different styles. Neither of us was happy to hear how we’d underperformed, but we got past that discomfort and were able to have a real conversation about how to communicate in the future.
Here’s the thing. When you don’t deal with the little things and clear them up, you wind up collecting other little bits of information that make that unproductive issue bigger and bigger.
Let’s say your business partner, Archie, isn’t great at getting all the details down after taking a call. You don’t say anything, because you don’t want to make a big deal of it.
It happens again. Still, it’s no big deal. You shake it off. You did get the message, and even though there was no number attached, you have an address book so you can make it work. At least that’s what you tell yourself.
Then you notice other little details Archie missed such as his expenses from his last trip, and the next steps he’s responsible for in closing a client. And recently, you heard from a client that she was annoyed that you didn’t get back to her in a timely manner. Surprised and embarrassed, you realize that it was a call Archie forgot to mention altogether!
You see how it grows. Now you have quite a case for Archie’s poor behavior.
Just imagine how that conversation will go. You will work to control your edge as you blurt out a laundry list of details that Archie has delinquently forgotten, and you blame Archie for your client being upset with you because of Archie’s poor behavior!
Trust us, it won’t go well, nor will it be helpful. There is a better way.
Imagine saying something when the first instance occurs or shortly afterward. We know; that’s radical.
“Archie, I’m uncomfortable bringing this up,” you might say, “but I noticed my phone messages don’t have all the details. I think you may be leaving out important information. This doesn’t work well for me. I wonder if you’ve noticed that this has happened now a couple times?”
Archie may get defensive (see the previous chapter for some advice if this happens). Archie may disagree. However, you’re being honest and clear with him, and this early in the process you may still be able to hear Archie’s perspective and even come up with a better system that works for both of you.
It helps to remember, if it were you: Would you want to hear straight feedback early, or would you want people to hold back, talk behind your back, and wait until the problem is bigger?
HOLD YOUR TEAMMATES ACCOUNTABLE FOR BEHAVIORS
Great results come when team members hold each other accountable. If team accountability doesn’t exist, the members will dissolve into mediocre performance.
When we say accountability, we don’t mean just holding someone accountable for deliverables. Most leaders are comfortable with doing that. ‘Archie, you were supposed to get that report to me on Monday. It’s Wednesday. Where is it?’
Instead, we mean holding your team members accountable for unproductive behaviors. As we’ve explored, unproductive behaviors are precursors to unproductive results and unproductive teams! Teams that master giving and receiving regular, direct, honest feedback are rare—and, frankly, the highest-performing.
Don’t let down your team by not speaking up early, even when it’s hard. Wouldn’t you want to know if what you were doing were causing problems? And wouldn’t you want to hear it first from someone who cares?
Let’s pick on someone besides Archie. Imagine that you are on the fictional IT team of Isaac, Martha, and Boyd.
How do you hold your teammates accountable? We help teams build a culture that holds members accountable in real time during team meetings. We have the leader model this behavior, which helps the team build the capacity to hold each other to these standards. In this way, people know that their behavior matters. It holds everyone to the same standards and saves a lot of time. However, most teams are not comfortable starting there. So with your fictional IT team, we suggest you start by making your move the same day Issac wasn’t on his best team behavior during your team meeting when Martha gave a presentation.
1. Context: Where and when it happened.
“Isaac, in our staff meeting this morning….”
2. Data: What you saw or heard him do.
“I noticed you checking your e-mail on your iPhone during Martha’s presentation. You also jumped up to take a call when the team was trying to come to a resolution about Boyd’s department.”
3. Impact: Your story and/or feelings about the behavior.
“I thought your e-mail checking interrupted the flow of Martha’s presentation. As for the call, when you left the room, the team stalled in making the decision because we needed your input. Now we have to come back to that discussion next week. I’m frustrated because I think it slows our team down and wastes a lot of time.”
4. Curiosity: Check out what is going on for him.
“I’m curious, are you aware of your impact? Do you agree or disagree?”
Isaac may get defensive, or he may be surprised because he didn’t realize the impact his actions had on the team and on you. If you just want to make Isaac wrong, the conversation won’t go well. But if you sincerely speak up to address a behavior you think doesn’t serve Isaac and the team, you are right on track.
People tell us, “I don’t want to be the first one to speak up. I’m afraid I’ll get fired.” We won’t lie, people do sometimes suffer consequences for speaking up, especially to difficult bosses. Even good bosses are taken by surprise, embarrassed, and react when someone critiques their behavior. It is human nature to want to be seen as competent. Being held accountable is not comfortable. There’s a reason we address this topic here and not at the beginning of the book. It takes time to help the leader and the team build this capacity.
If you are a team member and not the leader, we suggest you first propose the question about holding each other accountable at a team meeting. Then you can hear what others think, including your leader. You can air your concerns, discuss what support the team needs to build this ability, and even ask the leader, “How do we talk to you when we are uncomfortable with your behavior?”
Whether in sports or business, giving feedback and holding your peers accountable for unproductive behaviors is the key to improving team performance. And yes, as a leader, you need to model this behavior so that the team picks up the ball. When you do so, people know it’s safe and expected to provide feedback and to hold each other accountable for unproductive behaviors.
Now that you are equipped with new ME and WE abilities, let’s move to the piece you have been waiting for—solving tough business problems.