{"id":49890,"date":"2020-02-17T15:18:08","date_gmt":"2020-02-17T20:18:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.nmc.edu\/?p=49890"},"modified":"2020-03-17T10:06:06","modified_gmt":"2020-03-17T14:06:06","slug":"letter-from-the-president-accountability-how-we-turn-commitment-into-results","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.nmc.edu\/?p=49890","title":{"rendered":"Letter from the President: Accountability – How we turn commitment into results"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good afternoon NMC community! I hope you are all enjoying the beauty of northern Michigan in the winter. I have been exploring the region on several hikes and am just awestruck by what I am seeing! I am also thoroughly enjoying meeting with you, learning more about our college and being able to share my thoughts on strengthening our teams in these weekly Intercom posts. Thus far, as I\u2019ve sought to introduce the \u2018Five Behaviors of Cohesive Teams\u2019 to afford our College community a framework for building a strong NMC, we have covered: <\/span>trust<\/span><\/i>, <\/span>conflict<\/span><\/i>\u00a0and <\/span>commitment<\/span><\/i>. Here, I turn our attention to the fourth behavior, <\/span>accountability<\/span><\/i>; before concluding next week with <\/span>results<\/span><\/i>. But next week is not an ending, rather, it\u2019s a beginning.<\/span><\/p>\n

These are behaviors, proven by research, that lead to more effective teams and organizations. They are <\/span>espoused <\/span><\/i>values. The degree to which such espoused values are <\/span>lived<\/span><\/i> (e.g., actually <\/span>practiced <\/span><\/i>within NMC) determines their real impact. I have consciously sought to role model the behaviors with my direct reports \u2013 my team \u2013 in the President\u2019s Council, and in all of my daily interactions with the college and community. That said, I am conscious that I have a leadership practice \u2013 emphasis on <\/span>practice<\/span><\/i> \u2013 and, the challenge (for me, and all of us) is to try on the behaviors, to practice them. In addition to my role modeling, we will dedicate a part of each of the next five Leadership Council agendas, to afford us <\/span>practice time <\/span><\/i>with the five behaviors. Together, we must begin to hold each other accountable to practicing these behaviors.<\/span><\/p>\n

Practice, Practice, Practice<\/strong>.<\/strong> Practice is especially important when we consider that in a global study reported in the <\/span>Harvard Business Review<\/span><\/i>, 46% of managers were found to be poor at holding people accountable. The finding was the same for executives and directors. And, it held up across different cultures. The research clearly shows that accountability is a characteristic of high-performance teams and organizations, yet, we still struggle <\/span>doing it<\/span><\/i>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Why is it so important<\/strong>?<\/strong> Accountability is important in teams and a hallmark of the most effective organizations. Accountability among team members drives greater trust, productivity and innovation. Accountability frees team leaders from having to constantly micromanage their team members. For a team to get the best results, team members must be willing to hold each other accountable \u2013 to call one another on behavior or performance that doesn’t meet the standards the team has agreed on, or that hurts the team. Simply, <\/span>accountability is how we turn commitment into results<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n

How can we do it better<\/strong>?<\/strong> In most teams, people rely on the leader alone to make them accountable. But in the most cohesive and effective teams, everyone is accountable to each other. Shared leadership and collective ownership of the desired outcomes is the most effective source of accountability, and the greatest form of team strength. Being able to go to people directly to hold them accountable is the quickest and best way of getting things done. But it can be scary!<\/span><\/p>\n