zf leadership accountability

8 Critical Behaviors that

Leverage Accountability

Joe Folkman

President, Zenger Folkman

© 2014 Zenger Folkman Company. All Rights Reserved.

About Zenger Folkman

• Zenger Folkman is the authority in “strengths-based” leadership development.

• Our extensive research proves that by focusing on strengths, organizations will boost employee productivity, strengthen employee commitment, and improve bottom-line profitability.

• We use hard science to develop good managers into extraordinary leaders.

multiple choice

Please vote now

poll a.Not an issue b.Some concern c. Big issue—lots of concern

How is the issue of personal accountability viewed in your organization?

3

Increase the level of accountability

• Conventional wisdom • Platitudes “Guilt and Inspiration”

• RESEARCH

Client Request

4

Two Choices

© Zenger Folkman 2014

In Addition to Our Standard 16 Competencies, We Have Researched Over 50 Additional Competencies Follows Through on Commitments

Ensure Alignment with Core Values

Personal Accountability

Humility

Business Acumen

Intellectual Power

Decision Making

Decisiveness

Sound Decisions

Dealing with Ambiguity

Self-Awareness

Ability to Change

Accepts Feedback

Control Emotions

Command Skills

Managing and Executing Projects

Clear – Effective Processes

Simplicity - Efficiency

Getting Others to Step Up

Be Courageous

Encourages Speaking Up

Asks Powerful Questions

Listening

Written Communication

Demonstrates the Ability to Influence

Project Optimism

Is Trusted

Values Diversity

Gives Recognition

Recruits and Retains

Conducts Reviews and Takes Action

Delegation

Personally Supports Others Development

Helps Set Goals/Performance Expectation

Provides Feedback

Managing Across Boundaries

5

Operational Excellence

High Standards

Consensus Building

Balance Long Term with Day to Day

Managing Vision & Purpose

Organizational Savvy

Planning & Organization

Goal Alignment

Addresses Conflicts and Disagreements

Consensus Building

Intelligent Risk Taking

Thinking Like a Customer

Business Development

Global Mindset

Market Insight

Safety Leadership

A Critical Behavior that Will Leverage Leadership

• Greater sense of responsibility for results

• Increase in a personal sense of ownership

• Much less finger pointing when things go wrong

IMPROVE ACCOUNTABILITY


How Can We Increase ACCOUNTABILITY?

Correlation between accountability and control

The greater the control or influence the higher the accountability.


Control and Influence

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1.5

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2.5

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3.5

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4.5

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Top Management Middle Management Employees

Amou

nt o

f Con

trol

/Influ

ence

Autocratic Lassez Faire Democratic

Arnold Tannenbaum and colleagues developed “Control Graph” theory as a methodology for measuring control or influence.

Research Question

Can we predict

organization outcomes with

the angle of the curve?



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1.5

2

2.5

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3.5

4

4.5

5


Amou

nt o

f Con

trol

/Influ

ence

Autocratic

Arnold Tannenbaum and his colleagues developed “Control Graph” theory as a methodology for measuring control or influence.

Results

The angle of the curve did not

predict.

What did predict?

The area under the curve!

Total Control



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1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

5


Amou

nt o

f Con

trol

/Influ

ence

Lower Total Control Higher Total Control

Arnold Tannenbaum and his colleagues developed “Control Graph” theory as a methodology for measuring control or influence.

Higher Total Control

The most effective organizations are those

where everyone has influence.

Common Belief

Demand Accountability

Let others Make all Decisions

Accountability Pep Talks


What can a leader do to increase a greater sense of accountability in others?

Research Methodology

39,312 Leaders

Found specific behaviors that increased personal accountability

398,730 Assessments

Behaviors That Increase Personal Accountability

Drive for Results

Ability to Change

Collaboration and

Resolving Conflict

Honesty and

Integrity

Trust

Problem Solving / Technical Expertise

Communication Clear

Vision & Direction


Driving for Results

• The three most critical issues associated with delivering results are . . .

–Focus –Focus –Focus

1. Drive for Results

Too often expected results are not clearly defined or not in the control

of the individual.

“It’s Not My Dog”

What Employees Say They Want

• Less work • Fewer challenging assignments • More reasonable goals • A vacation

multiple choice

Please vote now

poll 2. Which best describes your situation when you were most satisfied with your job? A. I had very little to do, no

challenge B. I was busy but was able to

accomplish a difficult task

17


Driving for Results

• Inspire them to high levels of effort • Energize them to achieve exceptional results • Create an atmosphere of continual

improvement • Skillful at getting them to stretch for goals

that go beyond what they originally thought possible

Employees who are

most satisfied

and committed

Results based on over 150,000 assessments of employees

Work for Leaders Who…

4 of the top 6 behaviors focus on achieving challenging goals


What Do You Think Bob’s Sign Says?

What does Bob’s

sign say?

2. Honesty and

Integrity


“Need a Beer”

Those who are accountable have the courage to tell the truth.

The Challenge

How do you respond to the following?

• You are behind on project and boss asks “how’s it coming?”

• In performance review with DR and they aren’t doing well…

Impact of the Loss of Trust

• If I do not trust my leader… –I am not confident that my efforts will

be rewarded –I suspect that the leader may take

advantage of me –I constantly question the leaders

motives –I am sure that they will take

credit for my accomplishments

•And therefore I am NOT accountable

3. Trust


The Three Pillars of Trust

Positive Relationships

Know

ledge/Expertise

Consistency

Bubbles

• Objective – pop all the bubbles • Where two or more bubbles

(same color) are connected they can be popped

• The more bubbles that are connected the higher the points (e.g., 2 = 5 points, 3 = 9 points, 4 = 15 points, etc.)

4. Clear Vision and Direction

Winning Strategy

• Select one color and work to connect as many bubbles as possible together

• On average this strategy will double a persons initial score

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Winning Strategy

Note that the score went from 990

to 3999

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Clear Strategy Makes Every Employee More Successful

• Final score 4459 • Employees can work hard and

do their job without being clear about the strategy, but they will make decisions that are suboptimal.

• People need clarity, reminders and reinforcement often.

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Will Selecting Two Colors Get You a Higher Score?

"The hunter who chases two rabbits,

catches neither one."

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It is impossible to feel accountable when you are confused and don’t know exactly how things work.

5. Problem Solving / Technical Expertise

Keeping Others Well Informed

(A) Tells

(B)

Asks

(C) Listens

Employees were asked to rate their manager on the following: “I am kept well informed about issues that impact my job.”

Looking at leaders who were rated in the top 10% we examined their effectiveness on three different skills

6. Communication

If this is a moderate strength...

probability of being in the top 10 at keeping others informed:

Impact of Telling – Giving Others Feedback

(A) Tells

(B) Asks

(C) Listens

but this isn’t... and this isn’t...

15.6%

Impact of Asking Questions Alone

(A) Tells

(B)

Asks

(C) Listens

If this is a not a strength...

but this is... and this isn’t...

probability of being in the top 10 at keeping others informed: 11.9%

Impact of Listening Alone

(A) Tells

(B)

Asks

(C) Listens

If this is a not a strength...

and this is not... but this is...


(A) Tells

(B)

Asks

(C) Listens

Using All Three Makes a Big Difference

If all three are moderate strengths…


7. Ability to Change

Key Factors that Leverage Personal Change

1. Willing to take on challenges 2. Ability to accept feedback 3. Concern for others 4. Innovation 5. Optimism 6. Clear goals and priorities

Studying thousands of leaders who were most effective at making personal and organizational changes, we found

they were more effective at the following behaviors:


Advice from a Senior Executive

“We put this organization together with the assumption that the sum of the parts would be greater than the individual pieces” “The only way that happens is when people collaborate”

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8. Collaboration

and Resolving Conflict


Team A • Highly competitive • Focused on individual

productivity • Team members are ambitious

Competition versus Cooperation

*Peter Blau of Columbia University

Team B • Highly collaborative • Focused on team productivity • Members focused on team goal

More Productive

and Successful

Select 1-2 Behaviors to Increase Personal Accountability For You/Your Direct Reports

Drive for Results

Champion Change

Collaboration and

Resolving Conflict

Honesty and

Integrity

Trust


Communication Clear

Vision & Direction


If Your Organization Has a Customized Competency Model

• We can do this kind of research for you.

• Using your existing 360-degree assessment, we can migrate the process from focusing on weaknesses to building on strengths.

• We can create for your organization a customized non-linear development guide to provide the insights on how a person can build their strengths.

THANK YOU!

The Authority in Strengths-based Leadership Development

Research proves that a focus on strengths boosts employee productivity, commitment, and profitability Organizations who work with us have experienced up to:

• 4.8 times higher profits • 70% higher employee engagement and productivity • 40% higher customer satisfaction • 50% less turnover

Contact us at [email protected]

zf leadership accountability

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