By Curt Fowler
“Accountability breeds response-ability.” Stephen R. Covey
Why do we all run from accountability? We all want the “freedom” to act in the way we want, based on our feelings at that time. The problem is that our “feelings” rarely take us to the place we want to go. For the great majority of the population, our feelings take us down the path of least resistance.
Accountability works. There is great power in a group of like-minded peers pushing one another towards a common and worthy goal. Most likely, you’ve seen accountability work in your personal life. This post is about how to bring that power into your workplace.
The fourth discipline of execution is to create a cadence of accountability. It is a frequently recurring cycle of responsibility for past performance and a transparent commitment to future performance.
This accountability occurs in what “The 4 Disciplines of Execution” (4DE) refers to as WIG (Wildly Important Goal) sessions. These sessions harness the power of the other three disciplines (Focus on the Wildly Important, Acting on Lead Measures & Keep a Compelling Scorecard) to consistently move the organization forward on its most important goals.
A WIG session occurs at least once per week and lasts no longer than 20-30 minutes. The 4 Disciplines WIG agenda is simple and consists of three parts, Account, Review and Plan.
- Account: Report on Commitments. Each team member report goes something like this, “I committed to call three potential customers last week and here is what I learned…”
- Review the Scoreboard: Sounds something like this, “Our lag measure (the outcome you want) is green, but one of our lead measures fell to yellow (which could drive down your lag measure). This is what happened…”
- Plan: Clear the Path and Make New Commitments. Sounds like “I will meet with Joe next week to discuss options for improving our lead measure. I will report back next week with three options to help us improve.”
There are two key questions that drive productive WIG meetings:
- Before the meeting, each team members should ask themselves, “What are the one or two most important things I can do this week to impact the lead measures?”
- During the meeting, leadership should ask “What can I do this week to clear the path for you?”
Let your team make their own commitments and come up with their best ideas on how to make forward progress on the WIG. Personal ownership is key to execution.
Keep up the discipline of WIG meetings and you will notice your team becoming more and more engaged in reaching your WIG.
Deep inside everyone one of us is a desire to accomplish great things. By developing a Wildly Important Goal for your team and empowering them to achieve it, you are giving them the opportunity to accomplish great things while they earn a paycheck! This makes for a great place to work and an effective organization.
If you are ready to get started reaching your organization’s most important goals, head over to our free Resource Library at https://valuesdrivenresults.com/resource-library/.
As always, you can reach me at 229.244.1559 if I can help in any way.
Curt Fowler is President of Fowler & Company (http://valuesdrivenresults.com/) and Director at Fowler, Holley, Rambo & Stalvey (http://valdostacpa.com/). He is dedicated to helping leaders create and achieve a compelling vision for their organizations. Curt is a syndicated business writer and keynote speaker. He has an MBA in Strategy and Entrepreneurship from the Kellogg School, is a CPA, and a pretty good guy as defined by his wife and four children.
Have a business growth topic you’d like me to cover? Send suggestions to cfowler@valuesdrivenresults.com.
