One of the most problematic issues many businesses face today is an accountability gap between leadership and the rest of the organization. It can be uncomfortable to hold senior members accountable for what might be lacking in their leadership styles. Yet, because leadership has a strong ripple effect across an organization, poor leadership and a lack of accountability can have serious repercussions on business. Gallup even found that one out of two employees has quit a job due to poor leadership and an inability of leaders to hold themselves accountable.
A business must be honest with itself about its limitations regarding leadership so the rest of the organization can thrive. It’s as simple as that. Ultimately, that leads to why it can be very valuable to engage an executive coach who can offer a third-party perspective.
Through business leadership coaching, leaders understand how their behaviors impact the rest of the organization. After just a short time working with coaches, leaders can develop the skills necessary to lead not just others but themselves. That’s why executive coaching is important. It is a form of necessary talent development in organizations from the leadership perspective.
Small Steps for Leaders to Make a Big Difference
The question then remains, how can leaders hold themselves and their teams accountable? What small changes can you make today for organizational success tomorrow? To learn how great leaders can embrace organizational and personal accountability so that everyone thrives, consider these three steps:
1. Lead brilliantly.
Impostor syndrome can be felt by leaders at all levels of an organization. Depending on the amount of support and development within the company, you might not feel like you understand what is expected of you as a leader — that, or it’s shrouded in corporate jargon, such as “Facilitate a career planning discussion with direct reports after completing performance reviews.”
One of our clients decided to be the kind of manager she hoped for when first embarking on her career by truly explaining the organizational vision, helping her team members connect it with their responsibilities, and involving them in development opportunities. It’s all about being the kind of leader that top talent wants to work for and stay for and then identifying leadership potential and helping them develop for their next role.
2. Fulfill company promises.
Employees want to be part of authentic organizations, which is dependent on whether they’re being led by authentic leaders. Assist your organization by driving campaigns and having critical conversations with your peers about how to “close the gaps” where your business is behaving differently than how it’s represented in the marketplace. Studies have shown that authenticity leads to greater productivity and retention.
When a senior director at a consumer technology company noticed comments on how working for the organization was very different from its publicly celebrated values, he knew something had to be done. He took it upon himself to spearhead a series of listening sessions, where employees had the opportunity to share how the company could improve how it “lives” its values. The initiative has become a biannual event.
3. Drive holistic enterprise success over individual success.
Leaders who can guide their peers to truly work together and leverage the greater good of their organization will experience tremendous success. Look for ways to offer support and instill a better understanding of everyone’s interdependencies throughout the company. It’s well known that teamwork encourages greater employee engagement, which leads to higher productivity and lower turnover.
We worked with a senior leader who was experiencing a culture of secrecy upon joining a new brand. People were withholding information, even among the leadership group. After working in organizations with much more transparency and collaboration, she spearheaded a new practice at quarterly town halls.
After getting buy-in from the CEO, she challenged leaders from the VP level and up to share examples of how they’d collaborated across functions in the last month and the impact of the exercise. While the first few town halls didn’t bring many examples, the energy and excitement grew by the third. Employees began to realize how sincere their leaders were in this effort. Most importantly, they saw how impactful the results were when teamwork was encouraged.
Final Thoughts
Many organizations seek to reevaluate themselves, their core values, and their practices, and that starts internally. Executive coaching offers the guidance necessary to begin looking not only at the organization for ways to improve, but also within the leadership team. Leaders start to realize their strengths and areas for improvement and how their behaviors can have profound impacts on those around them. It’s then a matter of putting in the work to be the change they want to see.
If you’d like additional information on executive coaching or to learn more about how bluSPARC™ can help you build a phenomenal leadership team, please get in touch today. We’d be more than happy to discuss our solutions with you.
