How Personal Accountability Drives Team Performance and Success

I love what I do for a living. I meet the most incredible people who are building amazing companies. Most recently, I shared this observation with a client CEO, who responded, "Well, if I could only do it without people!" I had to laugh.

The "problem with people" is pervasive. After all, a single human being is complex. Multiply that by many human beings (aka, your employees), and you can have one giant, complicated hairball of an organization. So, how do you get to this thing called "High Performance?" Indeed, the path of progress toward high performance is a journey. Let's focus, though, on how to begin the journey of accountability in the workplace to drive team performance and help you achieve your goals.

The road to high performing teams is a series of conversations — lots of them. You might think people should just know what to do, but they don't. Don't force your people to "guestimate" what you want them to do. A leader's job is to set clear expectations and serve as an accountability coach to their people. So the road to high performance is powered by the power of personal accountability with all of your team members and having a clearly defined leadership accountability model to reach your long-term strategic plans. To begin holding others accountable, you must start with yourself.

One simple technique for building personal accountability is the "QBQ." This terrific and powerful technique helps you help those around you. John G. Miller first popularized it in his book, The QBQ: The Question Behind the Question. Let's look at how this little but powerful technique can help you build a sense of personal accountability.

If you have a high performance organization, you have a collection of individuals who understand and accept personal accountability. Without personal accountability, there can be no team culture of accountability. The key is coaching people to begin thinking for themselves (vs. spoon-feeding them). Instead of telling people what you need them to do, what you want them to do, or how you want them to do it, coach them to come up with their own solutions and strategies. Along the way, you'll also begin building higher-level critical thinking skills as well, and be more likely to achieve your desired results.

The QBQ Model for Team Accountability

A QBQ is a question that follows these two guidelines:

1. The question begins with "What" or "How."
2. The question includes a pronoun (such as "I," "we," or "you"). Which pronoun to include depends on the situation — "you" can feel like pointing a finger, so use it deliberately, especially when the person isn't yet accepting personal accountability.

The result: you move the problem-solving to the person, shift it away from you, and coach the individual to create their own potential solutions to drive personal and team accountability.

Sample Team Example Scenario

Let's look at an example. George is your head of IT. He's been with your organization for almost one year. He's a great guy, but he's a hard driver. He stomps on everybody's territory, although he probably doesn't mean to do that. He's brilliant. Challenges are beginning to emerge, though: his leadership team peers don't see him as a resource because he talks "above" everyone, and his own IT staff don't even like approaching him. Recently, in a leadership team meeting, he was arrogant and technical when presenting a solution, and no one walked away seeing a solution — they saw complexity.

You've tried to talk to George before. He nods, or scoffs and mumbles something as he walks off. Nothing changes. So how do you coach George toward accepting personal accountability for how he interacts with the team? One solution: open-ended questions, following the QBQ model.

The Conversation: Building "Personal Accountability"

Set the stage for a one-on-one conversation with George. First, share your observations. Second, ask him for his thoughts and listen. Finally, shift toward guiding George to create his own solution — put the ball in his court with a question that bounces off something he said.

Team Accountability Question Examples

• Indeed, IT is complicated. So, how might you go about making it uncomplicated for the team?
• What specific solution did you intend to reveal to the team? How might you state that more clearly?
• How can you answer a question more effectively when it's asked?
• What can you do to increase your communication effectiveness?
• How might you build the trust you feel others should have in you?
• What resources might you need to help with your solution?
• How can I be a resource for you?
• What was the goal of your Leadership Team presentation?
• How will you go about getting this done by the end of this quarter? What needs to shift?
• What can you delegate to others, and how might you do that so people don't feel "dumped" on?

Keep asking questions that begin with "What" and "How." If your question doesn't get answered, repeat it.

In the end, sum up the conversation for clarity:

• So, what did we decide today?
• What three things are you going to do by the end of the quarter?
• How can I be a resource for you? What do you need from me?

What Traits Separate Accountable Leaders From Ineffective Ones?

The QBQ model is the how of an accountability conversation. But leaders who get poor results from their teams usually aren't missing a technique — they're missing the underlying traits that make people willing to be coached in the first place. When we asked teams to name the leaders who brought out their best work, the same characteristics came up again and again.

Leaders who build accountability tend to:

• Model admirable behavior
• Genuinely care about the people on the team
• Demonstrate empathy
• Believe in team members' potential
• Provide real opportunities, not just assignments
• Hold high expectations and provide encouragement
• Create a safe environment for people to be candid
• Ask for input before deciding
• Show up consistently
• Mentor and coach often
• Are willing to be vulnerable themselves

Leaders who undermine accountability tend to:

• Change expectations without warning
• Show narcissism or self-focus
• Erode trust through inconsistency
• Have a poor moral compass or lack integrity
• Default to a negative attitude and comments
• Blame others when things go wrong
• Take credit for the team's work
• Show little interest in their team members' growth
• Say one thing and do another

If you want a gut check, try the exercise that produces lists like these: ask your own team, anonymously, which leaders in their past brought out their best work, and what those leaders actually did. The pattern that comes back is usually a clearer mirror than any self-assessment.

Cultivating team accountability is hard work, but it starts at the individual level — both in the conversations you have and the traits you model while having them. As a leader, it requires your time, energy, and pure leadership. And along the way, don't forget to have an accountability discussion with yourself, too. It all begins with you.