Achieve with Accountability: Ignite Engagement, Ownership, Perseverance, Alignment, and Change

By Mike Evans

ACCOUNTABILITY IS THE CATALYST THAT IGNITES: Accelerated Change, Robust Employee Engagement, Intensified Ownership, Relentless Perseverance, Impeccable Alignment, and propels individuals, teams and organizations to desired results.

Accountability crumbles silos, boosts teamwork and collaboration, strengthens camaraderie, creativity, resiliency, agility, trust, and communication

Achieve with Accountability presents a recipe for awakening the whatever it takes attitude to achieve what matters most to individuals, teams and organizations. Discover how to transform accountability into a positive, engaging and forward looking experience that will secure your position in the new world of work. Learn how to kick-start a revolution that will blast your team or organization to new heights of success. We are in a brawl with no rules, where the fast, flexible and agile will eat and spit out the slow, over-thinking and complacent. When you relinquish accountability you place your future in the hands of other people or events. It's only by taking accountability and ownership for our circumstances that we can achieve what matters most. Embrace the accountability fundamentals that have helped individuals, teams and organizations for years to achieve and exceed what matters most.

With the world coming at us fast and furious every day, it's easy to feel like you've lost control of your own life, your team or your organization. By choosing to take and lead accountability you reclaim control and are able to direct your own destiny.

• Develop the agility, flexibility and resiliency to adapt and thrive during constant change
• Foster a can-do, resolute, solutions focus in the face of difficult challenges, obstacles and barriers
• Eradicate the blame-game and vanquish excuse-making that stifles peak performance
• Shed feelings of disarray, discomfort, apathy, entitlement, indifference and despair
• Take control over your circumstances and achieve what matters most
• Unleash voluntary contributions of discretionary performance that is often left untapped in individuals, teams and organizations
• Establish unshakable trust and credibility

Accountability is a current that feeds into the slipstream of success. Your performance, your decisions, and your results are all your responsibility; when you operate from that premise, magic happens. Achieve with Accountability shows you how to nourish that can-do mindset, so you can begin to achieve what matters most.

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Wiley
• Release date: Jan 17, 2017
• ISBN: 9781119314097

Mike Evans

A musician on the Sixties rock scene, Mike Evans began writing about popular music in the 1970s while a broadcaster in local radio, his work appearing in a variety of publications including Sounds, Cream, the Guardian, Elle and as a regular contributor to the UK's top music weekly newspaper Melody Maker. He wrote the much-acclaimed The Art of the Beatles in 1984, and the bestselling Elvis: A Celebration, which he researched and wrote in collaboration with the Elvis Presley Estate in Memphis and The Art of British Rock in 2010. Fleetwood Mac: The Definitive History was published in 2011, and in 2012 Neil Young and Ukulele Crazy. He lives and works in Hastings, on England's south coast.

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Copyright © 2017 by Mike Evans. All rights reserved.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.

Published simultaneously in Canada.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available:

978-1-119-31408-0 (Hardcover)

978-1-119-31410-3 (ePDF)

978-1-119-31409-7 (ePub)

Cover Design: Wiley

Cover Image: © Jose A. Bernat Bacete/Getty Images

To Zack and Nick, my heroes.

The Author

Mike Evans has developed a unique perspective from working alongside a star‐studded list of world‐renowned thought leaders, including Dr. John Kotter, Dr. Stephen Covey, Tom Peters, Jim Kouzes, Hyrum Smith, Steve Farber, and Chris McChesney.

Mike served in senior leadership and consulting roles with Kotter International, FranklinCovey, and Tom Peters Company.

In addition to unleashing personal and organizational accountability, clients rely upon Mike's solutions to Accelerate Change, Shape Their Optimal Culture, Flawlessly Execute Key Strategies, Ignite Leadership Capacity at All Levels, and Amplify Employee Engagement.

He consults with senior teams, facilitates custom workshops, delivers keynote speeches, and provides coaching and consulting on all of these subject areas.

Mike has worked with organizations in virtually every arena, from the tech sector to financial services, manufacturing, health care, hospitality, entertainment, retail, and the US government. Clients include: Intel, Capital One, Apple, BP, BNY Mellon, Pfizer, The United States Navy, Fidelity Investments, Johnson & Johnson, Symantec, Cigna Corporation, Oracle, Astra Zeneca, Baxter International Inc., Shell Oil, Cargill, American Airlines, DuPont USA, and NASA.

His personal mission is to help individuals, teams, and organizations accelerate their ability to achieve more than they ever believed possible. Clients describe him as inspiring, motivating, and a ball of energy with an unequaled focus and passion for helping them achieve their desired results.

Reach Mike at: www.questmarkcompany.com or [e-mail]

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Resources, Solutions, and Workshops

There is a reason that accountability continues to top the critical needs list of most organizational leaders. These leaders are keenly aware that accountability is the essential ingredient that allows individuals, teams, and organizations to soar and leave the competition in their wake.

Accountability helps individuals, teams, and organizations

Develop the agility, flexibility, and resiliency to adapt to constant change

Adopt a can‐do, solutions focus and resolute mindset in the face of difficult challenges, obstacles, and barriers

Eradicate the blame‐game and excuse‐making that stifles peak performance

Strengthen collaboration and teamwork

Shed feelings of disarray, discomfort, apathy, entitlement, cynicism, and despair

Cultivate a sense of control over your circumstances to achieve what matters most

Establish unshakable trust and credibility

Unleash voluntary contributions of discretionary performance that is often left untapped in individuals, teams, and organizations

Stimulate creativity and innovation

Flawlessly execute crucial strategies

Galvanize alignment and ownership

Ignite a desire to learn, grow, and improve

If you are interested in creating a highly accountable team or organization, Mike and QuestMark offer the following options and solutions:

Speaking: Bring Mike Evans into your organization, your conference, or offsite event to keynote on: Accountability, Change Leadership, Culture Shaping, Exemplary Leadership, Flawless Execution, or Employee Engagement

Workshops: Schedule an interactive, half‐day, one‐day, or multiple‐day onsite custom workshop for your team or organization:

Cultivate a Highly Accountable Team

Leading and Accelerating Change

Creating Your Optimal Culture

Flawless Execution—Achieve What Matters Most

Unleash Exemplary Leadership Capacity at All Levels

Consulting: Hire Evans and QuestMark to advise, counsel, and coach your team. Integrate proven and pragmatic models, tools, methodologies, and principles into your leadership repertoire to supplement and enhance your current efforts.

To Learn More Visit: www.questmarkcompany.com or contact [e-mail]

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Preface: Taking Accountability

If Not You, Who?

Accountability continues to be a topic high on the list of interests of executives and organizational leaders. What we find more interesting is that accountability is just as high on the list of what employees want from their peers. Everyone wants more!

Accountability is the catalyst to accelerated change, robust employee engagement, intensified ownership, relentless perseverance, impeccable alignment, and it propels individuals, teams, and organizations to intoxicating heights of achievement and success.

Accountability crumbles silos, boosts teamwork and collaboration, strengthens camaraderie, creativity, resiliency, agility, trust, and communication.

Achieve with Accountability presents a recipe for awakening the belief, resolve, confidence, perseverance, determination, can‐do mindset, whatever‐it‐takes attitude, esprit de corps, drive, and creativity to achieve what matters most to individuals, teams, and organizations. Discover how to transform accountability into a positive, engaging, and forward‐looking experience that will secure your position in the new world of work. Learn how to kick‐start a revolution to achieve what matters most.

Why Accountability?

We are in a brawl with few rules, where the fast, flexible, and agile will eat and spit out the slow, over‐thinking, and complacent. In the past, change was episodic, transient, and gradual; now, change is constant as business, technology, and society itself continue to evolve at an ever more rapid pace. Individuals, teams, and organizations that fail to adapt will find themselves vulnerable, uncomfortable, and at the mercy of other people, events, or the competition.

With the world coming at you fast and furious every day, it is easy to feel like you have lost control of your life, your team, or your organization. By choosing to take and lead accountability, you reclaim control and are able to direct your own destiny, as well as the fate of your team or organization. Accountability is a current that feeds into the slipstream of success. Your performance, your decisions, and your results are all within your control; when you operate from that premise, magic happens. You deliver like never before because you are personally invested in the outcome. Achieve with Accountability shows you how to nourish that can‐do mindset so that you can start achieving what matters most. Accountability helps individuals, teams, and organizations

Develop the agility, flexibility, and resiliency to adapt to constant change

Adopt a can‐do, solutions focus, and resolute mindset in the face of difficult challenges, obstacles, and barriers

Eradicate the blame‐game and excuse‐making that stifles peak performance

Strengthen collaboration and teamwork

Shed feelings of disarray, discomfort, apathy, entitlement, cynicism, and despair

Cultivate a sense of control over your circumstances to achieve what matters most

Establish unshakable trust and credibility

Unleash voluntary contributions of discretionary performance that is often left untapped in individuals, teams, and organizations

Stimulate creativity and innovation

Flawlessly execute crucial strategies

Galvanize alignment and ownership

Ignite a desire to learn, grow, and improve

Individuals, teams, and organizations that are mired in the blame‐game, self‐pity, excuse‐making, cynicism, complacency, and apathy, and that lack alignment, engagement, and ownership to achieve what matters most, are in jeopardy. When you relinquish accountability, you place your future in the hands of fate. It is only by taking accountability and ownership for our circumstances that we can achieve what matters most. Today is the day to start owning your situation and take control—to orchestrate and realize the future you want.

Start believing in you, your team, and your organization. Embrace the accountability fundamentals that have helped individuals, teams, and organizations for years to achieve and reach beyond what they had believed was possible. The race is about to begin. Don't miss the starting gun while wallowing in the blame‐game.

What Is Instigating the Call for More Accountability?

There are myriad reasons individuals, teams, and organizations crave more accountability. Some that are listed below may strike close to home. What would you add to the list? What realities are you, your team, or organization faced with right now that heightened levels of accountability would be the ideal prescription?

Winning in the New World of Work

For many of the reasons cited above, Beth and her leadership team of nine were always looking for a competitive advantage. So the opportunity to attend a forum with a world‐renown authority was a no‐brainer. Almost immediately, this guru captivated Beth's team.

He started with passion and energy, "The interplay of unstoppable forces that are creating the ‘Perfect Storm’ in the deep waters of commerce will sink organizations and individuals that are ill prepared, or that lose focus on what they have identified as most important.

"The white waters of change are unnerving for many. But the fact is they will only become more turbulent. For organizations and employees who are unprepared, the future will be devastating.

"The need for increased levels of personal and organizational accountability has never been higher. And that need will expand daily.

"Consider:

There are companies and entrepreneurs at this moment looking to reinvent the way your business is done. How many bookstores were wiped out because of Amazon.com? What happened to Kodak? Blockbuster? Sears? Woolworth's? Nokia? Rest assured there are some college students ensconced in a dorm room somewhere about to revolutionize your industry.

How many jobs have been expunged, teams eliminated, and firms driven to extinction due to ERP, SAP, the Internet, or White‐Collar Robots (e.g., Cash Machines). Blue‐collar robots came and triumphed. Are you, your team, and your company confident that the value you exhibit outweighs these options? What are you doing to take accountability for your future success?

MIT's No. 1 computer guru, Michael Dertuzos, said not long ago that India could easily boost its GDP by a trillion dollars in the next few years. How? By performing backroom white‐collar tasks for Western companies. He estimated that fifty million (white‐collar) jobs could be sucked from the West and transplanted to India, at less than half the cost. What are you doing to take accountability to make certain one of those jobs is not yours in the future?

It took thirty‐eight years for the radio to get to fifty million users. The Internet got there in four years. Change is coming at us faster than ever before. There is no time to rest on our success. Success often leads to complacency, and complacency kills. What is your plan to take accountability to keep up with the pace of change?

In his book, Change or Die: The Three Keys to Change at Work and in Life, Alan Deutschman, cites that only one in nine people will make lifestyle changes (diet, exercise, etc.) after they are told they could prolong their life, restore their health, and even reverse diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease. Even when people know that these relatively simple changes can potentially save their lives, 90 percent choose to not take accountability to do so. Imagine the gargantuan task leaders face in order to create heightened levels of personal accountability for organizational objectives when only 10 percent of people will make simple changes to save their own lives.

Every job being performed by white‐collar workers employed in any corporation is also being performed by someone on the outside that can be hired as a consultant to do the same work, probably with higher quality, and at a lower cost. How are you, or your team taking accountability to make sure you or your department survives in the new world of work?

Whether individually, as a team, or organizationally if you cannot answer these three questions in a compelling manner, you are in trouble: What is the overt benefit I/we offer? What reasons can I/we point to as to why anyone should believe I/we are the best option? How am I, or are we, dramatically different from all other options?

The speaker paused, surveying his audience before driving home his final point: "Those who will survive and thrive in this new world of work are individuals, teams, and organizations who can maintain high levels of accountability, remain focused, and do whatever it takes to achieve what matters most.

To take and lead accountability? If not you, who?

Chapter 1

Taking Accountability

Positively the Best Decision

Frustration and exasperation were escalating among Janet's team. Their attempts to heighten accountability to boost organization performance and achieve better results had negligible impact. In fact, there was a noticeable decline in morale, enthusiasm, and engagement, with a touch of resentment and irritation to boot.

Fierce competition, shrinking margins, pressure to innovate, new government regulations, and a downturn in the economy had Squire Medical on its heels. Squire Medical was losing ground to the competition at an alarming rate.

Clayton offered, It seems our plan to instill a stronger focus on personal accountability has had little to no affect on achieving more accountability. If anything, we have created stress, anxiety, acrimony, bitterness, and tension among the workforce.

The board of directors viewed Janet as an up‐and‐coming leadership superstar. They had seen her perform miracles in other roles over the previous two years and had confidence in her abilities to resurrect what was once an industry leader. Complacency, with a hint of arrogance, had thrust Squire Medical into a downward spiral. The competition was intense and the stakes were high. Employee morale and engagement were at an all‐time low. Top talent was leaving in droves and those remaining had little hope of things getting better. There was a very real possibility that the plug may be pulled and assets sold off.

I agree with Clayton. I have observed the same reactions, Janet said. "We must create a culture that is engaged, focused, resilient, innovative, and agile.

"I believe I may have a solution to jump‐start that journey. I had an epiphany last night while attending a Miracles for Kids meeting. Within our volunteer group it is commonplace that every member is passionate, engaged, committed, and energetic when asked to get involved with a project. Members leap at the opportunity to participate, take ownership, and accountability. Everyone involved voluntarily chooses to take personal accountability to achieve what matters most. There is an indestructible level of personal ownership among all involved, and nothing will deter the members from accomplishing the desired outcomes.

Obstacles, challenges, and barriers are viewed as trivial and as minor bumps in the road on our way to attaining our goals. Excuse‐making, finger‐pointing, blame, and inaction simply do not exist. The group's desire, focus, determination, and can‐do mindset are unrivaled. With all of the external challenges we are faced with at this time, that same passion, zeal, and energy are paramount to our future success here.

Not quite sure what Janet meant, Clayton asked for clarification.

What I discovered, Janet shared, "is that too often accountability is something that is addressed after the fact. Most often after a mistake is made, when somebody drops the ball or when someone screws up. So naturally in those circumstances, accountability is viewed as punitive, historic, focused on blame, and unpleasant. Far too many people hold a negative connotation or perception of accountability because of their past experiences.

Think about it, when do you typically hear the question being asked, ‘Who is accountable?’

Andrew, dripping with indignation, chimed in, Usually after somebody makes a mistake.

Exactly! So, what are people really hearing when that question is asked?

Who messed up and who is to blame! Andrew stated with a tone of disdain.

And when they are really hearing ‘who is to blame,’ what do people tend to come up with?

A litany of excuses, stories, and reasons, Andrew declared. People spend more time explaining why something is not their fault than they do on finding a solution.

And time spent playing the blame‐game is not helping anyone, added Janet. "And as we hear more excuses being offered, as leaders we often are mistakenly compelled to ask the question ‘who is accountable’ even more. Not realizing that we are reinforcing the prevailing perception many hold of accountability being a negative experience. The more we ask the question