On Goals Luciano Explains the key to setting goals in both business and life.
Good morning to all my friends who read and follow my blog postings. Today I want to talk about a touchy subject called accountability. Now let us be honest first of all because sometimes we believe in our minds that we are always accountable for our own actions and the truth of the matter is that yes we think we are but are we becomes the real question.
"Failure is A Success Only If You Learn From It"-Luciano Santini
I have found that when someone brings up a topic that few people either do not want to talk about or have issues admitting to themselves that perhaps they are not perfect and the other that they do not know everything could and does become a real problem for any individual that really believes that.
What is accountability and what does it mean to each of us?
Accountability is:
Accountability means taking responsibility of one's activity. In
public service, the idea of accountability is that the performance of
institutions, groups and individuals be judged according to some
measurable criteria.
First, no one has a clear, consistent definition of accountability.
Many talk a good game, but few actually know what it means. My
second thought is that most often the call for more accountability
is really an unspoken desire for more consequences (i.e., reward for
achievement and punishment for failure).
Lets talk about what and how it will affect you as an part of staff or as the manager of operations. I love this article by a friend of a friend of mine who wrote this a while back and I remember clearly when it was first published and thought wow this a real clear definition and broken down to what it means to be accountable.
One needs to understand what this means and how to apply the structure in any organization or any team. If the team does not understand what it means and understand the end result then for sure the team will fail however if the manager or the leader of the team it for that matter any team the project will fail.
People ask me all the time so what is it exactly what you do Luciano?
My short answer is I provide solutions to your problems and if i do not have it then I will find someone who does but I will always find the solution to your problem or issues you as a person or your business is facing that is what I do in a nutshell my friends.
by Paul Gillard, PhD & Rachel Radwinsky, PhD
What is Accountability?
When shame-faced politicians, greedy bankers or celebrity executives say “I take complete accountability for my actions” at their mea culpa,
please-forgive-me press conferences, we generally accept these types of
statements as apologies (even when paired with “voluntary”
resignations). Is this how someone is held accountable? Accountability
is more than a phrase that is part of a scripted apology.
Accountability quite literally is the ability to account for one’s actions.
So now that the high-level definition is out of the way, let’s fully
define and lay out the true meaning of the term, starting with what
needs to be in place for accountability to exist:
1. Clear Goals Must Be Established: Quantifiable project objectives should be defined, documented and communicated
2. Adequate Resources and Authority Must Be Granted: Sufficient resources (e.g., financial, technical and human), control and influence must be made available.
3. Specific Consequences Must Be Predetermined: Outcomes for success and failure are established, documented and communicated.
If any of the above are not satisfied the employee is well within his or her rights to question the assignment and address the gaps before proceeding. We realize this is a strong statement, but perfectly legitimate if he or she is to be accountable.
Let’s explore one in a little more detail.
Establishing Clear Goals
Ambiguity regarding desired outcomes for a given project must be
eliminated and great care taken to ensure that all involved share the
same definition of success. It does not matter who the leader is,
projects that begin without a clear, shared picture of the end goal(s) are doomed to failure. Project goals should be Relevant, Realistic and Reportable.
- Relevant – goals are aligned with overarching business objectives
- Realistic – attainable given the known constraints
- Reportable – performance against the key success metric(s) can be objectively quantified and communicated.
The employee may physically complete the work, but if the manager
controls the decisions/resources, the manager is still the one accountable. When such projects fail, the manager is at fault not the direct report. Or stated more eloquently, when the manager is pulling the strings, he can’t blame the puppet for bad performance.
As a reminder, setting the expectation and granting the authority are keys to establishing accountability. We would like to place emphasis on the final key – consequences. One of the toughest things a manager has to do is address failure. There is no easy way around this issue – to establish accountability, the manager must meet this challenge head-on. Put clear, meaningful consequences in place, and by all means follow through.
As a Direct Report…
Before accepting a task, look at the accountability structure. If you are not aware of the expectation, do not have the proper authority to act and do not know what the consequences will be at the end of the day, you may find yourself in a bad situation.
Build a case for getting clarification of goals, assignment of resources and the authority to act and make sure you know the consequences. Finally, be prepared to accept the consequences if you do fail. Do it gracefully. Own up to your behavior and learn from it. That is accountability.
On The brighter side of life let us talk about positivity. We all want to be positive but sometimes life just throws some curve balls at us and we find ourselves stuck in time if you will because we have no idea what to do but break down and sob--boo hoo boo hoo.
Well friends boo hooing is nothing more then an excuse to our behaviour. What do you mean Luciano!!! well friends it is simple when we are around those that are negative move away from them!!!! and find those who think like you do positivity is like a virus once it gets going you cannot stop it and the same goes with once you surround yourself with negativity it becomes very difficult to stop it as well.
Things to remember my friends keep an open mind;
Stay around those who carry a positive attitude.
Find things that gives you or puts a smile on your face.
Go outside tomorrow early before the sun rises and watch it rise.
Do these things and your life will change but you have to be accountable for yourself and your actions if you do not and remember:
"Nothing Will Change Unless You Take That First Step"--Luciano Santini
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