Executive Accountability

Execunet asked Dilip questions about executive accountability. Part of his responses appear in the February issue of its Career Source Advisor (CSA).

1. Why is it so important for executives to have accountability, both in their personal and professional lives? How can this help them more successfully achieve their goals? Can/will such a strategy help executives become committed to achieving their goals and retain their focus on their end goals? Can this help them remain motivated?

Dilip

An executive’s success is measured by the results they produce in growing, both the top and the bottom lines of a business. Ideas, visions, and promises are plentiful, but what differentiates a winner from the rest is their ability to execute and deliver results. For a successful executive delivering results requires clear accountabilities and setting up responsibilities so that there is no doubt who has done what to create the right outcomes. This is hard work and it constantly demands inspiration for the front-liners. This inspiration is best provided by clear examples of leadership and not by merely repeating empty exhortations.

Dilip

Executive success requires clear accountabilities and to set an example they must set their own standards of holding themselves accountable beyond reproach. This is hard for many, so they must work on setting the right tone of accountability across the entire chain of command and throughout the organization. Recent study of women-led organizations has shown that women CEOs outperformed male-led businesses by a substantial margin (in FY-2009) and beat S&P returns also by large margins. One reason for their success has been their ability to hold others clearly accountable and by measuring everyone by the same objective standards of performance.

There is no greater motivator than the one coming from creating successful outcomes. This requires leadership, discipline, and clear accountability, starting from the top.

2. Sometimes it really is difficult to accomplish those goals without the support and guidance of trusted connections (friends, mentors, peers). How should an executive select his/her “accountability group”? Who should be included in the group? And what type of guidance should they be able to offer? (personal experience) What kinds of issues can an accountability group help address? (business challenges, etc.) Can this also be accomplished in a larger (and sometimes less formal) networking meeting setting or should it be a more personal exchange?

Dilip

When it comes to delivering on the personal front, in reality, the same rules apply. You cannot have two different sets of rules for personal and business accountabilities. Support groups have been shown to be more effective when overcoming something negative—obesity, anger management, addiction, and keeping fit through exercise—than they are when achieving something positive—a promotion, growth, or personal development goals. For stopping something negative often a support group can play a major role in keeping you on the right path. Such a support group can play an influential role in keeping one on track by reciprocal gestures: you provide someone critical inputs and they, in turn, reciprocate by being equally critical in keeping you on track. Support groups thus help each other through sharing of common goals and sharing their experiences to keep everyone motivated. But, even there, when it comes to action and results there is not substitute for taking charge of your own destiny.

When it comes to professional success such support groups do not always work. Why? One reason is, perhaps, because it is much easier to give advice than it is to make it work and to create the right outcomes for others. Because, peer groups, when it comes to helping someone else become successful, and letting them make you successful, in return, work less effectively than the groups that help you overcome personal weaknesses such as weight loss and addiction. Metaphorically, support groups are more effective safety nets than they are promoters of achievements; they are good at rescuing an errant fellow human being than they are at making someone else a hero! Heroes often have to fight their own personal battles. Such endeavors can often benefit more from hooking up with a personal coach than they do from joining a support group—even a purposefully designed one! Perhaps it is the basic human nature to feel good about rescuing someone than it is helping someone become a success. So, be careful in setting up a support group that does not have your basic interest at its heart. In such matters there is no substitute for holding oneself totally accountable.

3. How often should an executive meet with his accountability group? How much should an executive rely on his “board of advisors” for guidance? Sometimes leaders are afraid to share their concerns with others and/or take advice from other individuals. Can an accountability group help them overcome such concerns?

Dilip

The success of participating in an accountability group depends on how much you are willing to disclose and how much help you expect to get from the group as a whole. Executive leadership has unique challenges, not all of which can be easily articulated, framed, and presented for a reasonable solution. The meeting frequency of such a group should depend on how effective they are able to provide support to each person in that group and how much the group feels rewarded by how they create the right outcomes each time.

4. If an executive is asked to become part of an accountability group, what are the benefits to all involved? How can advising other executives help an executive with his own career and issues? What are some of the qualities of an “advice giver”? How can this become a win-win for all group participants?

Dilip

Forming such groups for the right support that will benefit all participants is the most important decision. Once again, when it comes to disabusing the negative—weight, addiction, negative behaviors, and personal growth—can be good topics for addressing through such groups. But, when it comes to creating executive accountabilities and career matters for personal growth the utility and effectiveness of such groups can be a matter of each design and how the group is organized, including the expectations of the participants. Individual coaching can be far more meaningful in such cases.

5. How are the processes used (through this accountability group) able to be transferred to help executives achieve both professional goals and personal goals? Can the same formula be used if an executive is trying to accomplish personal goals (such as those connected with health and wellness)? And can this be used for all facets of an executive’s career, from job search to career development (to gain knowledge regarding various business ideas and issues)?

Dilip

Groups of peers helping each other can do a much better job of helping participants in their personal growth and overcoming negative behaviors. When it comes to professional success, humans tend to be very competitive and they are reluctant to share their growth patterns, needs, and recipes with others readily. So, before setting such a support group be careful what the human needs are.

6. Is accountability required for executives to move to the next place in their careers as well as their personal lives? If they find that it’s missing in their lives, what can they do – in addition to creating an accountability group – to achieve it?

Dilip

Accountability comes from personal commitment to a cause—any cause. Without that accountability and personal commitment nothing useful can ever be achieved. It is required in both their personal lives and in their professional lives. The only difference stems from how the outcomes impact one’s immediate livelihood: a missed target can jeopardize the annual bonus, so keeping on tract there is not just a matter of personal pride, but of economic benefit. On the other hand not losing all that weight you signed-up for is not going to create an immediate jeopardy to everyday existence. This is where holding oneself accountable regardless of the benefit—economic or not—is critical.