So here you are, sitting across the desk or conference table, and your team member is staring back at you waiting for you to say something brilliant. No pressure there, right?

Good news. This is not about you coming up with some sort of speech or one-sided set of directives. It’s about asking questions and listening – really listening – to the answers. I’ll even give you a template for an accountability meeting.

The most powerful conversations, however, go beyond the template. Truly effective leaders build relationships that foster openness, safety and communication.

Like a laser slices precisely through whatever it is cutting, the following phrases cut through excuses, habits, blame and other things that are stopping or blocking this person from being productive and successful. With that out of the way, you can get down to helping the person meet his or her goal.

Before you even sit down for your first meeting, you’re going to create an upfront agreement. In that agreement, make it clear that you’ve got a whole toolkit full of these lasers, and that if you hear excuses, habits and blame going on, you’re going to cut through them.

Are you ready? Here are the phrases:

1. Tell me what to ask of you. Really, what else should I be asking right now? (We all know much more than we give ourselves credit for. In a sense, this is about letting people coach themselves.)
2. Tell me what’s REALLY not being handled or is holding you back. C’mon, what’s really going on here? (This is great after you’ve been sitting around for awhile listening to someone place blame and make excuses, or as they skirt around an issue because they’re obviously embarrassed.)
3. Tell me how to acknowledge and encourage you. (It’s unfortunate that leaders aren’t great at acknowledging people. If you’re unable to do it on your own, ask people to help you do it!)
4. Ask me how I perceive how you come across. (This is a two-way street. Give the other person permission to give you the same feedback. Neither of you should see this as criticism, since you’re asking for it.)
5. Tell me what I can change that will improve the quality of my leadership. (Coaching is inter-developmental – both the coach and the coachee can be growing, learning and improving at all times.)
6. Tell me when there’s something going on. Tolerate nothing between us. (An accountability session is no place to sweep something under the rug.)
7. Ask me to make this more fun for you. (The motivation to succeed must come from inside the other person, but as the leader you can help them do it.)

Can you see how these laser-sharp phrases could stop unproductive banter in its tracks and help you get down to business? What about you? What’s in your way? My laser is fully-loaded – call me.

At the end of every quarter, I sit down with my clients for a review. We discuss the benefits they’ve seen from us working together, and the value they get out of the relationship. We also look at what changes they’ve made, and the behaviors they still need to change.

They may not be the first things you (or I) would think of, but each of the following seven behaviors can make a significant difference in how you lead your people and keep them accountable.

Some are on the list because the clients who implement them report such great results. Other behaviors are here because clients have pinpointed one of them as the thing that’s stopping or blocking them from achieving their next level of success.

1. Experiment and try new things – Complacency is not going to get you where you need to go in this “post-Wall Street fiasco” age. I encourage my clients to make changes, and make it safe for them to fail. As a result, they try new things and get new, better results. How can you do the same thing for your people? How can you get into the habit of trying new things?
2. Tell the absolute truth, regardless – I’m not calling you a liar. This is about being honest with yourself. Telling the truth includes making sure that your thoughts, words and action (“TWA”) are aligned. When your people can see this integrity in everything you do and say, they will walk through walls for you. If you say one thing and your actions demonstrate another, it puts up walls between you.
3. Start being early for everything – I could have said, “Don’t be late,” but it’s important to frame our goals in a positive light. In the last 18 months, I’ve worked with many leaders who are so overbooked that they’re never on time for their commitments. When you’re late, you’re missing a big opportunity to set an example for your people. This may mean redesigning how you spend your time. Leaders often tell me they don’t have time to support and develop their people with regularly scheduled accountability meetings, yet people always find the time for what is truly important to them. 
4. Get support to handle your problems – With my clients, sometimes issues rise to the surface that are beyond the scope of our sessions. If this happens with the people who report to you, support them as much as you can, and encourage them to make use of other resources. If you or your people are stressed – physically, mentally or emotionally – it will affect your bottom line and block your progress. Period.
5. Set goals that are much, much bigger - Raise your personal standards so that you’re reaching for a high level. Then be sure you follow through and complete each mission. Is there a project you started that’s now in “limbo”? Get it done. You’ll feel amazing and it will create momentum that’s contagious.
6. Treat people much, much better – Some of my clients aren’t treating people well at all, instead they’re taking their crap out on others. I recently heard a suggestion that whenever I approach someone, whether at the checkout counter in the grocery store or in a business meeting, that I consciously bring happiness, joy and laughter to the interaction. Try it the next time the phone rings. Paste a big smile on your face and think about bringing happiness, joy and laughter to whoever is calling.
7. Keep yourself well – Move more, whether that’s walking, yoga, running or martial arts. Do more things you enjoy, such as reading or listening to your favorite music. Get back to the basics, you know the drill: Eat more fruits and vegetables and less fat and sugar, eliminate caffeine and nicotine, and moderate your alcohol intake. Floss and brush your teeth regularly and take your vitamins. Call someone you love, especially if you haven’t spoken in a l-o-n-g time.

Changing your own behavior in order to create more accountability in your workplace might seem backwards, but it works. I’ve seen it demonstrated time and again in my 17 years of experience. Believe me. Or don’t believe me, but try my suggestions for six months to prove me wrong. If things don’t get better for both you and your bottom line, call me and we’ll talk about it. Better still, call me now and I’ll help you get started.

Imagine that you come to work one day and there’s nothing on your desk. There’s nothing in your Inbox. No new emails. No one has made any new demands on your time. 

All of your employees are in their offices, contentedly doing their jobs. When they see you, they don’t avoid you. They smile, deliver the results you’re looking for, and return to work.

When you check the budget, you notice you’re in the black, and well above projections.

You can’t remember when you last had a disciplinary problem. Want to play golf? Need to catch up on a few errands? No problem. Everyone knows what to do, and how to do it well.

This is a fantasy. Companies don’t run themselves. Your people need you to be present, to pay attention, to answer their questions, and to guide them toward success.

But this fantasy can come true to some extent. People can accomplish what you want them to. In a pleasant manner. And on time. All you need to do is make some small changes in the way you do things. A little change in your behavior can make a big difference in your results.

Now let me ask you to indulge in another fantasy, this time behind Door Number Two:

Imagine that you come to work one day and sit down for a regularly scheduled accountability meeting with one of your reports. Because you genuinely care about this person, you begin the discussion by asking about his or her last golf tournament, child’s musical performance or spouse’s recent illness. You listen deeply to the person’s celebrations, pride, concerns and fears.

As the subject easily and naturally shifts to business, you deliver warm and sincere praise when you hear about success on a recent project. When the person shares some concerns about an important, upcoming deadline you listen, suggest exploring some new approaches and support re-prioritizing some other projects in order to meet the deadline.

The conversation next turns to time management, work overload and a desire for more exercise. You’re just as willing to help with these topics. Together, the two of you map out some steps the person can take to achieve a better work/life balance, take better care of his/her body and enjoy more free time.

Could you be this type of leader? Absolutely? All it will take is changing some of your behaviors. In a future article, I’ll cover exactly what some of those key behaviors are.

By becoming this kind of caring, supportive and effective leader, you’ll give your direct reports a gift. More importantly, you’ll give yourself a gift: your people will achieve what you want them to achieve—willingly, and on time.

And once you start making these changes, I’ll bet that the impact will not be limited to your team. Because of your successes and the obvious improvement in morale, the rest of the leadership team will likely notice what you’re doing and become curious. People may be inspired to experiment with some of your techniques.

If you’re lucky, your entire company will adopt these new behaviors. So what’s the next fantasy behind Door Number Three? It’s your new reality; your vision of ultimate accountability. It’s all yours, as soon as you’re willing to start changing. Are you willing? Then open the door and walk right through.

If you’re ready to make your workplace fantasies a reality, contact Alan M. Dobzinski today so he can help you identify and implement the changes you need to make.

That’s when I introduced him to the Accountability Meeting Binder - one binder (or section of a binder) that you turn into a handy place to store everything from a person’s job description to a list of actions that person has committed to take. You each have a copy of this binder.

So now he had a place to store all these records, but there was still a missing piece. How could he effectively track the results of the meeting and stay current from one meeting to the next?

The 48

Here’s what you do: Within 48 hours following the accountability meeting, have your direct report send you a recap email of what you discussed. If the person has taken good notes during the conversation, this process shouldn’t take more than about five minutes. (Those who enjoy writing memos may choose to take longer!)

The length of the email is immaterial. It’s the act of writing it and sending it to you, the leader, that increases accountability. Whether in long paragraphs or short bullet-points, the 48 email will include these items:

1. Play back:

• Whatever was discussed and decided, including short-term goals, long-term plans and priorities
• Any insights, breakthroughs and solutions that were uncovered
• Anything else worth noting

2. Play forward:

• What the employee will accomplish between now and the next accountability meeting
• Specific action plans: what, how and by when

3. Questions:

• Any questions that were raised in the meeting but left unanswered
• Additional questions or concerns that may have emerged after the accountability meeting

4. “Parking Lot”:

• Items to deal with at a future date

This approach has a multi-level benefit: During the meeting, the person being coached pays extra close attention to what they’re saying so he or she can recap. Making a verbal commitment is one level of accountability.

Secondly, that person takes notes so they will be able to accurately summarize what happened, further solidifying the details and making another level of commitment. The simple act of writing things down helps hold people accountable.

Finally, the act of sending that recap to you, the leader, is a third level of commitment and reinforces the accountability to complete the planned actions.

Once someone has completed all three steps, it’s almost impossible for him or her to say, “Whoops, I forgot.” Or, “Whoops, I didn’t understand you.”

The 24

24 hours before the next scheduled meeting, request that the person email you an agenda for the upcoming meeting. The 24 report has two primary parts:

1. Play back:

• What was accomplished since the last session, and what was not accomplished?
• If projects were delayed, what were some of the blocks or challenges? (This is not about making excuses; it’s a step toward uncovering problems and discussing next steps in the upcoming meeting.)

2.       Play forward:

• What would the person like to talk about in the upcoming accountability meeting?
• Where is the person stuck? In what areas does he or she need help? What challenges and opportunities are available now?

When you begin meeting with your people on a regular basis, the entire team will experience increased activity, productivity, effectiveness and morale. When you make regularly scheduled accountability meetings “just the way we do things around here,” accountability is the result.

While most of my clients use the 48/24 system, it’s not essential. It’s a choice each CEO, leader or managing partner can make, along with his or her team members. But after 17 years, I can tell you unequivocally that those who take the time to use this technique derive more benefit from their accountability meetings, and are more likely to achieve their desired goals faster and less painfully. They realize less stress, more time and a better bottom line.

Do you want to have more efficient and productive accountability meetings with your team? Alan M. Dobzinski is a masterful meeting facilitator and can help you implement the 48/24 technique and other strategies for accountability success. Contact him today to find out more.

I had the perfect solution. The Accountability Meeting Binder is a tool that has worked beautifully for my clients in building accountability with their people. It’s a three-ring binder in which you will keep important information about an individual employee or team member, and the notes from previous accountability meetings with him or her.

Preferably, your binder will have pockets, dividers, and tabs. You can create these binders yourself, you can ask your support staff to do it, or you can ask each team member to create two binders; one for you, and one for himself or herself. Some people personalize their binders; some put the company logo on it. However you choose to do it, you should each have a binder to use during and between your accountability meetings.

You’ll want to have separate binders for each person, labeled with the person’s name. You might be surprised to learn that it makes a strong impression on employees when you devote a binder specifically to them, and put their name on it. It’s a visible symbol that you care about them, you’re paying attention to them, and you’re organized in your approach to your work with them. They’re not just one of many staff members. Each is a separate person, worthy of specific, customized attention.

I know what you may be thinking: It’s 2012; who uses paper anymore? Can’t we just keep track of things digitally? Hey, that’s cool. I have no attachment to the binder. If you want to store this information in a laptop, tablet or Smartphone, that’s fine, too.

Personally, I’m a three-ring binder kind of guy, and this works for me – as it does for many of my clients. A lot people just find the binders easier to carry, flip through, and for storing a variety of documents and other materials. And then there’s the whole symbolic value of the individual binders for each person. But whatever works for you is fine. The point is to create an organized place where all relevant documents are accessible, and can easily be supplemented and changed.

Here are some examples of what you might store in an Accountability Meeting Binder:

1. Company mission, vision and values

2. Employee’s job description

3. Performance feedback (formal and informal)

4. Goals

5. Individual development plan

6. Your Upfront Agreement

7. Leadership assessments and other professional development resources (360-degree feedback, personality profiles, etc.)

8. Notes from each accountability meeting

9. “Parking Lot” page of things you want to revisit later

10. Blank sheets of paper

Don’t waste all of the good work you do when you sit down with people for an accountability meeting. Keep track of commitments, goals and other important details in a central place so you can always be on the same page.

Stay tuned for an article about how the 48/24 can keep you even more organized with your follow up. In the meantime, contact Alan M. Dobzinski to find out more about the accountability solution he can custom-build for your organization.

Think, plan and then act is a three-step process, but most of the leaders I meet fall short on at least one of them. What typically happens to leaders is that all day long they’re putting out fires – taking actions and doing things, all the time, one after another. And they’re great at it. But what they should really be doing is working on preventing those fires, rather than putting them out.

It’s far too rare for CEOs, managing partners and other leaders to take the other two steps to think and plan.

So what gets in the way of that thinking and planning time? You don’t have to go very far to answer that question. Look up right now and count the number of distractions in your environment. Whether you’re at work, at home or somewhere in between, there are many things clamouring for your attention.

So if there are too many distractions at work and a whole other set of distractions at home, you need to find what I call your third place. Somewhere you can concentrate and hear yourself think. You don’t need any fancy equipment – just some way of capturing your thoughts. A pad and pen may work just fine, or you might use a tablet computer, laptop or smartphone.

Personally, I like the outdoors. Whenever the weather cooperates, my coach/business partner and I meet at a place we call “318 The Park,” which is the covered picnic area of a state park. Sometimes I use that as my personal third place as well. In bad weather, I’ll go to a library, sit in my parked car or go to a neighborhood coffee shop.

The funny thing is that there’s actually a lot of ambient noise in that coffee shop – ringing cash registers, crying kids, laughter, clinking dishes, etc. But because I don’t own any of it, I can tune it right out. I know that none of those people are talking to me or needing anything from me.

Have you heard that expression by Thomas Edison that success is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration? Well, in the third place, that gets flipped right over. This is the time for inspiration and preparation, in the hopes that you’ll need less perspiration for running around when you get back to your workplace.

When you really can’t get away from work, set yourself up with a third place you can retreat to right there in the building. Maybe there’s a lunchroom that’s empty the rest of the day. Or a conference room, a reception area or even a stairwell. Be creative. Just get away from those ringing phones, beeping emails and people walking in with questions, just for a little while.

For my client Charlie, things were so chaotic that from the minute he stepped into his office, he didn’t have even a second to plan or even to think. So in one of our coaching sessions I suggested that when he stopped at 7-11 to get his coffee in the morning, he sit in his car for 15 minutes to plan his day. We both knew that once he got to the office it would be too late to do any planning.

Charlie, like every other client who has implemented this suggestion, reported better results for accountability – both for himself and his firm. Even better, he was able to work less but be more productive with the time he spent.

Less stress, more time and a better bottom line. Not a bad return for a 15-minute trip to his third place!

Are you struggling to step away from the busy-ness and find the time and place to think and plan? As an executive consultant, Alan M. Dobzinski helps managing parnters, CEOs and other leaders develop a solid foundation of accountability that keeps everyone on track. Contact him to find out how to get started.

This time I’ll be answering two questions:

Question: Your recent blog about Bobby the Idiot caught my eye. I completely agree with the leadership style you highlight, especially when I sit on the other side of the table. When I have stepped up to lead, it was too easy to fall into the same habit as Sally. Quite often I found that people would attempt to derail the agenda of a meeting so that they could take control of the meeting I had planned….so my control tendencies begin to take over in order to move the group along.  What do you suggest on ways to enhance and maintain authority if this occurs?

Answer: This is one that I hear often from clients who are managing partners, CEOs and other leaders. Here is what I tell them:

If you’re not happy with the way your meetings are going, you need to clearly communicate what you want to see instead. How do you want you and your team to work together within your meetings?

Running a good meeting doesn’t mean jumping in and asserting your control or authority during the meeting (control and leadership don’t mix very well); it’s about using your authority to design a productive meeting before it starts.

So schedule another meeting with your team, only at this meeting the primary agenda item is to design an upfront agreement about how you will conduct your meetings. What boundaries do you want to put into place, e.g., what will you do if someone is storytelling – going on and on and on? What are the other meeting ground rules that are important for your team?

Once you take this important step, it’ll be smooth sailing after that – I promise!

Question: How can employees hold their companies accountable for their environmental impact?

Answer: This is another great question, and it relates to something we refer to as “coaching up.” Normally, the leader is in the role of coach and the direct report is in the role of coachee, with the coach holding the coachee accountable for their actions and results. But in “coaching up,” it’s the employees who want to hold the employer accountable by giving feedback and speaking up about what’s important to them. – in this case, environmental impact.

Coaching up involves risk, preparation and directness.

It is risky to take on this reverse role with someone who has a position of authority over you. If you don’t use the right approach – elegant, respectful and direct  – it could affect your standing in the organization or even your job security. But as with any risk, the payoff could be enormous.

The way you present your case will be crucial, so your preparation must be impeccable. This includes preparing for how your employer will respond and how you will handle that. Role-play this with a co-worker, friend, spouse or whoever. Anticipate and play out every possibility you can think of.

And for everything you haven’t prepared for, the best response is “I’ll get back to you.” Then you can go away and prepare for that.

As I already mentioned, it’s important to be elegant, respectful and direct when you approach your organization’s leaders with feedback about their accountability. You can’t wimp out. You have to make your point in a direct way that is still very professional.

Continuing this polite and respectful approach, but without trying to force any particular solution (your solution), ask the leader about his or her next steps. Recap what’s been discussed and make a plan to follow up.

The more you do this, the less risky it will feel. And in my experience, most of the risk is perceived rather than real. It’s far worse in our imagination that how it actually plays out in real life.

Did you try it? Let me know how it went! And if you have your own question about workplace accountability, you can ask it here.

I recently went through this process with two different firms when I facilitated their offsite retreats. They had both asked me to help them create a theme for 2012. For one of the companies, it was a matter of revisiting an older strategic plan they were already happy with, but had put on the back burner when the economic landscape changed. Their theme became “Resetting the Plan in 2012.”

For the other company, an accounting firm, the managing partner wanted to change the culture of his workplace so that the other partners weren’t coming to him when they had the authority to make decisions on their own. He wanted their theme to be, “2012 is the Year of Independence.”

Here are six steps you can take to uncover your own theme for the year ahead. You can take these steps as an individual and also for a company or team as a whole.

1. List your accomplishments for this past year; big and small, tangible and intangible, significant and seemingly insignificant. The idea is to celebrate and recognize that you have done a lot and you are capable of a lot. You’ll be able to refer back to this list of wins whenever you need to reinforce your worth as a capable, committed and persistent winner.

2. For each of your wins, ask yourself what you did to accomplish this, looking at the specific tools, techniques, resources and people that were most helpful.

3. Next, list the things you did not complete, and be really honest with yourself about why you didn’t follow through. Some possible reasons might be:

● It seemed like a good idea but turned out not to be
● It’s something I thought I should do but didn’t really want to do
● I did something else, instead, to please someone else
● I did not have the resources I needed to complete this project
● I recognized that, for whatever reason, it wasn’t doable at this time and I chose to let it go

Now that you have a clean slate and you’ve set aside your wins and losses from this year, let’s look ahead to next year.

4. Imagine that your firm has it’s own version of the Superbowl, except yours is in December instead of in February. Reflect on the goals your company needs to achieve in order to win your Superbowl.

5. Break those goals down into small, achievable tasks. Remember, there are many steps along the journey to completing your goal. I recommend you distinguish between your destination goals and the journey goals that will get you there. If scoring a touchdown is your destination, your journey goal might be catching a pass earlier in the game that kept the game moving forward. Hint: Incorporate your list of tools, techniques and resources from Step Two so you’re not reinventing the wheel in the New Year.

6. Reflect quietly on everything you’ve written, and sum it all up into one overall theme for the New Year. Start by saying: 2012 is the Year of ________________. Here are some examples that my clients have come up with:

The Year of Living Dangerously (sure, you can borrow from movies and TV!)
The Year of Having Full, Loving Relationships
The Year of Giving Up Struggling
The Year of Adventure
The ME-lenium

Play with this process and make it your own. Above all, have a safe, fun and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

If you’d like to set, revisit or stay on track with your goals, Alan M. Dobzinski is a masterful meeting facilitator who can get your team working together. Contact him today to get started.

Even though it’s been years since I worked with Bill, we had lunch the other week and he told me that he still tells this story about how I helped him get past his stumbling block and stay accountable for his goal.

As you read Bill’s story, think of how you can use the same strategies to help the people on your team. As their leader, it’s your job to listen for their obstacles – and excuses – so that they can get past them and then stay accountable to you for keeping on track.

Bill was the managing partner of a small firm. We’d already been working together for about a year when he built and opened a beautiful, state-of-the-art facility for his business. Since he liked to work out, he invested an additional $6,000 for an exercise gym, decked out with all the latest equipment and even a change room with a shower. As a runner, he figured he’d be in there every day to use the treadmill, at least. He even invited the entire workforce to use the space.

But no one was using the gym. Not even Bill!

At one of our meetings, he was criticizing himself for not holding himself accountable on a sustainable basis. I asked if he wanted some help. He hesitated, and I could tell he was wondering what I could possibly do, as his business coach.

Even though this didn’t sound like a business issue to discuss in an executive consultation session, it definitely was. If you’re not feeling at your best, that’s going to impact your effectiveness as a leader, whether that’s the physical impact of inactivity (fatigue, weight gain, trouble concentrating, etc.) or the emotional impact of constantly feeling bad about yourself.

And Bill was definitely feeling bad about this. Here he had invested all this money, and the equipment was just going to waste.

I asked him, “What is it that’s stopping or blocking you from running on that treadmill?”

He thought for a second, and then he said, “Well, I have a shower, but I don’t have a shower curtain.”

I almost couldn’t believe my ears. A $6,000 exercise facility, and all that stood in his way was a $10 shower curtain. So I gave him an assignment. When you leave here today, go to Walmart or wherever, and buy a shower curtain.

Then I made a request: Will you get into action on this?

Like any request I made in our sessions, Bill could choose to do it, not do it, or give me a counter-offer of another action. There’s no request police, and you don’t have to stay after school.

I put Bill on a 21-day routine, based on the premise that it takes us 21 days to break an old habit or develop a new habit. Every day for 21 days, Bill had to email me to tell me he’d ridden on the treadmill.

As his accountability partner, it’s like I became his exercise partner as well, running right alongside him on that treadmill. If he missed a day, he had to start counting again at Day One. And that happened a couple of times, but he just picked himself up and kept going.

He finally reached 21 days, and that was six years ago now. And he still sustains his daily workout habit to this day.

Is there a $10 shower curtain standing in the way of YOUR success? If you want to get back on your treadmill, contact Alan M. Dobzinski about meeting facilitation or executive consultation for managing partners and leaders of professional services firms.

Accountability is not about looking for someone to blame when things go wrong, or nailing that person to the wall. That is a very controlling approach to leadership. When I think of controlling leaders, my client Sally always pops into my mind.

Sally was a managing partner of a public accounting firm. She hired me as an executive consultant because her firm was experiencing a lot of turnover – they were having trouble holding on to their good people. As well, she wasn’t happy with the performance of the people she had, and she wanted me to “fix them.”

She was having a meeting with her direct reports, and she invited me to sit in and observe. Sally, by the way, is a very successful executive, and watching her at the meeting I could see why. She was a real dynamo. Man, when she walks into a room, you know she’s there. And that’s partly because she never stops talking.

One of the biggest issues with her leadership style in that meeting was that she was the one who was usually doing all the talking and not much listening. It was all about Sally. (Have you ever been in a meeting with someone like that?)

When she did ask for people’s opinions, it was obvious she was just waiting for the chance to deliver her next monologue. Even though she would occasionally ask, “Hey, what are your ideas?” even as she listened she’d be physically inching forward in her chair, itching to jump back in. Next thing you know, it’s all about Sally again, and now even their ideas were her ideas.

As the meeting progressed, I started noticing people getting disengaged, one by one. Bobby, who was in charge of business development, was one of the quietest. This was especially noticeable because a big part of the meeting was focused on a marketing initiative that the firm was rolling out. Yet Sally never called on him, and he never spoke up.

After the meeting, when Sally and I had a debrief, the pattern continued – with Sally doing all of the talking, and me just doing the listening. Sally’s comments included, “Wasn’t that a great meeting?”

Huh? Were we at the same meeting?

“Wasn’t that terrific,” she continued! “Look at all the things we got done. Boy, didn’t we have a lot of good ideas?”

And do you know what else she said? You’re not going to believe it.

“Isn’t my team great?”

How would I know? They didn’t say anything!

Now it was my turn to talk. “Sally, can I ask you three questions?”

“Well, yeah, okay,”

I told her that I couldn’t help but notice that she never called on Bobby, even though he was the one in charge of business development. And do you know what she said? (Maybe the title of the article gave it away.)

“Oh, Bobby’s an idiot.”

Scratching my head on that one, I asked my second question, “Who hired Bobby?”

“Well, I did.”

She’s on to me a little now, and says, “I can hardly wait for your third question, Alan, what is it?”

“How much does Bobby the idiot make per year?”

She didn’t answer at the time, she just said, “Alan, I got it.”

I later found out that Bobby earned $150,000 a year. And she wasn’t letting him do his job! Sally wasn’t capitalizing on the strengths of her people. No wonder people were leaving, and no wonder they weren’t attracting top new talent. No wonder the people she had weren’t living up to their potential or performing at high levels.

Now that you have a clear picture of a controlling leader, imagine now a caring, respectful, loving leader. What I’ve seen is that caring leaders have a much easier time keeping their people accountable.