You’re not “in charge”, you are ACCOUNTABLE!
If you have siblings or friends with older siblings you already know exactly what we are talking about in this one! The dreaded words that were uttered by parents to their eldest as they walked out the door, “You’re in charge!”. The resulting shock wave and subsequent fall out was inevitable. Whether you were the one “in charge” or those left in that charge, the dynamic of the relationship changed before the deadbolt had even been locked. Everyone knew, just because of that one statement the roles and rules were about to change.
The sibling that was all love and support just moments ago, was suddenly transformed into a tyrannical dictator. The ones left in that charge, the carefree, joy filled little souls that were brimming with hope and ambition, were now the hopeless huddled masses.
That’s the power of that phrase! Not just in the home but particularly in the business world. It carries a certain connotation that is counter productive and counter intuitive to growth, passion, buy in, and overall satisfaction. It stifles the creativity of those involved and makes the one “in charge” the subject of distrust and ultimately disloyalty.
Those are not the desired outcome for anyone leaving someone “in charge” and yet they are almost always the result. The phrase itself causes an immediate psychological impact on all parties involved. So, how do we avoid turning our awesome leaders into Napoleonic dictators? It’s actually pretty simple. You use a different phrase. Instead of “in charge”, make sure your leaders know they are “Accountable”.
What’s the difference? It’s huge when you drive home exactly what is meant by accountable. When a leader hears that they are accountable for something, they immediately know that they will have to answer for that thing in one way or another, good or bad. Now extrapolate that thought to all facets of business. It can help correct them all.
Let’s use attendance as an example because let’ face it, this one is always an issue in every workplace. Under the supervision of an “in charge” leader the matter of attendance is generally dealt with as a consequence based facet of the business. They set the expectations and hold everyone to that standard and enforce the policy through the use of available consequences. Does that work? Maybe, if you enjoy turn over and a revolving door of new employees to train.
Trust me there’s a better way. When I was in the military, it was made abundantly clear that as a leader, you were accountable. How does that pertain to attendance? In a massive way! When I was a platoon sergeant I was expected to know the actual whereabouts of every single soldier assigned to my platoon. That meant the squad leaders and subsequently team leaders had to know as well. The results were huge.
First of all if I had to know exact whereabouts, then I had to genuinely care. It was never just “where are they?”. It was where are they? Why are they there? How long have they been there? How long will they be there? Is there anything we can do to help? These were the answers I was expected to have on the tip of my tongue by 6:30 AM, every single day. By doing so I was an involved leader that my soldiers knew actually cared and that they could trust me with their issues. As a result showing up became how they solved their problems. Attendance wasn’t ever an issue.
That’st the fundamental difference between being “in charge” and being accountable. When you are accountable for something you have to genuinely CARE about all facets of it. It’s not a tyrannical rule, it’s a team that has 100% buy in towards the end state goal, because they know their leadership cares and that they matter.
At the end of the day your success as a leader is a direct reflection of those you lead. If they win or lose, you are accountable. So, show them that in everything you do and I promise you will be the type of leader people want to follow.
