Collective accountability creates high performance

Leaders often spend significant time discussing accountability and how to hold others accountable. However, it is not as common for leaders to consider the importance of collective accountability. Fostering a high-performance and collaborative leadership culture relies on embracing collective accountability. This happens when each team member accepts 100% ownership for the actions, decisions, behaviors, and outcomes of the team as a whole. Building collective accountability requires both a deliberate choice and a commitment to team development.  Collective accountability is only possible when each team member commits to taking this level of ownership.

Visualizing and experiencing what collective accountability feels like is a great way for teams to understand and internalize the concept.  One way we do this with executive teams is by using a business simulation that takes them out of their functional responsibility to help the team experience making business decisions as a true #1 team. When the team solves problems together as though it was one leader and without thinking about the constraints of their role, the team gets full contribution from every member, greater alignment across the team, and clear commitment to the decisions made resulting in each member taking personal ownership for the outcome.

There are two prerequisites for creating collective accountability:

1.      A commitment by the members of the team to see their peers as their #1 Team (not their direct reports)

2.     Clarity and buy-in to the #1 Team’s goals

When a leadership team achieves collective accountability you’ll see:

• Leaders identify their peers as their #1 team and prioritize these relationships over their direct reports

• Peers have courageous conversations directly with each other instead of triangulating through their leader

• Decisions and discussions are regularly connected back to the team goals not only individual goals

• Each member of the team asks questions and contributes to discussions regardless of their functional expertise

• A team challenging one another and with healthy debate in meetings and then actively supporting decisions once finalized

• Members speaking up when they see or experience something that doesn’t feel “right” even if they can’t fully articulate what the issue might be

How to spot when collective accountability isn’t happening (gaps):

• Leaders protecting their own area at the expense of others, fighting to be right or just going along to get along

• Leaders rescuing other leaders (more than 100% accountability), leaders blaming other leaders or external factors outside of their control (less than 100% accountability)

• Leaders withholding their hunch or not speaking up on a topic that might have a significant impact on the team

• Leaders delaying or avoiding courageous conversations

Getting to collective accountability requires intentional team development, we like Lencioni’s 5 Behaviours of Highly Effective Teams model and use this framework to:

• Develop strong relationships, trust, norms, and shared values

• Move from fighting to be right to healthy challenge and debate that leads to new learning

• Make clear requests and ask for commitment to actions and decisions

• Get clear on collective team goals and priorities

• Engage in courageous and authentic conversations together

When these are developed within the team, the team members approach each other with curiosity, inquire about possible accountability misses, and work together to shift.

Instead of talking about creating a culture of accountability in the organization, leaders are best to look inward at their own team and explore how they themselves can shift to collective accountability. When the leadership team demonstrates 100% ownership the teams around them will experience the positive impacts and will start taking greater collective ownership too.