Rating Qualities

8
Applicable
Engaging
Concrete Examples

Accountable Leaders
Inspire a Culture Where Everyone Steps
Up, Takes Ownership, and Delivers Results
Vince Molinaro | Wiley © 2020

New York Times best-selling author Vince Molinaro shares research-backed strategies for
creating an accountable leadership culture. He contends that many companies will shut down
by 2030 if they don’t adapt to their rapidly changing contexts and prioritize accountability. His
advice: Do not tolerate mediocrity and don’t settle for leaders who are unable or unwilling to meet
your leadership standards. Molinaro says accountability is the only path organizations can take to
avoid future disaster. His advice is relevant to leaders at all levels – each person who commits to
being accountable inspires others to do the same.

Take-Aways
• To endure, companies must adapt to change.
• Organizations must make sure their leaders are accountable.
• Mediocrity is the enemy of accountability.
• High-performing teams value accountability and they demonstrate clarity and commitment.
• Accountable leaders share ten essential traits for building a strong leadership culture.
• Leaders should prioritize building community above self-interest.
• You can’t build strong leadership on accountability alone.
• Establish what you expect from your company's leaders by taking five steps.
• Don’t tolerate mediocre or abusive leaders.

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 Summary

To endure, companies must adapt to change.

Accountable leaders must understand that the world is changing rapidly. A KPMG survey reports
that nearly three-quarters of the world’s CEOs believe the next few years will have more of an
impact on their industries than all the changes that have occurred since 1970.

The majority of CEOs worry that new companies will disrupt their industries’ business models, but
McKinsey research shows that only about a quarter of those senior executives who tried
to transform their business models and keep pace with industry changes actually see their change
management efforts as successful. According to Innosight, half the companies on the S&P are
likely to fade away by 2030 if they fail to adapt to rapid change in their industries.

You can’t wait for your bosses or company to create necessary change. As a leader, you must
be accountable for your personal development and adaptation to change, and you must inspire
people in your department or teams to do the same.

“Leaders must understand their emerging context.”

To ensure their companies’ growth and long-term success, today’s leaders must invest time in
coming to understand the following forces driving change:

• New technologies – Understand the transformative technologies affecting your industry,

such as artificial intelligence and digital technology.
• “Geopolitical instability” – Anticipate and try to mitigate the risks that global events create
for your business.
• “Revolutionizing work” – As robots replace human workers, accountable leaders must
demonstrate their commitment to their employees by investing in their development and well-
being.
• Diversity, inclusion and equity – Accountable leaders take these values seriously and
apply them to build engaged, innovative teams.
• “Re-purposing corporations” – To galvanize employees, leaders must craft new
statements of purpose and present fresh leadership commitments.

Organizations must make sure their leaders are accountable. 

The primary leadership challenge organizations face today is accountability. Leaders who fail to
be accountable can bring disaster to their organizations. For example, former Uber CEO Travis
Kalanick failed to create a workplace environment of accountability. Instead, a culture of toxic
masculinity thrived under his leadership.Many of Uber’s core values came to center around
aggression.

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 “We do not have to settle for a weak, poor or even dysfunctional culture. We can…set an
inspiring tone.”

The lack of accountability at Uber brought dire consequences. When its human resources team
failed to act on reports of sexual harassment, a blog post publicly condemning the company went
viral.Kalanick didn’t conduct his personal life in a manner consistent with positive values, and
video footage of him losing patience with an Uber driver surfaced, further damaging his and
his company’s reputation. In 2017, he had to resign from his own company, which also fired
20 employees in response to more than 200 complaints about problems ranging from bullying
to discrimination. Several other leaders left, including the head of finance, after the company
announced a loss of more than $700 million in the first quarter of 2017. Uber’s CEO, senior
executives, board, managers and HR team failed to take accountability.

Mediocrity is the enemy of accountability.

When leaders fail to perform at their highest level or to demand a high standard of performance,
accountability plummets. Mediocre leaders often create workplaces full of conflict and drama.
In that environment, employees can’t focus, and they spend their time complaining about
management.

“When an organization keeps mediocre leaders around and does nothing to help them,
it signals to everyone that the company will tolerate mediocrity, which is a dangerous
thing.”

Mediocrity engenders more mediocrity, since weak leaders often fail to hire the best talent or
to engage their employees, who see them as inept decision-makers and incompetent.Mediocre
leaders often exhibit the following negative behaviors:

• They blame others when things go wrong.

• They behave selfishly, make self-serving choices and display a sense of entitlement.
• They lack civility and are cruel.
• They lack initiative, often deferring important decisions to others or simply failing to take
needed actions.

High-performing teams value accountability, and they demonstrate clarity and

commitment.

To strengthen their individual accountability and inspire those on their teams to be

accountable, leaders should:

• Insist others meet high performance standards and support their efforts.
• Tackle difficult issues, make tough decisions and confront challenges.
• Effectively communicate corporate strategies to their team members.

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 • Believe in the company’s strategies and display positivity and optimism.
• Proactively assess and identify external risks, then address them.

High performing teams value and practice accountability. Accountable teams excel in two critical
dimensions: team clarity and team commitment. Teams demonstrate clarity when members
have a clear understanding of their operating context. Teams demonstrate commitment when
their members feel excited and passionate about their company’s future, and take ownership of
executing its strategy.

“You can’t ask anyone else to be accountable if you are not accountable yourself. You
must lead by example.”

Committed team members show that they care about each other and support one another’s
development. They invest time and energy in collaborating and building important stakeholder
relationships. They work to strengthen their team.

Accountable leaders share ten essential traits for building a strong leadership

culture.

Leaders can develop by cultivating ten characteristics that foster a strong leadership culture:

1. Demonstrate resolve and resiliency in the face of challenging situations.

2. Be clear about your organization’s strategic direction.
3. Celebrate your company’s successes.
4. Create excitement about your firm’s future and inspire others.
5. Support everyone’s success and growth – and inspire those you lead to do the same.
6. Strengthen your leadership abilities and skills.
7. Prioritize what’s best for your company, not your personal agenda or struggles with office
politics.
8. Unite with other leaders to achieve your company’s broader goals.
9. Collaborate effectively and tear down silos.
10. Hold your colleagues accountable, have them hold you accountable and call out leaders whose
behavior is unproductive.

Leaders should prioritize building community above self-interest.

Leaders must make sure their employees demonstrate accountability daily. The first step in
holding those you lead accountable is conducting a team assessment. Identify the areas in
which your team members excel and those in which they could improve their performance and
accountability. Be sure they are committed to the team and understand the context in which they
operate, their stakeholders’ expectations, and the team’s strategies and goals.

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 If you discover your team members lack clarity or commitment, create a clear “leadership
contract.” Identify how team members can change their behavior to prioritize accountability.
Strengthen the team’s resilience by helping members work together. Support them in delivering
on the team’s obligation to create value for the organization and contribute to its goals.

“You can build a community anywhere. It just takes an accountable leader to want it and
make it happen.“

Strong teams thrive in strong cultures, but building a strong culture is challenging. You and
the other leaders in your organization can support one another by building a strong leadership
community. That calls for implementing four strategies:

1. Develop a community builder mind-set – Embrace “servant leadership,” a selfless form

of leadership in which you lead to achieve a higher purpose than your personal agenda. Work to
create environments of mutual support, alignment, commitment and clarity.
2. Have a “one-company” mind-set – Prioritize your organization’s best interests. Never
prioritize the goals of your primary role over your company’s broader goals. Be accountable to
the entire firm, not just your division.
3. Build the foundation to do hard work – Create trusting relationships, accumulate
credibility and break down silos. For example, talk to leaders from other departments when you
make decisions that affect your whole organization.
4. Support your peers and colleagues – Invest in other peoples’ success and know when to
be a follower so others can take leadership roles.

You can’t build strong leadership on accountability alone.

You can’t strengthen your company’s commitment to accountability without support from leaders
throughout the organization. Your board must prioritize accountability and view it as an essential
risk mitigation strategy. Directors can take specific steps, such as making sure that the CEO
embraces accountability and recruiting directors who are committed to it. Your CEO can embrace
accountability by demonstrating personal commitment, hiring an accountable head of Chief
Human Resources Officer (CHRO), building a strong executive team and setting clear expectations
of leaders.

“One person can create a spark, but you need a whole community of leaders to drive
sustained impact, even if that one person is the CEO.”

As with your CEO, your senior executives and CHRO should demonstrate individual
accountability and inspire others to follow suit. Senior executives should address any gaps in
accountability at a leadership level and endeavor to build accountable teams that work together
effectively.

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 Push your organization to set clear expectations of its leaders and strategize ways to measure
their successes and compensate them for their wins. The CHRO should give board members
metrics on the state of accountability at the company. Don’t let your HR team do the tough work
of accountability on behalf of leaders who fail at carrying out specific leadership tasks, such
as having difficult conversations with underperforming employees. Implement practices that
foster accountability among all your leaders.

Establish what you expect from your company’s leaders by taking five steps.

Take five steps to create company-specific expectations for leaders. This agenda will create
consistency and inspire executives and managers to fulfill their commitment to accountability. The
five steps are:

1. Assess your business’s emerging context, evaluate future challenges and opportunities, then
identify the expectations leaders must meet to navigate a shifting business environment.
2. Create a leadership contract that lists these expectations and explains why they matter in
straightforward language. Use a tone that reflects your company’s culture. For example, is it
inspirational or informal?
3. Get feedback on your leadership contract, perhaps by using focus groups, then finalize it.
4. Make sure your CEO and senior executives embrace your new leadership contract, and
communicate it to all leaders in your company.
5. Make the leadership contract visible, by, for example, using it as a recruitment tool.

Don’t tolerate mediocre or abusive leaders.

Guaranteeing accountability at a leadership level requires tackling challenges head on when

leaders don’t meet expectations. Hire carefully for leadership roles. Don’t tolerate abusive or
bad behavior from leaders, such as having sexual affairs with subordinates, bullying or putting
corporate funds to questionable uses. If you demonstrate zero tolerance for such behavior, leaders
will embrace accountability because they know your organization won’t stand still for anything
less.

“An ineffective leader can improve, a terrible team can become a great one and an
uninspiring culture can become amazing. It’s all possible, but it isn’t easy.”

Your organization must decide whether leaders who seem inconsistent, inept, ineffective or
otherwise mediocre are capable of improving. If so, support their development. Don’t delay in
removing mediocre leaders you believe won’t develop. Don’t push them into leadership positions
in other divisions – that makes them someone else’s problem. Act swiftly to ensure they don’t
spread mediocrity and disengagement. You may not necessarily want to let all your mediocre
leaders go – perhaps some would do well in different assignments, non-leadership roles or
as individual contributors.

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 Your company’s expectations of its leaders should not remain static; they should evolve as your
company evolves.Creating a culture of leadership accountability is an ongoing effort. Leaders must
continuously develop new strategies to inspire engagement and ownership.

About the Author

Founder and CEO of Leadership Contract, Inc., Vince Molinaro is also the author of The
Leadership Contract and The Leadership Contract Field Guide.

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