Learnings and Missteps

Creating a Culture of Accountability for Success

• Jesus Hernandez • Season 3

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Can accountability truly exist without corrective action, especially in the high-stakes world of leadership in the construction industry? Join me as we unpack the often-blurred lines between these two crucial concepts. You'll discover why leaders must secure commitments with clear communication while employees need to establish and understand expectations. This episode promises to shift your perspective on how accountability is built through commitments from both sides and why corrective actions like performance management should be distinct strategies leaders employ to address team dynamics and non-compliance.

Ever thought admitting a mistake was the same as being accountable? Think again. We unravel the myth that owning up to errors is enough, sharing practical strategies to build real accountability through personal responsibility. Learn why proposing realistic alternatives when things go awry is essential, and why being a "bobblehead" who agrees without understanding can derail true team effectiveness. This conversation is all about challenging assumptions, asking the right questions, and making commitments with genuine clarity—laying the groundwork for a culture of accountability that drives success.

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Speaker 1:

Accountability seems to be like this super, super popular thing people like to talk about or even request and complain about, but I think they got it twisted. I think there's a distinct difference between accountability and corrective action. So if you're in like any kind of leadership or managerial role, stick around, because I'd love to get your thoughts on whether you agree or you think I'm just twisting things up and making them more complicated than they need to be. So I've worked with a ton of teams all across the United States all, of course, in construction and I've heard many, many times what we have is an accountability problem, and when I hear that, what I hear is a confession. I hear somebody confessing that they are not accountable. I don't think that's what they mean, like for real. For real, I really, really think they're asking for something else, and that something else is is they're looking for corrective action to be taken on somebody that's not fulfilling the expectations or that's not performing as they should be. And I also got to say like the unaccountable have no room to be screaming and hollering for accountability. If you agree, drop me some stars down there in the comments and let's talk about accountability.

Speaker 1:

Accountability is about being accountable. I know, like, how do you define a word? If you just repeat the word, I get it. So then what does being accountable mean? When I'm accountable, I am, and always and only will ever, be accountable to the commitments I make. So if you sign me up for something or you volunteer me for something and I don't follow through and I kind of half-ass it, you're probably going to be disappointed and irritated. But you're not. There's no accountability. Like I am not accountable to that. I did not volunteer, I did not commit to the thing. Am not accountable to that. I did not volunteer, I did not commit to the thing. But when I do make a commitment, I am accountable, right. And so when I say I'm going to do something, it is up to me to actually deliver and follow through and execute on the commitment I made. And even better, like if my manager or my boss or whoever actually has a conversation. So let's go back to the other example of being volunteered or signed up for something. If somebody comes up to me and says, hey, I signed you up for this thing, like whoop-de-doo, I'll just cram that into my schedule no accountability. But if somebody comes up to me and says, hey, you said that you wanted to be working on this thing, or we're trying to build our strength in this area and I want you to go to this class. That opens the door for me to respond and ask questions and get clear or better understand, like, what are we talking about here, what's the purpose behind this thing? And then the likelihood of me actually committing goes way, way up.

Speaker 1:

So part of accountability is absolutely on the boss or the manager that really is not doing a good job of securing commitments. They're barking out orders and have these unwritten, unspoken expectations and that absolutely creates, contributes to like a low accountability environment because nobody committed and so the key is securing a commitment. If you're in like the manager, leader, boss role, you got to secure commitments. Sure, I know we're the boss and people need to do what they're supposed to do was in the job description. You can keep playing that song and let me know how it goes, because I bet it ain't working out so good, but having that couple of minutes to have a conversation, have a dialogue and secure a commitment. Or if you're not there yet and you still have all these unspoken expectations in your head and then you just get really frustrated because people don't meet them and they don't really understand the expectation until you're pissed. Well, this accountability thing is largely on your part.

Speaker 1:

Let's flip it to the other side Now. We're not the boss, right, we're the work. We're not the person with authority and responsibility, like if you're an OG baller. You don't hide in the gray space, like when some people say something, make a statement and I kind of can infer that they're, they have a request or an ask or they want a commitment from me. I don't get to hide and say, well, they never asked for a commitment, right. Like that's low integrity. Be a baller and step up and say it sounds like you want me to do X, y or Z. It sounds like this is the action or commitment you want me to make, and then go another step and say I can do it in this timeframe or under these conditions. Now there's a commitment.

Speaker 1:

And so on both sides of this accountability thing, whether you're the boss and you have an issue with the amount of accountability, you need to secure commitments. If you're not the boss, you're like the rest of us. You don't get to hide in the like in the dark spaces where the leader may not be really good at securing commitments. Now let's get back to this like corrective action, corrective measures thing, which I think most people really want, but they're not saying that Right. They want somebody to get written up, they want somebody to get terminated, they want to make sure that people that are like the scrubs aren't getting promoted and aren't getting raises, like that's really what. For me, all of that falls into corrective measures. That's performance management. That's not accountability.

Speaker 1:

We talked about what accountability is and so give you an example I'm the boss. When I'm accountable to my commitments as being the supervisor, as being the manager of the group, part of that commitment is to follow through on performance management, is to follow through on punitive and corrective measures for people that are non-compliant and that are dragging the team down. That doesn't mean that I like it. It's not fun to write people up. It's not fun to suspend them and terminate them. That's not a fun thing to do. I promise I've done a bunch of them, but as an accountable person, I made a commitment to do the job. The job has these requirements, and so I'm going to be accountable to the commitment I made and I'm going to follow through on the performance management issues on the punitive side, cause.

Speaker 1:

No one complains about accountability when everybody's getting bonuses and raises and promotions and like. That word never comes up. It's only when people aren't getting those things, when times are hard and when performance of the group is nowhere near where it needs to be. And so again back to being accountable. I am accountable to the commitments I make. You cannot have accountability if you don't have people who are accountable. Draw me a hell yeah in the comments if you agree, like for real.

Speaker 1:

Now I'm going to give you the cheat code, and it's going to be so simple. I'm going to frustrate you, but here's the cheat code. If you want accountability, if you want to improve accountability in your team, in your home, in your department, in your business, be accountable. It's that easy. Now I want to be extra, extra clear. It isn't just about saying yes and doing the things. It's also about owning up when things don't go right, owning up when you've overcommitted, coming back to the table and saying hey, jess, I know I said I was going to get this thing done by Friday, but X, y, z, whatever, I'm not going to be able to, I can get you half of it by Friday. I can get you the rest by next Wednesday Doesn't mean I'm going to be happy about it, but I know I can trust you to be accountable.

Speaker 1:

Now there's a little slippery slope here, because I've come across some people that they think by falling on the sword that they're being accountable. By saying, yep, I screwed up, yep, I failed, yep, I dropped the ball, they think that they're being accountable. But it's kind of like, if it's like, yes, if yes, you're accountable when you own up and fall on the sword, if you actually take steps to correct it and keep that from happening again, that might be maybe, that's maybe. We should dive deeper into that. Let me know in the comments if you want a video on that issue.

Speaker 1:

But a bunch of people I know they're like well, I'm accountable, I take ownership, and I fell on the sword and I said, ok, but what did you do differently? Well, I'm accountable, I take ownership, and I fell on the sword and I said, okay, but what did you do differently? Huh, it's like yeah, what did you do differently? Like, sure, you dropped the ball, you weren't able to perform or deliver within the commitment, the original commitment, but what changes have you made to your operation, to your thinking, to your habits, so that you can deliver on the next round, because so far I haven't seen any change in your behavior. So there, it's very unlikely that you're actually going to deliver next time.

Speaker 1:

Again, I don't want to get too far off track, because that's a. That's a whole other deal, right? People that are posturing and beating their chest and like they know how to play the game, they know the words to say, but they're actually not a fricking player. And the last thing that you can do to like be more accountable as an individual is don't be a bobblehead. If you disagree with something, say you disagree. If you don't understand the damn thing, say you don't understand being a bobblehead, nodding your head, saying yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, even though you're like I have no idea how the hell to do that thing or this sounds stupid, it ain't going to work, it feels like a waste of time. If all of that's going in your head and your head is bobbing, you're a bobblehead. So don't be a bobblehead. Ask the question, challenge, push back to get clear on what the thing is before you make the commitment, because once you make the commitment, baby, now you're committed, now you're accountable.