Leadership Plus Management Creates Real Accountability

Accountability gets thrown around like a character trait, but this time on Traction for Your Workplace Goals, you will hear how to treat it like an outcome you can design. 

Certified EOS Implementer MIchele Mollard walks through L+M=A, a simple equation that changes how you lead: Leadership plus Management equals Accountability. When teams struggle, it’s rarely because people “don’t care.” It’s usually because they’re missing clear direction, clear expectations, or the trust that ties both together.

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EOS-Traction for Your Workplace Goals is a Livemic Communications production.

Transcript

LMA Formula For Accountability

Richard Piet 0:01

I'm Richard Piet. Welcome back to Traction for Your Workplace Goals. Certified EOS implementer Michele Mollard helps us work through some of the gray areas, or a lot of them, as it relates to advancing our business and making it successful. Welcome back, Michele.

Michele Mollard 0:24

Well, thank you for having me back, Richard. This is awesome.

Richard Piet 0:27

Today we're going to talk about improving accountability through stronger LMA. And in some businesses that means least management agreement, but that's probably not what it means here, right?

Michele Mollard 0:40

It does not mean here, and it's not somebody's initials. We were just messing around with that. The L is lead, manage, accountability. So LMA, those are the three words, but it's actually a math equation. So leadership plus management equals accountability. So L plus M equals A. Right? And so now I'm getting into algebra and people are freaking out. I'm like, is it a letter? Is it a number? I'm not going there. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

Richard Piet 1:09

This isn't too complicated. It's not. One plus one equals another. That's what we're talking about. And this formula, this problem, is actually a solution.

Michele Mollard 1:20

It is a solution. And so what I want us to understand today is that you have to have both. You have to have leadership abilities and you have to have management abilities, but it's not micromanagement abilities. And so I just want to put a caveat, and we'll share today in this next 20 minutes or so. Uh we'll share how that's going to look. So I just want our heads wrapped around leadership. My call to action is if you want these two sheets that I'm going to talk about, email me and I will send these documents to you. But it's actually a self-evaluation that I take my leadership team members on, and they're saying, yes, I'm leading with these five, and yes, I'm managing with these five. And if they're not, what are they going to do? Fix it. So leadership on the business

Lead And Manage Everyone Equally

Michele Mollard 2:05

thinking, clear direction. So think about leadership, just kind of casting things forward, inspiration, motivation, creating openings, really inspiring them on the business thinking. Management on the other side is clear expectations. So if I think about creating clear direction and clear expectations, direction expectations, management, right? So direction is going us forward. Management is the doing it, is the expectations of doing it. Creating an opening is giving a positional opening. And then in the management side, it's about communication. It's about clear expectations that are laid out but communicated well. Management is all about doing, right? Thinking, leadership, doing, management. They can't be more opposite, but you have to have both. Leadership plus management equals accountability.

Richard Piet 2:59

For everybody.

Michele Mollard 3:00

For everybody in the organization, every single person, including owners, including, I see children of owners being managed and led very differently than the employees. It doesn't matter. We lead them the exact same way. We manage them the exact same way. Just because they're family, it does not mean that we're not holding them accountable the exact same way. So the math does not change, right? Leadership plus management equals accountability. It's not like leadership of my employee, leadership of my kid. Management of my employee, management of my kid meets different accountability. Nope, nope, nope, nope.

Richard Piet 3:37

That can be tough. I I suppose that could be a whole episode talking about the family dynamics. But does this process help sort out any inconsistencies that might

Vision And Expectations Using EOS Tools

Richard Piet 3:50

exist?

Michele Mollard 3:51

It is about saying, am I giving everybody in the organization clear direction? And so we have a tool called a vision traction organizer strategic plan. You've got one, use it. In leadership, we've got to bring that back. We have to be familiar with it. Our leadership team has to be familiar with it, and all our employees should be familiar with it. And so that's what it means about leadership. And then the opposite end management. Am I giving clear direction? My job, right? The job description, the measurables, the scorecards, the KPIs, the dashboards. What am I expecting of them? And so where are we going? And how are you, management side, delivering on where we're going? And so we're going here and we need to make 600 widgets an hour. And you are making the widgets. And I need you to make 300 widgets now. And then a month from now, I need you to be at 350. And we're going to do this by this, this, and this new machinery, new staff, new whatever, right? And we're going to keep growing. But the leadership side is they need to know that we're going to 600 because they just think you're pushing and pushing and pushing because you want to make more money. That's mentality, whether we like it or not. But when we share with them the why and the vision and where we're going and why we're doing it and the impact that we're potentially having by doing that, then they can draw on those expectations all the time and they will deliver it. That's what it's about. And so they're not done in isolation, hence the plus. You must have both.

Richard Piet 5:17

So the process that you undertake as a certified EOS implementer then is to uncover, I presume, correct me if I'm wrong, uh, where there might be deficiencies in leading and managing and in accountability. You're going to shake that loose. Is that right?

Michele Mollard 5:34

For sure. So oftentimes we'll ask saying, are you giving your employees the proper resources, the training, the time and attention? That means your time and attention as their leader, the people that they need, right? And so there's so much about that that we're trying to uncover. And so I'm saying those things. And as you guys are listening or watching, like you should be writing that down. And now I'm not saying that you're going to go and buy them a, I don't know, the $4,000 computer or whatever, but AI, right? Like, are we letting them explore the use of AI in their job and being able to do that? That's a resource, that's a tool,

Engage Employees With Resources And Ideas

Michele Mollard 6:10

that's a technology that they can use. And are we pushing them to do that or exploring that, right? And so sometimes we are just saying or mandating it, which kind of feels like micromanagement versus leading them to say, hey, we're going here. What do you think the tools are that I need to do to get you from 300 widgets a week to 600 widgets a week? They're saying, this machine can't do it. They know that machine better than you do. Better than you do, I promise, if they're on it every single day. And so they're saying, hey, this machine will get us to 450. But at some point you're going to need to buy a new one. And oh, by the way, you know, employee, can you research what that machinery would be to get me to 600? And now they're doing the work, they're inspired, right? That's the leadership part about what we need to do. But there's so much that we can't burden our staff with it because they're there making the product. Let them be a part of the change that you want. That's leading people.

Richard Piet 7:08

That's a game changer, which, you know, maybe it's an overused expression, but I feel like it is because I've witnessed what you're talking about with the other outcome, which is a person who doesn't feel part of that process. Yeah. Hears 600 widgets, and they, you know, sort of whisper to the the coworker, that's never gonna happen. You know, I've witnessed that. And what you're talking about bringing them along and making them feel as though they're valued, which of course they are, then that changes the whole story.

Michele Mollard 7:41

Yeah. Again, the math problem. What does it equal? It equals accountability. So how can you get more accountability than somebody that's absolutely engaged in the machinery that they're gonna suggest to be purchased, right? Or, okay, maybe I thought it was $450, but maybe if we just added this bolt-on, I don't know. I don't know machinery that well, but we could add this other little thing to it that is half the price of a new one and it'll get us to $550. Well, now I just saved us money. It's not accountability by a stick, it's accountability by inspiration, it's accountability by leading them, but then also managing them, right? Again, remember 600 widgets, 300 widgets. I need you to be a part of the why and how we get there. We act like these things are separate and they're so not separate, right? And so when I manage somebody, it's about what are the expectations? How are they doing them? Are they feeling like they're connected? Are they uh getting enough information from us to be inspired to do the next thing or take on the next project, right? And so how are we leading them and managing through that? You'll get accountability all day long.

Richard Piet 8:45

The process of improving accountability that is followed with the LMA process, you're helping them to be focused on that and see the path that then results in, I don't know, 550 widgets.

Michele Mollard 9:02

Right. Or what, yeah, exactly. Insert whatever you want from it. We often don't inspire our employees to see the end result and therefore them drive the accountability, right? And so EOS builds a culture of accountability, right? And so you use the example of, well, that's not gonna happen at 600 widgets, not accountable to each other, as opposed to, you know what, this machine can't, but I think we can figure out a way to do what, right? And now there's a culture between you and I as line leaders or as the running the same machine or next to each other running different machines, right? And so your part comes to me and my part goes to the next time we keep building on, right? How can we do that? Well, I can do 600 widgets, but you can only do three. And so you're holding me up because I only have three coming into my line because I can't make more because I need it, I bolted on, right? Or whatever it is. So, and there's this culture of accountability that we start to develop, we start to put in place that inspires others, right? And so that's what I'm kind of getting at is if you do leadership well and you do management well, again, absolutely reach out to me for these two pieces of paper. You're just gonna build this accountability. It's going to happen. It can't not, it's a byproduct. One plus one is two. It's not three, it's not four. L plus M is accountability, right? And I don't have to hold people accountable to it. I just inspire them to be a part of it. Right. And I know some people are sitting here going, Michele, this is utopia. Yeah, if you don't have people that bleed your core values, you don't have people that, you know, listen to an episode before this about get it, want to capacity. There's so many things. Yes, there's so many other factors on this. But there are people in your organization that are high performers, that are phenomenal, that you are not tapping into their ability to drive your organization forward. I I'll bank on it. A lot of us are spending a lot of time managing people that aren't producing

When Metrics Feel Like Micromanaging

Michele Mollard 10:58

as opposed to leading and managing the ones that are.

Richard Piet 11:01

Whoa, let that spin in your mind for a second. You mentioned a word that has some charge to it, micromanaging. Yeah. If someone has a perception that they're being micromanaged, is L plus M equals A powerful enough to change that story?

Michele Mollard 11:21

Yes. I think you gotta lean on the L. Oftentimes when employees come into businesses, they come in with experiences from their previous employer. And so their previous employer may have been brutal on the micromanagement end. And so when they see a scorecard to say you need to make, you know, 300 widgets a week, which breaks down to, I don't know, if divided by five, I don't do math. And so whatever that is, right? This is what I need you to make a week. This is what I need you to make an hour, they feel that that is micromanagement. And so I just want to make sure that we're understanding in our world, having those metrics are absolutely important. Having those metrics is the management, is the clear expectations. This is what I expect from you. And I'm gonna inspect what I expect. And that is by the use of what we call scorecard or measurables. Um, and so we do need to do some leadership, some coaching with employees to say here at our organization, we think of these differently. And I'm sorry that previously it was a stick and we just were whipping you with it. That is not what we do. We are inspiring you to keep growing with us. Here's the big vision, 600. Here's where we're at, 300, right? And so all of those things. And I think it was funny, Richard, you and I were talking about beforehand, before we started to record, I was just on a call with a brand new customer, and they were talking about micromanagement to your employees, may feel like harassment and talk about a charged word on that. Right. Right. And I'm like, wow, are you serious? And she told me more. I won't bore you with the story. And I was like, holy moly, right? Every hour, what are you doing? What do you? I mean, like he's like, What are you doing? I'm going to the bathroom. It's been three hours. Like, what? Right. I mean, I just can't even wrap my head around somebody you know needing to know where you're going every two seconds of what's going on. Absolutely, micromanagement charged word. Harassment is even more charged. Yeah. And that's what it felt like to her. And so where she was from.

Richard Piet 13:14

That's incredible.

Michele Mollard 13:15

Yeah.

Get The LMA Checklists And Close

Richard Piet 13:16

All right. Before we go, tell us again, which two sheets are you offering and how do we get them?

Michele Mollard 13:23

So the two sheets you can email me. Um, and so in the show notes is my email. Just email me. Um, and then you can just say, I don't know, L plus M equals A in the subject line. I think that would be fun. And then just, you know, hey, Michele, like I want the five leadership practices and five management practices. They're two different sheets. There's five questions on each. It's a yes or no. And you can evaluate all your employees. If you have seven director employees, if you ask them, would they say yes, you are giving them clear direction? Yes, you are giving them clear expectations. I, as a manager, set clear expectations, but they should have a very clear expectation of what I'm delivering to them. That's a difference. And they have the ability to say, you are not providing me what I need, and that's on me. So L plus M equals A goes both ways.

Richard Piet 14:16

All right. And get your self-evaluations, or maybe we just call them evaluations if you're going to share them with your direct reports, and uh that'll be free from Michele. So just go to the show notes and let her know you'd like those assets. Michele Mollard is a certified EOS implementer. She is the one who helps us think about these things here on traction for your workplace goals. Follow us, subscribe wherever you're hearing this or seeing it, and we'll have more episodes for you. In fact, if you happen to pawn this one and have not heard or seen some of the others, have a look and catch up because we'd be glad to have you here, the ones that are forthcoming. See you soon, Michele.

Michele Mollard 15:05

See you soon, Richard. Thank you.