Do you see the difference between holding your direct reports accountable versus holding your peers accountable?

It is not the same thing – is it? There is a big difference indeed.

Now – going back to your original question: How do I change the culture of the team I lead – from a culture where I hold my direct reports accountable, to a culture where they hold themselves mutually accountable?

You must do THREE things …

First:

You must be a Role Model – meaning …

You must lead with integrity (be one in thought, words and behavior)

You must lead with humility (ask for feedback from everybody around you – including your direct reports – and genuinely learn from it)

And you must lead with transparency (show both your weaknesses and your strengths)

If your direct reports don’t perceive you as having integrity and / or being humble and / or being transparent – they won’t trust you. It’s that simple.

Being a Role Model for your direct reports brings about trust.

And trust fosters honesty within the team you lead.

And honesty generates an open communication environment.

Being a Role Model as a leader is the corner stone on which trust, honesty and an open communication environment rest.

If – as a leader – you are not a Role Model, it will be very difficult to lead your direct reports.

Second:

Create a multi-directional feedback culture within the team you lead – meaning – give feedback to your direct reports, ask for feedback from your direct reports, and ask them to ask for feedback from one another (from their peers) and to give feedback to each other (to their peers) – in an ongoing basis.

Not sporadically, erratically and infrequently – but steady, continuously and frequently.

Multi-directional feedback – within the team you lead – fosters trust, honesty and an open communication environment.

Without feedback it is very difficult if not impossible to create trust, honesty and an open communication environment.

Third:

All of your direct reports must perceive that your team’s decision-making process is fair, clean and transparent.

A fair team decision-making process means all of your team members perceive that their opinion was genuinely listened to and considered in the decision process – even if their opinion was not the final decision.

A clean team decision-making process means that all of your team members perceive that the final decision is for the common good (the team’s and the organization’s) – and not for the good of just a few (e.g., for the good of only the team leader). In other words – all of your team member must perceive that the decision is not corrupt.

A transparent team decision-making process means that all of your team members clearly understand the logic behind the final decision.

Without a fair, clean and transparent team decision-making process – it is very difficult if not impossible to create trust, honesty and an open communication environment.

Finally …

Once you are genuinely perceived by all of your direct reports as a Role Model, once you have created a culture of multi-directional feedback within the team you lead, and once all of your direct reports perceive that your team’s decision-making process is fair, clean and transparent …

Once all three conditions are met – not before – then and only then will you be able to talk to your direct reports about creating a culture where they hold themselves mutually accountable.

You might want to facilitate a team discussion where your direct reports dialogue about the inner workings of mutual accountability, about its pros and cons in terms of results, and about the necessary ground rules to make it work.

Conclusion:

A team culture where your team members (your direct reports) hold themselves mutually accountable will unquestionably facilitate to reach the kind of results you expect.

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