Posts Tagged ‘accountability’

I was asked to cover this subject by one of our readers and as it is such a big area to discuss I will run it over the next 2 months.

Whether you are running your own business or you lead a team, your results come mainly from the activity of others – or they should!  However it is not unknown for business owners or team leaders to undertake many tasks that other team members really should be capable of doing.

The reason for this is a reluctance to delegate.

There are several reasons or excuses for why leaders might fail to delegate

Here are just a few:

• A lack of experience in their own position or in ever having a team
• A lack of confidence in their own ability to delegate
• The need to stay in control
• Perfectionist tendencies i.e. ‘No-one can do anything as well as I can’
• A lack of confidence in the abilities of their team
• The need to feel important i.e. ‘This whole place would fall apart if it wasn’t for me’
• A reluctance to invest the time and effort in learning what it takes to delegate successfully

Now, in some of the cases above it is understandable.  However leaders who do not delegate, or delegate very little, fail to utilise the full talent pool they have at their disposal, and in turn lose the opportunity to develop others.  They also spend time on minor tasks rather than making the most of their own experience, skills and talent.

So what is effective delegation?

Well, first you need to understand what delegation is really all about.  It’s about giving responsibility to others, building their confidence and developing their own skills and abilities.  It gives them authority and, more importantly, it gives them accountability.  This leads to true empowerment.

But remember – the ultimate responsibilities lie with you, the leader.  If something is not done, or is not done correctly, you can’t say that you delegated that task so you are not responsible.

This is why delegation is a practiced skill!

I read an article the other day in the business section of a newspaper and the journalist was discussing the bad management of banks and financial houses that are affecting the economies all over the world.

One aspect that sticks out for me is the lack of accountability these men/women in the top jobs accept. A large proportion of them are leaving with very large settlements, blaming other factors that were unseen and yet if you or I had gone into our managers and proposed doing business with extremely back debtors we would be kicked out of the office or worse, company!

Greed and a fast buck is a big driver to extremely large risk taking.

Unfortunately I keep seeing children being brought up the same way; Money is easy to get a hold of, mum and/or dad provide it or worse they take it from others.

If things don’t go their own way, mum and/or dad step in to fight their cause;

And if something goes wrong there is always someone else to blame. So risk and especially high risk is the easy path and pays off well at times too.

Kids nowadays have things a lot easier and so they should do, however they are also lacking in morals and values e.g. accountability, trustworthiness, honesty, challenge. Parents are the ones who need to help children form good values and morals to live by.

Kids are also more insecure and lacking in confidence – if someone was doing all the difficult things for you and you learn nothing from mistakes because YOU DON’T make them, then you would also be lacking in confidence and insecure.

Who is really at the heart of the world crisis?

So are we helping our children or hindering them? That is the big question!