When I speak with business owners, one of the most frequent questions I get asked is ‘How do I get my people to do what I need them to do?’ i.e. How do I hold them accountable?  Holding others accountable, or fear of holding others accountable, is one of the biggest challenges many business owners face and it limits their ability to grow their business.  It also takes the fun out of it.

If you’re struggling with accountability in your business, you’ll have experienced one or more of the following:

1. You’re constantly putting out fires or dealing with repeated mistakes…
2. You avoid addressing problems because it’s awkward or uncomfortable…
3. You have good ideas or intentions, but then get sidetracked and they fall to the wayside…
4. Employees agree to do what needs to be done, yet it doesn’t get done…
5. Problems are discussed repeatedly but never seem to get resolved…
6. Things change for a week or two, and then go back to the way they were…
7. There are too many priorities that need your attention…
8. You experience the same frustrations over and over again…
9. Your spouse is tired of hearing you complain about work…

Increasing accountability in your business is not as difficult, or scary, as you might think, and it’s the only way to bridge the gap between your vision and its execution.  Here are The Top 11 Reasons Accountability Eludes Your Business:-

1. Lack of a clear Vision: you don’t have a clear vision for the future or it’s not consistently communicated to your team.
2. Lack of a Leadership Team: you don’t have a capable and cohesive leadership team in place to assist you with the execution of your goals.
3. Lack of Authenticity: you haven’t defined the core values for your business, or you don’t stand behind them.
4. Lack of Focus: you don’t set any specific goals for your business, or you set too many, when you and your team should set and focus on ONLY ONE primary objective per financial quarter.
5. Lack of Documented Systems: you have not identified and clearly documented the primary processes associated with the operation of your business, i.e. the profitable delivery of value to your customer.
6. Lack of Quantifiable Feedback: you do not keep appropriate score and have no system for gathering and analyzing the important data that will help you get to the root cause of your problems.  Everybody has a number.
7. Lack of Communication: you have no regular schedule of meetings, or the meetings you do hold are ineffective.
8. Inability to Solve Problems: you and your team spend a lot of time discussing problems, yet rarely solve anything, so they are a drain on everybody’s time and energy.
9. Lack of Meaningful Consequences: you are made aware of problems or mistakes and even though the problems are discussed, there is no meaningful consequence when it happens again, so you’re dealing with the same problems over and over again.
10. You Don’t Embrace Perturbation: you avoid the uncomfortable feeling that comes with calling somebody out, instead of embracing discomfort as a necessary stepping stone to growth – personal growth and business growth.
11. You Blame Others: you believe if you could fix everybody else, then you wouldn’t be experiencing these problems instead of learning how to be a better leader
12. Bonus Reason … You’re Not Accountable: you are a law unto yourself (and maybe your spouse) and so you consistently let yourself off the hook.

Your ability to succeed is in direct proportion to your ability to solve problems effectively and sustainably.  Remember, every business has problems, and the sooner you can admit to yours and overcome them by learning how to overcome the 12 roadblocks above, the faster you will move forward.