Digital Dealer - June 2019 - 6

D E A L E R OP S & M ANAGEM ENT: L e a d e r shi p Continued from pg. 4

WHILE NO ONE WANTS TO LET THE BOSS DOWN,
THERE'S A LOT MORE POSITIVE PEER PRESSURE NOT
TO LET TEAMMATES DOWN."
DOWN ACCOUNTABILITY.

Top-down accountability is
when a supervisor addresses poor performance or
behavior. It is necessary, it's
a positive thing, and it is the
leader's job, but it is Level
Three because there are
two levels better than this.
While it's a significant step
up from Level Four, it is not
what you find dominating the
highest-performing cultures
in business or athletics.
With Level Three accountability it is always the manager who addresses performance issues. For instance,
a technician comes in late,
and his or her manager
will address it. Again, while
this certainly is necessary,
it's not optimal as the boss
can't be everywhere and
see everything. Thus, many
poor performances may
be unchecked as a result
of reliance on Level Three
accountability.
3. LEVEL TWO:
PEER-TO-PEER
ACCOUNTABILITY.

Peer-to-peer accountability is when equals within
the same team hold one
another accountable. It's far
more effective in improving
performance and is a key
indicator of high-performing
cultures. For instance, when
a technician comes in late,
the boss doesn't have to
address it because the other
technicians will handle it in
their own manner: "Come on
man, you've got to get here
on time. We've got a goal to
6

JUNE 2019

hit and we all need to step
up to do it." A conversation
like that from a peer, or
peers, will have a far greater
impact on influencing performance than Level Three
accountability. While no one
wants to let the boss down,
there's a lot more positive
peer pressure not to let
teammates down.
Note that in the example
I gave, a peer confronting another can be done
good-naturedly, respectfully,
and conversationally. It
doesn't have to be done,

ple on our teams over the
years that required very little
or no accountability at all.
Level One is where the best
teams live. While Level Two
is really strong, Level One
is the summit. Some team
members are Level One
simply because that is how
they are wired, and it reflects
the high standards they
have for their own life. Other
teammates are at Level One
because the positive pressure created at Levels Three
and Two incentivized them
to "up" their performance.

IN HIGHPERFORMING CULTURES,
ACCOUNTABILITY IS
EVERYONE'S JOB."
and shouldn't be done, with
disrespect as that creates a
distraction that actually hurts
performance.
4. LEVEL ONE:
SELF-ACCOUNTABILITY.

Self-accountability means
no one has to hold an individual accountable because
that person does their job,
follows the process, lives the
values, and does so consistently. And he or she doesn't
do these things because
they're bribed, begged, or
threatened; rather, they do
so because that is who they
are as human beings, and
they have a higher standard
for themselves than anyone
else could ever have for
them. We all have had peo-

D I G I TA L D E A L E R . C O M

As odd as it may seem,
whichever level is currently
dominating your department
or organization, has a ton
to do with how you're hiring.
It really does start there. If
you're hiring people without
high personal standards
who don't care about others,
are content to just have a
"job," and do just enough to
get by, you're going to spend
a lot of time at the lower
levels. But even after you do
hire well it's no guarantee
that you'll have the optimal
levels of accountability.
The leader of that department still must: create clear
expectations; train others to
hit those expectations; give
others consistent feedback

on their success or failure
concerning said expectations; consistently hold
people accountable for executing those expectations;
and model the personal
excellence that frees him or
her to hold others accountable without being seen
as a hypocrite. As always,
the culture rests heavily on
the leader, and the ensuing
results become his or her
report card.
Here are a couple of
parting thoughts to move
forward with this information:
1. Which level best describes where you stand in
your organization from day
to day, not just at the end
of the month or when your
back is against the wall?
Which level dominates in
times of prosperity?
2. Do you have people on
your team who care enough
to confront peers concerning their performance? If
not, why; and, how can you
change that?
DAVE ANDERSON, "Mr. Accountability," is a leading international
speaker on personal and corporate
performance improvement. The
author of 14 books and host of the
wildly popular podcast, The Game
Changer Life, Dave's message
has impacted leaders in nearly
70 nations. His "in-the-trenches"
background of starting and running
world-class businesses, coupled
with his relatable non-academic
approach, creates an unmatched
connection that resonates with
audiences and moves them to
action.Follow Dave on Twitter
@DaveAnderson100.
EMAIL: dave@learntolead.com

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Digital Dealer - June 2019

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