Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/contracting-with-staff-a-better-way-to-success/5021342/
Accountability is probably the most overused and least successful term in management. How many times have you heard the term used with an employee in a manner that conjures up the idea of authority? On any given day you can walk into a school and hear a director proclaim, “I’m going to hold you accountable for those lesson plans being posted outside your door.” And another: “Corporate is holding me accountable for more FTEs, so you had better get that marketing plan on time.”So why then, with all this talk of accountability, is such little success realized? Should we just fire all of them? The simple truth is accountability in the traditional sense of American management has usually meant a top-down model that is punitive in nature and does little to create an atmosphere of partnership or goal congruency. Try holding an 8-month old accountable for eating something she doesn’t want, even if it’s good for her, and you will find out like I did what oatmeal spit back in your face tastes like. Although staff might not be telling you “no” like my 8-month-old Sara did, their thoughts are communicating the same thing.
So how do we persuade people to accomplish ...