Building an Accountable Workplace Culture by Sam Silverstein

Photo by Christina @ wocintechchat.com on Unsplash

One of the most common questions I hear from leaders is: How do we build an accountable workplace culture? 

The answer is simple…but it is not easy. In fact, the answer to this question gives us a textbook example of why simple principles often take immense amounts of time, energy, and effort to implement. The simple answer is as follows. 

To build an accountable workplace culture, you first design it. How do you design your workplace culture? Through your values. Your values are the house rules. Values must be consciously chosen and they must be authentic to your organization. They should not be cut and pasted from some other organization’s values. They should be yours. Your values must say to everyone in the organization, “This is how we do it here.” Everyone in leadership must model the values that leadership chooses to live and evangelize. 

In every decision, leadership must live the values. If one of your values is Trust, then it does not matter what we produce, it does not matter what your title is, it does not matter where you sit on the org chart: You cannot make a decision that undermines the value of Trust. Period. That has to start at the top. 

Everyone must live the values. That is a condition of employment. You live and model the values with every decision, and you teach the values to each and every individual. And when people come into the organization, they see the values in action. If they choose to buy into those values and protect them, they get to stay on. If they do not buy into and protect those values, they have to leave. 

You are continuously modeling, teaching, and protecting the values in every discussion, every meeting, and every communication, regardless of the platform on which that communication takes place. Whenever you protect the values, you protect the workplace culture. Typically, you protect the workplace culture through living the values in your relationships with people, so they are inspired to live the culture… and you protect it by noticing when people are not living the values. At that point, you as the leader must make an effort to coach them up to a point where they can and will live the values. If that effort fails, then you have to let them go somewhere else, somewhere their behavior will be accepted. 

Sometimes it takes courage to defend the culture, but the alternative is a disaster. When you allow people who are refusing to live the values to stay in your organization because you are afraid of being unable to hire other people, or because you do not like starting uncomfortable conversations, or because you believe that people will not like you if you defend the culture, or for whatever reason, then you no longer have a culture by design. You have a culture by default, and you have sent a message to everyone in your organization that “anything goes here and we no longer believe those values. All you have to do is (fill in the blank): be pretty, produce, be related to the right person, have tenure, whatever, and you do not have to live the values.” That is not the way to go. 

Once you identify the values that support your culture, it is important to celebrate it every chance you get: with teams, with individuals, for little victories, for big victories. An accountable workplace culture is precious. As the leader, you need to deliver positive reinforcement every time there is success, big or small, so that everyone in the organization will be motivated to continue and repeat that success. 

When you protect the workplace culture, you make a better place to work for everyone. This is what attracts the best people and creates the desire within those people to stay. Building an accountable workplace culture takes effort—but the quality of that culture will always show up on the bottom line. 

Sam Silverstein is dedicated to empowering people to live accountable lives, transform the way they do business, and create a more accountable world. He helps companies create an organizational culture that prioritizes and inspires accountability. His latest book—The Accountability Advantage—is now available from Sound Wisdom. You can follow Sam on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

Accountability Is the Answer to the Great Resignation by Sam Silverstein

Photo by Eric Prouzet on Unsplash

The Great Resignation is in full swing. People are quitting their jobs. It is rampant. But it is important to understand that people, for the most part, are not retiring. People are resigning from companies where they do not feel like they belong. They are resigning where they do not feel valued. They are resigning where they do not connect to the organization’s mission. They are resigning when they are not connected to a group of peers. They are resigning when they do not feel like they are being developed and grown for future opportunities. People are resigning when they cannot work remotely or build their work life into their lifestyle. 

The list goes on and on. Mostly people want to be valued, be a part of something, and live a fulfilled life. When they do not, the Great Resignation comes into play. What many workers find out is that when they resign because of money and go somewhere else the grass certainly isn’t greener. I always advise people to leave an organization with a weak culture. For the most part, do not leave for money. When you go someplace for money, you will, many times, find yourself in an environment where you are not happy. 

So, what does this all mean for the leader who is fighting the Great Resignation? It means you better have your culture right. During the pandemic we found that the organizations that excelled were the ones who had strong, positive, sustainable workplace cultures. The ones that did not, suffered greatly. This still holds true through the Great Resignation. 

People do not leave organizations where they feel valued, developed, a part of a community, and connected to the mission of the organization. People leave when leaders believe that people are simply a means to an end. And most of the leaders that treat people this way do not even realize they are doing it. 

How does your culture shape up? Do you have an annual workplace culture assessment tool that you use to get real data on what is going on inside your organization. If you do not have real data, how can you address real problems? 

The accountable leader puts their people first, makes sure that all decisions are made with the people’s interest in mind as well as the future of the organization, and ensures that everyone has a voice that is heard. 

When an accountable leader would rather die than let their people down, then the people would rather die than let that leader down. It always comes down to relationships. When you create a workplace culture that truly values people then the people value the organization, and the Great Resignation is not even in their vocabulary. 

Sam Silverstein is dedicated to empowering people to live accountable lives, transform the way they do business, and create a more accountable world. He helps companies create an organizational culture that prioritizes and inspires accountability. His latest book—The Accountability Advantage—is available for preorder from Sound Wisdom. You can follow Sam on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

Building an Accountable Workplace Culture by Sam Silverstein

Photo by LinkedIn Sales Solutions on Unsplash

One of the most common questions I hear from leaders is: How do we build an accountable workplace culture? 

The answer is simple…but it is not easy. In fact, the answer to this question gives us a textbook example of why simple principles often take immense amounts of time, energy, and effort to implement. The simple answer is as follows. 

To build an accountable workplace culture, you first design it. How do you design your workplace culture? Through your values. Your values are the house rules. Values must be consciously chosen and they must be authentic to your organization. They should not be cut and pasted from some other organization’s values. They should be yours.  Your values must say to everyone in the organization, “This is how we do it here.” Everyone in leadership must model the values that leadership chooses to live and evangelize. 

In every decision, leadership must live the values. If one of your values is Trust, then it does not matter what you produce, it does not matter what your title is, it does not matter where you sit on the org chart: you cannot make a decision that undermines the value of Trust. Period. That has to start at the top. 

Everyone must live the values. That is a condition of employment. You live and model the values with every decision, and you teach the values to each and every individual. And when people come into the organization, they see the values in action. If they choose to buy into those values and protect them, they get to stay on. If they do not buy into and protect those values, they have to leave. 

You are continuously modeling, teaching, and protecting the values in every discussion, every meeting, and every communication, regardless of the platform on which that communication takes place. Whenever you protect the values, you protect the workplace culture. Typically, you protect the workplace culture through living the values in your relationships with people, so they are inspired to live the culture…and you protect it by noticing when people are not living the values. At that point, you as the leader must make an effort to coach them up to a point where they can and will live the values. If that effort fails, then you have to let them go somewhere else, somewhere their behavior will be accepted. 

“You either have a culture by design…or a culture by default.” 

Sometimes it takes courage to defend the culture, but the alternative is disaster. When you allow people who are refusing to live the values to stay in your organization because you are afraid of being unable to hire other people, or because you do not like starting uncomfortable conversations, or because you believe that people will not like you if you defend the culture, or for whatever reason, then you no longer have a culture by design; you have a culture by default, and you have sent a message to everyone in your organization that “anything goes here and we no longer believe those values. All you have to do is (fill in the blank): be pretty, produce, be related to the right person, have tenure, whatever, and you do not have to live the values.” That is not the way to go. 

Once you identify the values that support your culture, it is important to celebrate when they’re put in action every chance you get: with teams, with individuals, for little victories, for big victories. An accountable workplace culture is precious. As the leader, you need to deliver positive reinforcement every time there is success, big or small, so that everyone in the organization will be motivated to continue and repeat that success. 

When you protect the workplace culture, you make a better place to work for everyone. This is what attracts the best people and creates the desire within those people to stay. Building an accountable workplace culture takes effort—but the quality of that culture will always show up on the bottom line. 

Sam Silverstein is dedicated to empowering people to live accountable lives, transform the way they do business, and create a more accountable world. He helps companies create an organizational culture that prioritizes and inspires accountability. His latest book is The Theory of Accountability: Building a Truly Accountable, High-Performance, High-Growth Life for Yourself and Your Organization. You can follow Sam on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

Three Strategies to Enhance Company Culture in a Virtual World by Meridith Elliott Powell

Photo by LinkedIn Sales Solutions on Unsplash

One of my favorite clients works in the manufacturing space, and lucky for them, 2020 was a great year. Despite the pandemic, they grew, added more staff, and increased profits by 32%. 

Working together, we spent most of the early months of the pandemic navigating the consistent increase in demand. We spent our time helping over three-quarters of their staff learn to work remotely and the other one-third adjust to the new regulations and protocols to ensure a safe working environment. 

For the first few months, company culture was the last thing on anyone’s mind. The team was engaged. Most of their employees were grateful to have a job, others driven by the urgent need to help their customers and team members. Pretty much everyone was willing to do whatever it took to keep the company growing. 

Now we find ourselves over a year into this crisis, and the tide is shifting. Team members are getting burned out and starting to disengage. They suffer from “Zoom fatigue.” They struggle to achieve work-life balance, and they are getting frustrated. 

For the first time since this pandemic began, the leadership team is wrestling with how long will this go on? How do we keep our team engaged? And how do we maintain and enhance our company culture in a virtual world? 

Those are great questions that many leaders are challenged with today because building a culture and leading a team in a remote environment is different. It requires new strategies and a new set of ideas. 

Before we jump in and start discussing the strategies you need to build and maintain your company culture, let’s talk about what culture is and why it matters, even more so in a virtual world. 

Culture is the set of values and beliefs a company has. When your culture is strong, your employees not only understand those values and beliefs; they use them to drive their attitude, their behavior, and the experience they create for team members and customers. With a strong culture, you get a more engaged team, a more productive work environment, and more satisfied customers. 

Now culture matters because employees are more engaged, more productive, and tend to stay longer when they work for a company whose values and beliefs are aligned with theirs. Let’s look at the facts: companies with winning organizational cultures have 72% higher employee engagement ratings. 65% of employees say their company culture is a deciding factor in whether they stay long-term or not, and 77% of employees believe a strong culture enables them to produce higher levels of work. 

So, culture matters, and in a world where employees can work from anywhere and for anyone, giving them something to believe in, be a part of, and contribute to is one of the best tools you have to keep top talent. 

There is so much value in investing in your company culture, so how do you get it right in a virtual world and working with a remote team? 

1. Overly Communicate 

Very few leaders communicate enough and far fewer communicate enough in a virtual world. You have to realize the moment your team started working from their homes, they felt disconnected, shut off, and isolated. They are unsure of how your company is doing, what challenges you’re facing, what you are focused on for 2021, and how they can best contribute. 

You need to be answering their questions, and much more. You need to ensure that you communicate with your team often and provide opportunities for them to communicate with you. Communication is a two-way street, and if you want to drive culture, you need to ensure your team is talking to you as much as you are talking to them. 

BEST PRACTICES: Here are some of the best ideas we see successful leaders today putting into place. 

Weekly kick-off video – the CEO starts each week with a video that lets the team know where the focus needs to be, what she expects of them, and then rewards and recognizes individual contributions. 

Town Halls – monthly or quarterly, town halls with the CEO and/or leadership team allow employees to get relevant updates and, more importantly, ask questions, get first-hand information, and heard on significant challenges. 

Monthly Financial Updates – humanizing the business model by allowing employees to learn from the CFO how the company makes money, what they can impact, and how their contribution directly connects to the bottom line. This does more than any other strategy we have seen to decrease expenses and drive revenue. 

2. Create Connection 

Gone are the opportunities to grab lunch with a co-worker, tell a joke before the meeting starts, or participate in the monthly birthday celebration. What remote work has given us in productivity and efficiency has cost us in the areas of communication and relationship building. 

People spend so much time at work, even if that work is remote. To be successful; they want to feel like they are connected to their co-workers, know their boss, and feel heard and understood by the people they work with. In a virtual world, you have to be more innovative to create that, and you have to build on those opportunities proactively. 

BEST PRACTICES: Here are some of the best ideas we see successful leaders putting into place 

TECH MATTERS – just like you invested in your office space, you need to invest in technology. If you want people to feel connected, they need to have the tools. Video is critical, strong audio is a requirement, and the right software and tools make it so much easier to engage. 

CREATE SPACE – allow people to connect just like you did at work. Instead of the monthly pot luck dinner, create personal channels on your SLACK, TRELLO, or intranet accounts. Start rooms where team members can talk about their pets, taking care of aging parents, or what it is like to homeschool your kids in the age of COVID. 

DONUT MEETINGS – beak the silos and communication issues by building relationships between departments and leaders you need to work together. Donut meetings are meetings set up between two and three team members who don’t interact regularly but need a better connection to work more effectively together. 

3. Bind with Purpose 

At the end of the day, in a traditional or remote work environment, people want to do work that matters, and they want to be a part of something bigger than themselves. 

If you want your team to engage, then you need to give them something to engage in. That something is a purpose, who you are, what you stand for, and the impact you are making. 

BEST PRACTICES: Here are some of the best ideas we see successful leaders putting into place 

BEGIN EVERY MEETING – and end every meeting reminding your team members of your purpose, and how what they are doing matters, the impact they are making. 

REWARD/RECOGNIZE – team members and situations that underscore the importance of your purpose. Tell stories and develop case studies that detail how the company’s purpose is to create change and help people.  

NORTH STAR – use your purpose and core values as your litmus test, your north star in deciding whom to promote, whom to hire, and what new initiatives to implement in your company. You show your team just how important the core values and purpose are and why they matter to the company’s success. 

Your Culture Is Your Best Investment 

Yes, investing in building culture in a work environment can be challenging, but it’s not impossible. It is also one of the best investments you can make. One of the few advantages you have left in this constantly shifting and highly competitive marketplace is your team’s engagement level. Invest in your culture, and your team will invest in you. 

Meridith Elliott Powell, CSP, is a business growth expert, keynote speaker, and award-winning author. Her new book, THRIVE: Strategies to Turn Uncertainty into Competitive Advantage, shares nine proven principles for leveraging uncertainty to grow your business and drive sales. It is available from Sound Wisdom on June 22, 2021—preorder your copy today! This blog originally appeared here on meridithelliottpowell.com and has been edited for inclusion on The Sound Wisdom Blog. Subscribe now for weekly inspiration and business insight delivered straight to your inbox (we won’t spam you—we promise!).

Accountable Leaders Learn to Spot Cultural Drift by Sam Silverstein

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

What if the culture you designed for your company isn’t the culture your people are actually living? 

A client of mine recently told me, “I know in my heart that fundamentally we have a great culture at our company…but lately, I feel like something is off, and I can’t quite put my finger on what it is.” 

I said, “Does it feel like you’re not quite hitting the bull’s-eye that you used to hit routinely as a company, each and every day? Like your people’s standards are slowly dropping? Like things somehow slipped just a little bit while you weren’t looking, or you were focused on an acquisition?  

He nodded. 

What you’re dealing with,” I explained, “is called cultural drift.” 

He said, “Exactly!” 

Then he asked the big question that I’ve noticed truly accountable leaders always make a point of asking me when I use this term in a conversation for the first time. He said: “How do you define cultural drift…and how do I deal with it?” 

I realize you may be asking yourself the same questions now, so I’ll give you the same answers I gave my client. 

Let’s begin by defining what we mean by culture. A culture is what’s accepted and what’s repeated in your organization. And here’s the most important thing to understand about your workplace culture: You’re going to have one, whether you realize it or not, and it will always come in one of two possible varieties. You will either have a culture by design or a culture by default. That means your culture either drives accountability in the workplace…or your culture does not drive accountability in the workplace. 

“Culture by design” means you’ve actually stopped and thought about what kind of culture you want in your company, and you’ve built the workplace accordingly. You’ve asked yourself what you want your culture to be, you’ve identified and closely examined your values, you’ve found the best ways to model those values in the workplace, and you’re teaching and protecting and celebrating those values…consciously. 

“Culture by default,” on the other hand, hasn’t done any of that. This is the workplace culture that just kind of happens. Nobody designs it with intention. It’s defined through the lowest common denominator. Inevitably, a lowest common denominator culture means a lack of accountability to people; it probably also means a lack of responsibility when it comes to fulfilling specific assignments. (Remember: we are responsible for things, but accountable to people.) 

Here’s the point. Nobody ever stood up and said, “Okay. We hereby launch a culture where you don’t have to be prepared for meetings or show up on time, where you don’t have to treat people with respect, and where you don’t have to communicate effectively when it looks like something unexpected it going to keep you from getting the work done that you said you were going to get done. From today on, that’s what we’re going to notice and celebrate around here.” 

Nobody designs that kind of culture. But if those behaviors are tolerated and repeated, they become part of the workplace culture…by default. People come in for meetings late and unprepared, and they treat their colleagues and customers with disrespect, and they miss deadlines and think nothing of it. It’s just what happens, because that’s the kind of culture leadership has allowed to take root. 

Culture by default usually incorporates some cultural elements (like the ones I’ve identified above) that no one would consciously choose, but that end up being toxic daily workplace realities. All too often, a culture by default can lead an organization into a major downward spiral. This is not an issue of accountability vs. responsibility…because this organization will be lacking in both! 

As you have probably already guessed, the most successful organizations are the ones that have created, and live, a culture by design. There are five steps to creating this type of culture: 

• Define the culture 

• Model it 

• Teach it 

• Protect it 

• Celebrate it 

However, even if you do all five of those things, and do them right, something interesting can happen over time to change the culture. 

Maybe you have acquisitions, and you acquire other companies. Maybe you grow organically, perhaps by adding new branches or new divisions that aren’t directly exposed to the cultural experience that people in your main facility have. Or maybe some key people leave and are replaced by other people. When those kinds of changes take place, what often happens is that the culture that you designed starts to drift. 

What do I mean by that? I mean the culture starts to be not exactly the bull’s-eye of what you initially defined it and designed it to be. It’s not that your company has suddenly become a bad place to work…but it’s also not in the ideal place that you once had it. It’s drifting. 

Now—how do you correct that drift? 

Well, the first thing you have to do is you have to recognize that the culture is drifting. The sooner you recognize that (like my client did), the better off you are going to be. 

The next thing is to identify what part of your organization is affected. It could be the entire organization…or it could be some subset of it. The drift could be taking place at a certain level of leadership. It could be between the first and second levels of leadership, or between the second and third levels of leadership, or anywhere down the line. By the same token, the drift could be in a regional area. You could discover the drift is centered in a regional office someplace. Some of that drift might be contagious; it might be affecting other areas of your business. The point is, you have to be able to identify where the drift is (and isn’t), so you can make the corrections necessary to get your culture right back where you want it. 

Once you recognize where the drift is, you can take steps to correct it. We’ve designed a tool called The Accountability Index™ that helps you to do exactly this. This assessment allows you to identify the specific strengths and weaknesses of the current culture and helps you to identify the specific changes you need to make within the organization to get your team back to the routine of living the culture you actually designed…day in and day out. 

Accountable leaders notice, assess, and take action to compensate for the cultural drift they experience in their organization. They know that, if left unattended, cultural drift can turn an empowering, productive culture by design into a downward-spiraling culture by default. 

To learn more about The Accountability Index™…check it out here! 

Sam Silverstein is dedicated to empowering people to live accountable lives, transform the way they do business, and create a more accountable world. He helps companies create an organizational culture that prioritizes and inspires accountability. His latest book, Pivot!: Three Big Questions That Reframe Your Perspective, Maximize Your Potential, and Improve Your Life, is now available from Sound Wisdom. This article originally appeared here on The Accountability Blog and has been edited for inclusion on The Sound Wisdom Blog.

Two Questions That Support an Accountable Workplace Culture by Sam Silverstein

If you want to attract and hold on to the best people, redefine accountability in your organization.

I work with a lot of senior leaders of organizations. One of the major challenges these leaders frequently share with me is their difficulty in hiring and holding on to good people. They want talented people, and they don’t want those talented people going to the competition once they have been hired and trained! So they’ll ask me, “Sam, what’s the best way for me to win and hold on to the talented people that will keep our organization competitive?”

Often, before I can even begin to answer that question, the phone will ring, and I’ll hear that same senior leader say something like this: “Jim, you do realize that you’re accountable for delivering X, Y, and Z by such and such a date?” The leader’s tone on this conversation is likely to be brisk and aggressive, the conversation is typically brief and one-sided, and the implication is always clear: if the person on the other end of the line doesn’t deliver exactly what’s expected, on time and under budget, there’s going to be trouble! These very same leaders are the ones most likely to tell me that they pride themselves on their organization’s “accountable workplace culture”—as though them saying, “I am holding you accountable” was what created such a culture!

This is a fundamental misunderstanding of the whole concept of accountability—a misunderstanding that undermines any and every attempt to recruit and retain a productive team. It never even occurs to these leaders that the quality of the conversations they’re having with their own people is adversely affecting their ability to attract and hold on to the best people!

As leaders, we have to change the way we think about accountability.

Change the Conversation

If we’re leading a team, we need to start that change in thinking by defining accountability for ourselves. Let’s define accountability as “keeping our commitments to people…starting with me keeping my commitments to you.” 

Translation: Having an “accountable culture” doesn’t mean you hold everyone else hostage to your authority!

To the contrary, it means modelling accountability from the top down. It means you go out of your way to make commitments that support your team as they move toward fulfilling their goals—and it means you keep those commitments. It means accepting that an “accountable workplace culture” always starts with the commitments that you make to the team…not the other way around!

It is perhaps a little too easy for leaders to look past that word “commitment.” It is too easy to think, “Oh yeah, I know what a commitment is. Everyone knows what a commitment is. A commitment is when you say ‘yes,’ or ‘I will,’ or maybe even ‘I do.’”

“No Matter What”

A commitment is something you follow through on…no matter what. Just because you hit tough times does not mean you need to move on or that it is time to quit. Just because something is hard does not mean you should do something else. Where’s the commitment in that? A commitment is a pledge. It is a promise. It is not a maybe, or a hopefully, or a probably. It is an absolute. It is a relationship built on a foundation I call “No Matter What.” That foundation takes the form of two powerful questions:

• What personal commitment do I demonstrate to my people, in both words and deeds, in every single interaction? 

• How do my people know with certainty that I am committed to them and that I will be delivering on my commitments to them? 

Notice how a conversation about, say, an important project’s current status changes when you make a habit of asking yourself two questions. Instead of saying, “I hope you realize you’re accountable for delivering X, Y, and Z by such-and-such a date,” you’re more likely to say, “Jim, I’m committed to helping you always shine, reach your full potential, and move forward in the organization. With that in mind, what do you need from me in order to complete this assignment at a high level of quality by August 1?”

Guess what? That’s what a conversation in an accountable workplace culture sounds like! And following through on what you then commit to is what it looks like!

Holding someone else accountable, without clarifying your commitment to them, is like holding a gun to the person’s head. Who wants to work in that environment? If you stop to think about it, you’ll realize that the only reason someone stays in an environment like that is the paycheck they receive. Is that where you are right now with your team?

If so, you should know that that’s an extremely dangerous place to be if you’re a leader whose priority is attracting and retaining top talent. The moment someone offers that person a nickel more in salary, or offers to pay the same salary but work closer to home, you’re at risk of losing that talent you’ve worked so hard to find and develop!

When you hold someone accountable, it is all about them doing something for you. By contrast, when you are accountable to the people you lead, the conversation is transformed. It becomes about your working for their success. When you create an authentic relationship that’s based on you keeping your commitments to your people, based on you being accountable to them, they will naturally want to perform at a high level…and they will never want to go work for anybody else! 

So: If you want to attract and hold on to the best people, change your discussions with them. Ask those two questions. Change the way you think about accountability. Understand that accountability only begins when leaders choose to demonstrate it, on a personal level, to their own people!

Sam Silverstein is dedicated to empowering people to live accountable lives, transform the way they do business, and create a more accountable world. He helps companies create an organizational culture that prioritizes and inspires accountability. His most recent book in the No More Excuses series, No Matter What: The 10 Commitments of Accountability, is available now from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million, 800-CEO-READ, and other fine retailers.