The accountability ladder helps people see what they don’t see in themselves

The accountability ladder is a coaching and feedback tool used to reinforce behavior when results are better than planned and to provide coaching when behavior interferes with realizing desired results.  Effective business owners and managers use this tool to help those they lead to understand why they are or may not be getting the desired results they want out of life or their jobs.

The best people to work for and with are those on the upper rungs of the accountability ladder.  These are the accountable people who bring power to any business.  Nobody wants to work for or with anyone who lives their life by the lower four rungs of the accountability ladder.

Powerless Victims Levels	Powerful by Choice Levels
1.     Unaware and noncaring: These people don’t care enough to be aware of any problems or their probable role in them. For example, let’s say you have poor hygiene, but you have no clue about it.  You think you smell like a flower. Other people can smell your stench, but you have no clue.  Building awareness and knowledge is how you help those who are blissfully ignorant.	5.     Be responsible: People at this level take responsibility for the tasks they need to do.  An example is a sales rep who knows they must prospect to acquire new accounts to realize their sales goal. They see the reality of the situation and do the work that needs to get done to realize their accountabilities.
2.     Blame and complain: Overcoming this step requires a willingness to point the finger at ourselves and admit we may be the problem, not other people or factors. An example is a person who is always late to work in the morning because their spouse spends too much time in the bathroom when the real solution would be to wake up earlier.	6.     I own it:  When you take ownership of the results of an action, you get to decide if you will fall back down the ladder and make excuses like blame and complain.  Or you will take ownership of the problem and create solutions that need new actions.
3.     Excuse maker: Is a masked form of procrastination as to why things are not getting done.  Making excuses like “I’m too busy,” or “I have never done that before,” or “I don’t know what I am doing” is never spoken by an accountable person. Stop making excuses and get it done.	7.     Solutions seeker:  Owning the situation includes thinking of solutions you should act on to hit your goal. As you brainstorm workable solutions, you will see options emerge.  The key is acting on the best available option relative to your goal in the time available to realize your desired result.
4.     Wait and hope: Hope is not a method, nor is waiting for a miracle. Success happens through going out and getting planned actions done. An example of what never works is those who desire to be in good physical shape, but never eat healthily or exercise, hoping that one day their body will be transformed.  This only happens through disciplined effort.	8.     Make it happen:  You own it when you come up with smart solutions that you act on.  Being at this step is when you are at your best. You accomplish your goals as you put your solutions into action.  Making it happen produces the fruit of your labors.  This is when you see the truth in the adage, “the harder I work, the luckier I get.”

Use this tool as part of BusinessCPR™ Step 5 when your people are struggling with accepting accountability for the results of their actions.  You start using the accountability ladder by first asking yourself where you currently are on the ladder.  You do this because if you’re on one of the lower rungs on the ladder, you aren’t in the best position to coach someone on how they need to move up the ladder.  As you read through the different accountability rungs, you may find you are at different ladder levels in different aspects of your life.  That’s OK; the key is to know where you are on the ladder before you try and talk with an employee about where you see them on the accountability ladder.

After you have determined where you are on the ladder, the next questions to ask are, “My rung on the ladder acceptable to me, my employer, and those I work with?”  If you are below level four, you need to step it up to level five through eight.  These are the rungs on the accountability ladder that profitable businesses operate in.

Once you are clear on what rung of the accountability ladder you are on, the next step is to use the same process you put yourself through to help your employees.  First, you want to reinforce the behaviors you are seeing in your employees on the upper rungs of the ladder to encourage them to keep it up.  Next, you want to coach those on the lower level rungs to help them see how it is holding them and the company back from accomplishing more.

An effective way to hold this conversation is to print out two copies of the Accountability Ladder worksheet.  Click here to download this tool.  {M-13.1 Accountability ladder tool}

Once you have the hard copies available, use them to sit down with the employee you want to coach.  Introduce the opening paragraphs on the worksheet.  Once they are clear on the ladder’s rungs, have them “circle” the number that best reflects where they see themself on the accountability ladder on their worksheet.  As they do this as their manager, draw a box around the number that reflects your view of where you see them on the accountability ladder.

The next step is to place both worksheets side-by-side to discuss your respective ratings.  Use the titles and language of the rungs to help you talk with each other about your respective perceptions.

Are you ready to help your employees see what rung they are on?

It is a natural conversation when you both land on the same rung.  It’s not too bad when you are within a rung of each other, while it can be an awkward conversation if you are more than three rungs from each other.  If you think this third option is a possibility, click here to schedule a conversation with one of our certified BusinessCPR™ Coaches to learn how best to handle this type of conversation.

If you are ready to put the BusinessCPR™ Accountability Ladder Tool to work for you, click here to access the tool to help those in your employ see what’s holding them back from contributing more to your business.

Failure to have performance conversations is one of the driving reasons why small businesses remain small.  Don’t let this be the case in your business.  Use the language of the accountability ladder to help you and those in your employ recognize when they and you are being accountable for the results of your actions.  Even more important and powerful is using this same tool when someone allows themselves to be a powerless victim.