We hear a lot about accountability. But, what does it really mean? What can leaders do to create an accountable organization?

Here are a few questions to consider.

Numerous leadership books will tell you that having a vision is important. But for many people, the idea alone is difficult to understand, which makes developing a team vision elusive.

Having a vision for your team is critical because it gives the members clarity on the team’s purpose and where it’s going. That clarity helps in day-to-day decision making, prioritizing, and understanding expectations.

Here is a simple 6-step process to help you create a meaningful and compelling vision for your team.

Your life today is an answer to the questions you have asked up until now. The good news is that you can change the questions anytime you wish. Ask better questions and you get better answers. Sometimes changing our lives can be as simple as changing the questions we habitually ask ourselves and others.

- Matthew Kelly, Off Balance

Entitlement:

• What will you (boss, team, organization, community) do for me?
• What will you (boss, team, organization, community) provide for me if I do that for you?
• I am waiting for you (boss, team, organization, community) to give me an opportunity.
• I am stuck with these choices.

Empowerment:

A challenge in too many organizations is that teams and leaders often seek agreement instead of commitment.

You probably know what I'm talking about.

Agreement happens when people sit in meetings, nod their heads, and then afterwards either fail to take action or deliver on time.

Commitment, on the other hand, occurs when people take responsibility and then follow through to completion.

Agreement results in head nods. Commitment results in action.

Is your team stuck in seeking agreement instead of commitment?

Principle 1: Do not avoid the difficult conversations. You are just doing a disservice to your team member, the team as a whole, and the organization. And, you are losing credibility in the eyes of others on the team because they see you avoiding the conversation.

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Principle 2: Maintain or enhance your team member’s self –esteem. Everything we do as leaders can be done in such as way as to not marginalize our people.

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I often hear leaders say "I want my people to contribute more in our team meetings."

What most leaders don't realize is that limited conversation is often the result of their individual behaviors. For example, I recently attended a client's team meeting and noticed that he would ramble on for several minutes at a time and then ask "any questions?" and without hesitation begin talking again.

And, he didn't even know he was doing it.

Want to generate more conversation in your meetings?

Try these three ideas.

Everything DiSC Work of Leaders(TM) Profile

Using the framework of Vision, Alignment, and Execution, Work of Leaders encourages leaders to understand their own leadership behaviors and how they impact their effectiveness. Rich, compelling narrative adds depth to the data and strong visuals support the learning process by illustrating key messages.

Integrate the profile into your leadership development programs.

Is your team functioning at its highest level of potential?

Here are 8 questions to help you decide:

The first challenge that new teams often face is a lack of alignment. Usually happens when goals aren’t clear and common, and when there is ambiguity of roles and responsibilities. As a result team members quickly get siloed in their own agendas and egos instead of being focused on overall team results.