Leadership and Accountability The Buck Stops with You

Leadership and Accountability: The Buck Stops with You Public Sector Consortium October 2, 2009 Bev Norwood Director of Leadership Programs, GAO

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GAO’s Six Dimensions of Leadership– 2007 Empowering People & Teams Personal Integrity Competence Self Knowledge Comm unication Vision 3

GAO Consensus: Self-knowledge is knowing and understanding… ¦ ¦ your personal and professional values, beliefs, needs, strengths, and weaknesses your own leadership style and its relationship to your values, beliefs, needs, strengths, and weaknesses how you impact others around you—up, down, and sideways how your style fits with or should be adapted for various circumstances and people 4

My Most Accountable Boss Exercise Identify five key actions taken by the most accountable boss you have ever worked for in terms of maximizing efficiencies (e. g. , use of $, use of staff time, streamlined policies and procedures, etc. ) within your team/office, across your agency, and/or between public sector entities/agencies. 1. ____________________________________ 2. ____________________________________ 3. ____________________________________ 4. _______________________________________________________________________ 5

Self-knowledge: Accountability From the Inside Out What would your colleagues say that you do on a dayto-day basis to model accountability as a public sector leader? __________________________________ _________________ 6

Things To Avoid as a Leader n Winning too much: The need to win at all costs and in all situations—when it matters, when it doesn’t, and when it’s totally beside the point. n Adding too much value: The overwhelming desire to add our two cents to every discussion. n Passing judgment: The need to rate others and impose our standards on them. n Making destructive comments: The needless sarcasms and cutting remarks that we think make us sound sharp and witty. n Starting with “No”, “But” or “However”: The overuse of these negative qualifiers which secretly say to everyone, “I’m right. You’re wrong. ” n Telling the world how smart we are: The need to show people we’re smarter than they think we are. n Speaking when angry: Using emotional volatility as a management tool. n Negativity, or “Let me explain why that won’t work”: The need to share our negative thoughts even when we weren’t asked. n Withholding information: The refusal to share information in order to maintain an advantage over others. n Failing to give proper recognition: The inability to praise and reward. Source: What Got You Here, Won’t Get You There by Marshall Goldsmith 7

Things To Avoid as a Leader, cont. n Claiming credit that we don’t deserve: The most annoying way to overestimate our contribution to any success. n Making excuses: The need to reposition our annoying behavior as a permanent fixture so people excuse us for it. n Clinging to the past: The need to deflect blame away from ourselves and onto events and people from our past; a subset of blaming everyone else. n Playing favorites: Failing to see that we are treating someone unfairly. n Refusing to express regret: The inability to take responsibility for our actions, admit we’re wrong, or recognize how actions affect others n Not listening: The most passive aggressive form of disrespect for colleagues. n Failing to express gratitude: The most basic form of bad manners. n Punishing the messenger: The misguided need to attack the innocent who are usually only trying to help us. n Passing the buck: The need to blame everyone but ourselves. n An excessive need to be “me”: Exalting our faults as virtues simply because they’re who we are. Source: What Got You Here, Won’t Get You There by Marshall Goldsmith 8

Intersections—GAO’s Six Dimensions of Leadership and Goldsmith’s “Avoid” List n n GAO—Personal Integrity n Goldsmith: Refusing to express regret n Goldsmith: Passing the buck n Goldsmith: Claiming credit we don’t deserve n Goldsmith: Playing favorites n Goldsmith: Failure to give proper recognition n Goldsmith: Withholding information GAO—Self Knowledge n n n Goldsmith: Goldsmith: Adding too much value Winning too much An excessive need to be me Telling the world how smart we are Making excuses 9

Intersections-GAO’s Six Dimensions of Leadership and Goldsmith’s List n n GAO—Vision n Goldsmith: Negativity, or “Let me explain why that won’t work” n Goldsmith: Clinging to the past GAO—Communication n Goldsmith: Not listening GAO—Competence n Speaking when angry (managerial competence) GAO—Empowering People and Teams n Goldsmith: Failing to express gratitude n Goldsmith: Punishing the messenger n Goldsmith: Passing judgment n Goldsmith: Making destructive comments n Goldsmith: Starting with “No”, “But” or “However” 10

Accountable Leaders Should Avoid… List the top five items on Goldsmith’s list that accountable leaders in the public sector should avoid: 1. _________________ 2. _________________ 3. _________________ 4. _________________ 5. _________________ 11

Where from here? 12

Ready, Set, Ask… To become a more accountable public sector leader I need to n n n start doing________________ do more of _______________ change how I ______________ do less _________________ stop doing________________ 13

Questions to Ponder… n What does accountability mean as a public sector leader? n n n At the desk level (300 feet)? At the organizational level (3, 000 feet)? At the public sector level (30, 000 feet)? n What is at stake if we are not seen to be accountable as public sector leaders? n What experiences can you share about the impact of public sector leaders failing to be accountable? n What opportunities do we have as public sector leaders to demonstrate accountability? n How can we help young leaders to become accountable public servants? 14