Are your top people taking personal ownership, or waiting for permission to act?
For Industry Week
It’s all too common that the CEOs I work with experience a moment of dread—one where they realize that the leaders across their organizations aren’t ready to lead the company in the future.
Maybe it’s that the company hasn’t invested correctly or sufficiently in supporting the development of those leaders. Or maybe it’s that the leaders themselves just don’t have what it takes to truly lead.
But regardless of the reason, as I explore this challenge with them, it usually ends up being described as a leadership accountability gap—a problem that my global research reveals is fairly widespread among companies. It happens any time people in leadership fail to demonstrate personal ownership for their roles. They tend to wait for permission, look to the senior team to make every decision, and fail to take initiative.
In our global survey of over 2,000 senior executives, only 49% of an organization’s leaders are seen as being truly accountable. Imagine the risks this creates when a CEO can only really count on half of their leaders to get the job done.
Another observation I’ve had through my discussions with CEOs is that some do not fully appreciate how critical it is that they set the tone of accountability for their leaders. Most everyone in an organization takes their lead from the top. If the most senior leaders demonstrate accountability personally, that goes a long way to setting that same expectation for everyone else.
The bottom line is if they, in and of themselves, are not the best models of accountability, it undermines all efforts to scale it across the organization. And while many of the senior-most leaders can talk the accountability talk, when it comes time to putting those words into action, sometimes they demonstrate inconsistent authenticity and commitment.