Accountability Must Follow Announcements
To build credibility for any desired changes, leaders must live out the new requirements themselves. That is, they must:
- Model the changes
- Coach the changes
- Praise progress as others embrace the changes
- Redirect players who are not embracing the changes
- Hold themselves and all others accountable
Whether the changes you’re implementing include a new software system, a new rule about a specific behavioral expectation, a new purpose statement, etc., what matters is what happens after the change is announced. Yet most leaders operate under the faulty assumption that telling people what is expected ensures alignment to the change.
This fallacy is known as “managing by announcements,” a fallacy that I call “MBA.” When embracing the MBA fallacy, leaders do a good job of defining purpose or policies or procedures. They then publish and announce the details – and expect that all players will immediately embrace the new expectations.
Leaders believe, “We’ve told them what to do. Now they’ll do it.”
Defining and announcing the new expectations is easy! To ensure that desired changes take hold, though, leaders must spend time and energy to ensure people modify their behavior, adapt their approaches, and demonstrate the new requirements.
When embracing the MBA fallacy, leaders do a good job of defining purpose or policies or procedures.
Yet we see indications of the MBA fallacy all the time.
Here’s an example. During interviews with a potential client, I learned of a recent exchange that was typical of how senior leaders interacted in this small manufacturing company.
Two executives got into a shouting match in the office. The madder they got at each other, the louder they got. Expletives were shouted. After five minutes of yelling, they each stormed off, leaving the 30 office staff shaking their heads.
I asked the CEO about this exchange. “It’s not appropriate,” he said, “but it happens all the time.” I asked, “What have you done to eliminate these screaming matches?” He said, “I told them to stop.”
This was MBA in action. He told them to stop, then expected them to align with his announcement. They didn’t stop, and the CEO was at a loss as to how to address it now.
By doing nothing, the CEO was tacitly enabling this toxic behavior.
How well are new policies and procedures embraced in your organization? If you’re like most companies, it all depends on how well – and how quickly – those new expectations are embedded as practices. So how can leaders immunize themselves against the fallacy of MBA? Follow the prescription noted above – live the new requirements in every interaction. Model the new rules, coach the new rules and hold people accountable for the new rules.
Want new articles before they get published? Subscribe to our Awesome Newsletter.
CAREER ADVICE
GOV TALK
