It’s difficult to hold other people accountable if you don’t hold yourself accountable. Good leaders know that culture is the result the behaviors they exhibit. Your team will always imitate the behavior they see from you.

If you don’t follow through on things you say you’ll do, your staff will remember. If you want them to be on time for work or deadlines, you’ve got to do the same. (Or, maybe being on time isn’t as important as you say it is.) Talk is truly cheap and actions are thee real representation of what you’re “saying.”

And accountability is not just about taking the blame when something goes wrong. It’s about delivering on commitments. It’s responsibility to an outcome, not just a set of tasks. The more accountability you’ve built into running your coffeehouse, the more successful it's going to be. When people feel accountable, they take ownership of outcomes and will work harder and longer to ensure success—because it’s on them to make it happen.

Research shows that on 70% of initiatives that failed, the people involved knew from the beginning that it was going to fail. The belief that failure is inevitable can be a self-fulfilling prophecy. But if people believe a goal can be achieved, they’re surprised when something starts to go wrong and they find ways to fix it. Instead of giving up because they “knew” failure was imminent, they go into solution mode. This doesn't guarantee success, but it increases the odds exponentially.

You can direct your staff, grill them and even plead with them to be accountable. But that’s not enough. To achieve accountability you need clarity in several areas:

Clear expectations

Be upfront about the outcome you expect, how you’ll measure success, and how people should go about achieving it. It doesn’t all have to come from you. In fact, the more skilled your staff is, the more ideas should be coming from them. Have a two-way conversation and ask the other person to summarize the important pieces—the outcome they’re aiming for, how they are going to make it happen, and how they’ll know if they’re successful—to make sure you’re on the same page. Writing up a summary is a good idea, too.

Clear capability

What skills and resources do your staff need to meet expectations? Discuss these things with them to make sure they’re up to the challenge and that you haven’t missed anything. If they don’t have right the skills you’ll need to delegate someone else, and if they don’t have the resources you’ll need to acquire them. Otherwise you’re setting them up to fail.

Once they agree they have what they need to succeed, they have accepted accountability and ownership for the outcome. If you don't get their buy in, they will hold you accountable when they fail—not themselves—because you didn't give them the tools or skills for success.

You also maintain accountability by adding: "If you need anything, just ask," so they know they have your support in resolving issues. (That said, you should require some independent thought and problem-solving skills so you’re not bogged down in managing every snag that arises.)

Clear measurement

Nothing is more frustrating for managers than failure. Sometimes it happens because your staff were afraid to ask for help. Other times it stems from too much optimism on both sides. During the expectations conversation, agree on milestones with clear, measurable targets. If any of these targets are proving hard to hit, jump on it immediately. Brainstorm a solution that gets the person back on track.

Clear feedback

Your staff needs to know where they stand, which is why ongoing feedback is critical. (See Coffeehouse Management Skill #2: Open Communication). If you have clear expectations, capability and measurement, feedback can be fact-based and easy to deliver. Is the person delivering on commitments? If they need to increase their capability, are they on track? The feedback can go both ways—is there something you can do to be more helpful? Give feedback weekly, and remember it’s more important to be helpful than nice. Be as nice as possible when giving feedback, but if you’re frustrated, make it known.

Clear consequences

If you’ve taken the measures above, you have three choices: repeat, reward or release. Repeat the steps above if you feel there is still a lack of clarity in the system. If the person succeeded, reward them (with acknowledgement, a promotion, etc.). If they’ve been unaccountable and you’ve repeatedly communicated and given them the tools to succeed, then they are not a good fit for the role and you should release them from it (change roles, fire them, etc.).

These are the building blocks for a culture of accountability. If you miss any one of them, accountability will fall through that crack.

When you set people up for success most of them will accept the opportunity. If you’ve hired the right people, they won’t be afraid of hard work—instead, they’ll be afraid of failure. When they have everything they need to be successful they will work harder, and go into solution mode when a situation proves difficult or when results are not in line with expectations. When you set people up for success, they will be more successful.

More articles in this series:

Coffeehouse Management Skill #1: Adaptable Leadership

Coffeehouse Management Skill #2: Open Communication

Coffeehouse Management Skill #4: Attention to Detail (coming soon)