Accountability—one of the most valuable, yet often misunderstood and misused, concepts in the car business.

Every wonder why, in spite of all the talk about accountability, most accountability efforts do not produce desired results?

Accountability and policing are both forms of oversight, ensuring that people do or don’t do something. I am convinced, however, that most people have the two concepts confused, thinking they are interchangeable, when they are not. Hence, they approach situations the wrong way.

True accountability, is more effective than policing, but can only take place when an individual has bought-in or agreed to the thing for which they are being held accountable. Oversight without buy-in is policing.

Great leaders welcome accountability knowing that a culture of mutual accountability and transparency will only exist amongst the team when the leader openly demonstrates a willingness to be held to the same standard.

The challenge for most leaders is taking sufficient time to explain “the why” behind the directive and obtain agreement/buy-in.

The car business can be such a fast paced environment that most managers claim they are too busy to provide an explanation for the orders they give. Further, most managers believe people should just follow orders and do what they are paid to do. Hence, for expediency, and probably not knowing better, most managers tell people what to do, impose expectations, and are then surprised and frustrated when their expectations go unmet.

So, they reiterate their expectations, but with increased emphasis and volume. Unfortunately, this approach, which is the definition of insanity, takes even more time, increases stress, and produces inferior results than explaining properly and getting buy-in the first time around. Another way to think about this is that telling is like giving people fish—feeding them for the day—while explaining why and getting buy-in is like teaching others to fish—feeding them for a lifetime.

For more insights and practical recommendations on this subject read the full article Why Most Accountability Efforts Fall Short .

Herb Mast is Leadership Coach and Employee Engagement Specialist. Learn how he can assist you in implementing the principles and concepts presented here.