2 A’s of Leadership

Two essential aspects of leadership are appreciation and accountability. As a leader, you need to be comfortable and confident in utilizing both of these.

Let's take a look at appreciation first.

Appreciating your employees is necessary for creating a positive culture, motivating employees, and retention. People like to be recognized for their efforts.

Show appreciation consistently and make sure that it is genuine. Use it when someone has done something well, given great effort, is adding to your culture, or has gone above and beyond. Show this appreciation both in public and private.

Here are a few ways that you can do it.

*Start meetings with celebrations. Start the meeting where people are able to celebrate each other. As a leader, look for at least one person to recognize. It only takes a couple of minutes and it creates a positive environment.

*1-on-1 conversations. Go out of your way to stop by and talk with someone and let them know that you appreciate them. This can be in person, over the phone, or on a video call.

*Leave handwritten notes. People love getting handwritten notes. It can make their day.

*Text or email. This is the least personal but also the fastest. Make sure that you are using the others in addition to this.

Now let's take a look at accountability.

Accountability is something leaders often struggle with and dread. I often say that accountability can either raise performance or lead to resentment. It all depends on how it is executed.

Here are some key points with it:

*Change your mindset towards it. You are helping people live up to a high standard and be their best selves.

*Approach it with empathy.

*Ask questions when holding others accountable. How do you think you are performing? What was your take on this situation? What could you have done differently? What are your goals for how you want to be performing? What changes do you need to make to have this happen? How can I help you get there?

*Come up with a plan going forward.

*Follow up with them. Make sure to check in to see how they are following the plan and making the agreed-upon changes.

For any work culture, you want it to be positive, supportive, and high-performing. When you utilize appreciation and accountability you are taking major steps to create that.