There are times when executives know they are not acting with accountability. But still, they are driven by the obsession to be number one. Rather than blaming, they deny. This takes the form of stonewalling and bunker mentality. Often they delude themselves into thinking they are acting strongly by “holding their position”.

The biggest problem with this behavior is that it leads directly to…. NOTHING! The organization becomes paralyzed. No one can address the issue or begin to move forward because the executive will not admit there is a problem. Because it freezes the organization in a bad position, this can be one of the worst by products of the number one society.

When executives refuse to accept accountability, they think no one will notice. They begin to “eat their own dog food”. That is to say, they think that if they say it, others will accept it as the truth. In most cases, they DO believe it themselves. That goes for accountability. When they blame others, they think that their teams are too ignorant to see the reality that it is the executive themselves who are responsible.

In these cases, the damage goes well beyond the illusion they have created because they cannot accept their own shortcomings. In doing so, they have eroded the confidence others had in them. They have done irreparable damage to their ability to lead. Their teams will be skeptical of everything they say and their ability to lead will be severely diminished.

On the other hand, accepting appropriate responsibility is an act of courage and leadership. It does not diminish the executive’s image with their teams. It enhances it. Oakley Advisors coaches help executives to see this simple equation and learn the key leadership lessons of accountability.

Jerry Kleinhaus
Oakley Advisors
Certified Executive Coaching
Cincinnati, Ohio
Nationwide Executive Development and Talent Management Services

When executives are totally focused on their own invincibility, it becomes impossible for them to accept or even acknowledge that someone else may have a better idea. If they think they have heard a better idea or a different viewpoint that has merit, they may be afraid to acknowledge it. Why? Because it might be perceived as a weakness. In our winner society, everyone acts as if only their opinion counts and that they are always right. If someone else has a better idea that implies that person is number one and you have lost the competition. Your are number 2. That is unacceptable at any costs.

The easiest way to describe this tragic byproduct of this behavior is blindness. Blindness to taking advantage of the pooled knowledge of the team. Blindness to their own insecurities. Blindness to understanding that the business benefits most in an open environment with a free and unthreatened exchange of ideas.

Accountability, or lack of it, is a huge blind spot in America’s executives. Harry Truman’s famous adage that “The buck stops here” is often quoted, but seldom followed. More and more, executives are becoming comfortable with blaming their teams for failures. They reason that it was their employees who were being paid to get the job done and they failed (they are NOT number one, but I am!).

The flaw with this reasoning, of course, is that it was the executive’s responsibility to make sure the team had the resources and the opportunity to succeed. Team failures fall on their shoulders. Only the most courageous and strong leaders recognize that they are accountable to their teams in the same way their teams are accountable to them and both are accountable to customers and shareholders. Executive coaches help their clients to understand and embrace this critical element of leadership.

We’re number one! We’re number one! We have all seen it. Most of us have done it – chanted how our teams, our kids, ourselves are NUMBER ONE.

Certainly there is nothing wrong with wanting to achieve excellence and having the self-confidence to celebrate it when we do. Aspiring to being “number one” creates motivation and can result in excellence. But in the United States, it has moved beyond that. It has become an obsession. It is an obsession can be seen everywhere. We have a total fascination, dare I say worship, of celebrities because we perceive them as “being number one”. We brag endlessly about our kids, our schools, our companies, and ourselves because everything associated with us is “the best”. Ever notice how many people say their personal physician is “one of the best in the city”. By associating ourselves with groups and people that we perceive as the best, we must be number one ourselves. Right?

This obsession spills over into everything we do and exhibits itself in some pretty ugly ways – cheating in sports when we play and becoming obnoxious fans that will settle for nothing except wining when we watch. We use terms like “Uh duhhhh” and “Well, yeaaa” to imply that others are stupid. They are not number one because they are dumber than me, so I must be number one. In business, it results in disasters like Enron where the pressure to produce ever better results turned a talented executive team into some of history’s greatest crooks.

This epidemic of the need to win at all costs creates an incredible challenge for executives in today’s business world. Over the next few days, I will dedicate these entries to how blind ambition can create very negative business results and how executive coaches help their clients deal with this pressure and behavior.

• Coaching one person to greater leadership effectiveness can make a difference in the lives of countless others.

• Effective staffs are happy people with good morale

No need to say more.

Jerry Kleinhaus
Oakley Advisors
Certified Executive Coaching
Cincinnati, Ohio
Nationwide Executive Coaching and Talent Management Services

Other than expectations and accountability, communications is by far the area we coach on the most. Communications is the transfer point. Everything from motivation to delegation to leadership itself depends on the executive’s ability to communicate effectively and professionally. Most people do not even recognize their communications shortcomings and are confused by the results of them. Oakley Advisors executive coaches objectively assess each client’s communications skills and offer them clear tools and processes for dramtically improving them.

Jerry Kleinhaus
Oakley Advisors
Certified Executive Coaching
Cincinnati, Ohio
Nationwide Executive Coaching and Talent Management Services

We have all heard the famous story of “The Buck Stops Here” plaque on President Harry Truman’s desk. But few executives today realize the critical importance of accountability on leadership skills. Powerful leaders accept responsibility for their knowledge of situations as well as their actions. Too often today we find managers in very senior positions who blame others for failures or don’t accept ownership for troublesome situations in their organizations. They rationalize, deny, and blame. Sometimes, in a strange twist, they even accept responsibility that is not theirs. How does this happen? Why does it happen? The reasons are varied and complex. The only thing that is clear is that there is a crisis of accountability in today’s business environment.

Oakley Advisors executive coaches directly address the issues of accountability with each and every client. Some of our clients tell us that this aspect of our program alone justifies the entire cost of the program. Call us today to find out more about issues of accountability and how we can move your entire organization to a new level of performance by addressing it.

Jerry Kleinhaus
Oakley Advisors
Certified Executive Coaching
Cincinnati, Ohio
Nationwide Executive Coaching and Talent Management Services

• 65% companies provide coaching for their leaders.
• Coaching is fairly split among four levels, C-level, VPs, directors, and mangers.
• 46% use coaching to change behaviors.
• 63% of coaches are external.
• 43% report increases in coaching budgets and 70% expect increases in next three years.

Jerry Kleinhaus
Oakley Advisors
Certified Executive Coaching
Cincinnati, Ohio
Nationwide Executive Coaching and Talent Management Services

There are a number of different approaches that are used by executive coaches. We have talked about most of them in prior entries:

• Coaching on weaknesses or coaching on strengths
• Group coaching and individual coaching
• Situational coaching and process coaching.

Pretty confusing, huh? As you read more and more, you may ask how to determine which approach is right for your company.

Oakley Advisors can help. We understand all the approaches and their particular advantages. We can help you determine which type of executive coach you should be looking for.

We will start right with the very core questions, “What return on investment (ROI) do you want from executive coaching?” What is the most important business contribution that you want from executive coaching? Like all other initiatives and investments, executive coaching must support and fit with the overall vision and culture of the business.

Once, we have determined the right executive coaching program for your company, Oakley Advisors can fill the bill from our wide network of professional executive coaches.

Jerry Kleinhaus
Oakley Advisors
Certified Executive Coaching
Cincinnati, Ohio
Nationwide Executive Coaching and Talent Management Services