Business leaders tend to measure success by numbers. How many sales did we close? By what percentage did we grow our revenue this year? Did we hit our profit margin number last month? As a result of this tendency, leaders act as if they are accountable to those numbers. We need to change this thinking. As a leader, you must adopt the mentality that you are accountable to your people!
Why should we change our thinking?
The short answer is this. We are motivated to act based on our feelings, and as Simon Sinek says “we can’t feel a sense of accountability to numbers; we can only feel accountable to people.” The point is what we want for the numbers can’t motivate us like what we want for the people that work for and with us. It is a human thing.
I’ll put it this way, if I want to get the best out of myself as a leader, I need to make improving people’s lives my main focus not improving the numbers. Ultimately, the business will benefit more from the former than the latter.
To what or who are you accountable?
So, if you are a leader and you measure your success by the numbers, you need to change your way of thinking. You’ll get better results for your people when you act based on the idea that you are accountable to your people. And, in the process, you will make lives better!
What’s not to love about that?