Accountability Doesn’t Mean Let Your Team “Sink or Swim”
“That’s just our culture: Sink or swim.”
I hear similar sentiments from many of the entrepreneurs I work with.
I get where they’re coming from. They’re smaller companies, and smaller companies are still building out their processes, training, and management structures.
So they need self-starters who can figure things out for themselves.
They want accountability from their team, and I am 100% on board with that.
But there’s a difference between being accountable and leaving someone fully on their own to succeed.
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I know there’s a difference because I’ve made this mistake myself.
In the companies I run, I talk a lot about our entrepreneurial culture. But what is that supposed to mean, exactly?
To me, it has always meant everyone on the team thinks like an entrepreneur. They have an owner’s mindset, they’re accountable, and they do what needs to be done—without much oversight - except accountability to hitting their numbers.
But effective management is about more than keeping score
.
And while some teams may be more entrepreneurial than others, not every team member wants to be an entrepreneur. That’s why they choose to work for someone else.
It’s important to remember the distinction.
“Sink or swim” doesn’t work for everyone. In fact, it doesn’t work for most, at least not optimally.
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I have a client who is extremely fortunate to have solved the issue of lead flow in his business.
Leads are the #1 problem for almost every company, and this team has it figured out:
If each salesperson on the team sends a certain number of emails per day to target prospects, they hit their goals.
Every single person. Every single time.
It’s crazy, actually, how well this system works.
So why did this client tell me they weren’t getting results from their sales team?
The sales team wasn’t sending the emails.
Why not?
Because no person, system, etc… was making sure they did it.
“I shouldn’t have to,” my client said. “They should be able to figure it out on their own.” Any guesses how many times I hear that from people…
Honestly? I don’t care what you should or shouldn’t have to do.
In my opinion, being right is not the point.
All I need to know is that this proven system is going to be run consistently. It’s not negotiable whether or not these emails get sent.
So what is the best way—process, structure, management, software — to ensure that happens every single week?
Here’s the solution this client landed on: the sales reps had to copy their manager on every email they sent each week.
Scalable? No way.
Annoying? Sure.
Effective? Absolutely. And for now, that works for me.
Once their reps get more experienced and more consistent, they might be able to relax the rules a little. They can also explore other ways to streamline the process and unburden the manager - they are already looking into building software and leveraging Salesforce to do this for them.
But sometimes, you need to start with what works, even if it’s not a long-term solution.
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3 takeaways for you:
1. You can have an independent culture and still have management. Basic management is essential to running any business.
2. You may want employees to prove their abilities, but the world does not care about proving themselves to you. You must treat everyone, even your newest hires, with a baseline of trust and respect. And that means proper onboarding, training and ongoing management.
3. If you are lucky enough to find a system that works in your business, please, please please: don’t waste it. Build the structures to make sure that system gets done. Don’t leave it to chance.
