Accountability, ownership, and being a great leader – Part 2
Applying the See, Be, Do, Cause™ methodology
As we introduced in Part 1, See, Be, Do, Cause™ is a Nally Ventures methodology that empowers leaders to take a measured and measurable approach in every situation so they can make the best choice possible. Now we want to look more closely at how to apply See, Be, Do, Cause to achieve transformational leadership. But first, let’s talk more about ownership.
The first step in changing your leadership impact is to understand and acknowledge the level of personal ownership involved in a given situation. Ownership is variable: It’s impossible to extended the highest level of ownership to every situation, so you have to prioritize:
- How much do you care about the outcome?
- How much are you willing to sacrifice to ensure the expectations are met?
- How will the consequences impact you personally?
- Where do these personal consequences fit into your priorities?
Once you decide how you want to own a situation, you can apply See, Be, Do, Cause.
Let’s use a work project as an example. Note that the methodology is circular: You could start in any quadrant, but because the “cause” or outcome of a project is typically the point of it all, we’ll start there
Cause
Your goal is to cause the outcome that is most appropriate for the project. Answering the following questions will give you a target to work toward and help guide your actions:
- What are you trying to cause and why? Remember to be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Timebound).
- How committed are you to this cause?
- How long can you stay committed to this cause?
- What priority does this cause have in your life?
See
Leaders need to be able to see and assess the current situation, options for progress, roles and tasks for people, and the proper use of the available resources to achieve proposed plans. They need to consider a wide array of situations and possible outcomes in order to (1) build a team that can accomplish the mission at hand and (2) position that team for success.
Be sure to assess:
- Yourself and your role (practicing self-awareness)
- Others and their role (practicing emotional intelligence)
- Resources
- Time
- Environment
- Dollars
- Is who I am being helping me toward our cause?
- Is my leadership being standing in the way of my goals, the collective mission, or progress for others?
Do
Leaders must do it or delegate it and make sure the task and standard of performance meets their expectation. Deciding what to do and when to delegate is critical to a leader’s success. Personal awareness and experience, situational awareness, time, the capabilities of your team, and consequences will all determine the choices you make as the project unfolds.
Doing is where the project gets done. As you lead, keep in mind the top tasks leaders fail to do:
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1. State the outcome necessary for success 2. Clarify what they want and why 3. Communicate their vision and expectations to the team 4. Clarify roles, task, conditions, and standards of performance to the team 5. Inspire the required sense of urgency to accomplish the task |
6. Match tasks requirements to individual and team strengths 7. Prepare the team to work effectively together 8. Supply the team with the tools they need to succeed 9. Own the outcome in order to promote personal and team drive and resourcefulness 10. Learn and grow as they go; quickly assimilate lessons learned into action |
When the project is completed, you’ll want to analyze what went well and what could be improved next time. And you’ll want to celebrate success with your team.
What are you ready to own?
Leadership is a never-ending journey that requires self-awareness, emotional intelligence, conscious action, and ownership of everything you cause along the way. Owning your job and applying See, Be, Do, Cause in your work is just one part of your life. Growing as a leader means taking on additional ownership over more and more aspects of your life—and that takes effort.
See, Be, Do, Cause is a tool to help you in that journey. When you work toward creating the psychological hardiness, vision, attitude, and skills to own more outcomes as a leader, you will then create more success in your life and the lives of those around you.
Our founder, Mike Nally, developed the See, Be, Do, Cause methodology, and you’ll find it throughout our development and coaching programs. It’s helped thousands of people take ownership of their own lives and success as they grow as leaders and as individuals.
How can we help your leaders and business excel?