ences, and made a choice, which in turn, didn’t leave me one. I had an incredible relationship with each of them; they appreciated the honest, direct dialogue and they always knew exactly where they stood with performance. Their success made them grow personally, and professionally. I’m confident that if I didn’t hold them accountable for their actions, they would not have realized their own potential. There were no hard feelingThe Call Center world is an intense pressure-driven environment continually being shaped by pressure to ensure steady profitability and a secure competitive advantage.

Accountability and a basic fundamental understanding of Performance Management serve as two of the most power tools a Call Center manager has at his/her disposal. Specifically, accountability when used properly with practical down to earth communication can change the way a group performs and takes responsibility for their performance.

To understand accountability, think of it as a focal point of pressure and let’s view pressure, as synonymous with the “demands of the business”. Nothing exposes a strength or flaw like raw pressure. It is pressure that has the ability to create, empower, challenge or fracture, crumble and destroy. Pressure helps fuel the momentum and vision of an organization to fulfill obligations to employees, clients, and investors with high standards, clear-cut expectations and decisive accountability.

In the hands of the unworthy, accountability can be a tool for self-preservationist, a weapon for the positional manager, or simply a replacement for development. Used with skill, accountability can represent a turning point in any organization, and the corner stone of an improvement initiative.

Let me give you an example. One of my most successful leadership teams consisted of 10 core members, 8 of which were on some form of progressive action. Usually, you don’t associate that level of performance management action, as descriptive of a successful team, but that’s exactly what they were -- successful.

It was clear they all understood the expectation, knew the consequences, and made a choice, which in turn, didn’t leave me one. I had an incredible relationship with each of them; they appreciated the honest, direct dialogue and they always knew exactly where they stood with performance. Their success made them grow personally, and professionally. I’m confident that if I didn’t hold them accountable for their actions, they would not have realized their own potential. There were no hard feelings

ication can change the way a group performs and takes responsibility for their performance.

To understand accountability, think of it as a focal point of pressure and let’s view pressure, as synonymous with the “demands of the business”. Nothing exposes a strength or flaw like raw pressure. It is pressure that has the ability to create, empower, challenge or fracture, crumble and destroy. Pressure helps fuel the momentum and vision of an organization to fulfill obligations to employees, clients, and investors with high standards, clear-cut expectations and decisive accountability.

In the hands of the unworthy, accountability can be a tool for self-preservationist, a weapon for the positional manager, or simply a replacement for development. Used with skill, accountability can represent a turning point in any organization, and the corner stone of an improvement initiative.

Let me give you an example. One of my most successful leadership teams consisted of 10 core members, 8 of which were on some form of progressive action. Usually, you don’t associate that level of performance management action, as descriptive of a successful team, but that’s exactly what they were -- successful.

It was clear they all understood the expectation, knew the consequences, and made a choice, which in turn, didn’t leave me one. I had an incredible relationship with each of them; they appreciated the honest, direct dialogue and they always knew exactly where they stood with performance. Their success made them grow personally, and professionally. I’m confident that if I didn’t hold them accountable for their actions, they would not have realized their own potential. There were no hard feeling

ntum and vision of an organization to fulfill obligations to employees, clients, and investors with high standards, clear-cut expectations and decisive accountability.

In the hands of the unworthy, accountability can be a tool for self-preservationist, a weapon for the positional manager, or simply a replacement for development. Used with skill, accountability can represent a turning point in any organization, and the corner stone of an improvement initiative.

Let me give you an example. One of my most successful leadership teams consisted of 10 core members, 8 of which were on some form of progressive action. Usually, you don’t associate that level of performance management action, as descriptive of a successful team, but that’s exactly what they were -- successful.

It was clear they all understood the expectation, knew the consequences, and made a choice, which in turn, didn’t leave me one. I had an incredible relationship with each of them; they appreciated the honest, direct dialogue and they always knew exactly where they stood with performance. Their success made them grow personally, and professionally. I’m confident that if I didn’t hold them accountable for their actions, they would not have realized their own potential. There were no hard feeling

orner stone of an improvement initiative.

Let me give you an example. One of my most successful leadership teams consisted of 10 core members, 8 of which were on some form of progressive action. Usually, you don’t associate that level of performance management action, as descriptive of a successful team, but that’s exactly what they were -- successful.

It was clear they all understood the expectation, knew the consequences, and made a choice, which in turn, didn’t leave me one. I had an incredible relationship with each of them; they appreciated the honest, direct dialogue and they always knew exactly where they stood with performance. Their success made them grow personally, and professionally. I’m confident that if I didn’t hold them accountable for their actions, they would not have realized their own potential. There were no hard feeling

ences, and made a choice, which in turn, didn’t leave me one. I had an incredible relationship with each of them; they appreciated the honest, direct dialogue and they always knew exactly where they stood with performance. Their success made them grow personally, and professionally. I’m confident that if I didn’t hold them accountable for their actions, they would not have realized their own potential. There were no hard feelings, no misunderstandings, only expectations, accountabilities, and total situation awareness.

Accountability should not be negative, but rather represent the strength behind the expectation. It is the empowering factor behind a directive or standard. John Maxell, Author of The 21 Irrefutable Laws of leadership, said that change could only occur when one of three factors are met: the person truly understands the big picture and why the change is needed to such a degree, they willingly change, or they hurt badly enough that the change must be accepted. So, hence we see the birth of the easy way, or the hard way. The fact is if everyone took the easy way, there would be no such thing as the hard way.

With that fact understood, as a manager you must accept that your expectations will be ignored, follow-up will not consistently occur, and the process, vision, and company mission will be challenged. You must accept the inevitable, and make a decision. Your options: Lose control of your staff, and exist in the land of mediocrity until your business fails, your client is lost or you become the new focal point of all that “pressure”; or challenge and develop your team to increase their abilities, set high standards and expectations and expose them to their own potential. The choice is yours.

Believe in your team, and expect them to accomplish great things, and they will rise to meet the challenge. If your culture lacks a solid Performance Management process with clear-outlined accountabilities, resistance should be expected. An entire team with average or below average performance will defy change easier because when you apply pressure, it’s evenly dispersed because they are all on the same level.