The Line of Accountability: Expectations and Exceptions

The Line of Accountability:  Organizational drift and how much is ok. 

What do you call an employee that shows up 10 minutes before their shift, every day, for 20 years?  That person that has been on time, never late, not even once.  Maybe he/she uses an occasional sick day once in a while when they are legitimately ill, once or twice a year.  Employee of the year? Decade? Exceptional, going above and beyond?  

How about we call them “meeting the expectation?”  Sure, they might be the model we want to replicate, but how did we get to the point where someone that meets the minimum expectation needs a special award?  When we hired them, we said “Please show up by 8” and sent them off.  In exchange for them showing up at 8, we pay them or provide benefits.  The employee asked for the opportunity, we said yes, here are the rules and what we will give you in return.  Pretty clear agreement.  But somehow, when they do that (what we agreed to) for a whole year, we are astonished, exclaiming “Wow!  You weren’t late even once.”  Seldom do you see the employee coming to the employer, handing them an award, explaining “thanks for paying me all year.”

We get to the point where we have the employee that shows up on time “most of the time” and we are good with that.  We drift from our original expectation (show up on time) and set a new one.  Some people call it normalization of deviance; I call it organizational drift/. Just to clarify it’s not specifically applicable to being deviant (maliciously), just missing the mark.  Same idea, just different words.  I apply this theory to all things where the expectation is set (our course), we tolerate not meeting the expectation (drift) and thus establish a new course.  Those that cross the line, perhaps only a little, creating a new expectation.  

This idea/concept can be applied to many things we do.  How about we stretch our break or lunch hour by a couple minutes? How about the fire/police apparatus assigned to a district or area goes a little bit out of their area?  Perhaps you grab a packet of sticky notes from the office supply at work to take home.  Just barely outside the expectations.  Maybe the expectation isn’t crystal clear.  “They never said I couldn’t take a pack of sticky notes.”

The problem is; when is it a problem?  How late is too late?  How many packs of sticky notes is too many?  How far outside your first due?  I’ve heard some say “It’s not a problem until it is a problem.”  That seems crystal clear....not!

As a leader, you need to have clear and definable limits that are known, enforceable, and enforced consistently.  It comes back to the expectations discussion you have with your reports when they begin their tenure with you.  And enforcement (a.k.a.-accountability) is critical to your team’s success and your success as a leader.  Most of our employees are very accepting of accountability as long as they understand what the expectation is ahead of time.  No one appreciates guessing at what to do or how to behave and then getting bit for not doing it correctly.  If the expectation is going to be vague, the correction must be soft and with the understanding that you, the leader, led to the failure.  

Not everything needs a clear line, and even those things that do have a clear line have exceptions.  Usually, your exceptions should be “people centered”.  

As a follower, you need to ensure you are not “that guy.”  Don’t be the exception.  Don’t be the one that forces the leader to repeatedly have “those” conversations.  If you find yourself being “that guy”, you need to conduct some reflection or take some inventory.  What is the source of YOUR problem?  Do you not agree with the expectation?  Does the expectation violate one of the organizational expectations?

Let’s get back to organizational drift.  You’re the leader, allow some drift.  Let it go until you get fed up with it or recognize you have a problem.  The question now is “How far do you want to come back from?”  A dear friend of mine told me that when raising children, “Don’t do anything once that you don’t want to do a million times” meaning once the course is set, it’s set.  Pretty good advice and it applies to leadership.  Don’t allow your team to get too far off track or it will be hard to bring them back.  But what if......

You have set clear expectations/limits and now find one of your teammates pushing the limits.  What’s the next step?  That takes some introspection and reflection, thought and consideration.  Think about why the expectation or limit was set in the first place.  Was it based on organizational expectations, labor agreements, policy, law, personal values or something else?  Does the expecatation still meet one of the preceding?  Was the expecatation reasonable, specific, attainable?  Is the expectation still applicable?  Is there an effect of not meeting the expectation?  Are you holding other employees accountable to the same expectation?  If all the above is still YES, it’s time to have the conversation.  

Accountability.  Expectations won’t work without accountability.  Everyone wants accountability.  You must hold yourself accountable to meeting the expectations before you attempt to hold someone else accountable.  Holding yourself accountable requires discipline....which will be a whole different discussion.  

The photo at the beginning is from our trip to Italy.  My wife and I were walking along a narrow dead end street that services some business and houses in Riomaggiore.  The yellow line is the limit to where your car can protrude, intended to allow passage of vehicles to the end of the street.  One car parks a “little long” so the next guy pushes the new limit just a little further.  I thought it was a great metaphor for expectations and accountability.  

Are You Expecting?

Wouldn’t life be grand if those that work around us just naturally knew what we wanted?  What if there was a checklist of all the items that needed to be completed everyday?  What if you understood what behaviors your boss was looking for when performing your job?  What if the EXPECTATIONS were completely clear?  

Expectations.  The word itself has a negative tone to it when you say it.  As an employee, my boss has “expectations” that I...... But expectations are so much more than just a “to do” list.  Expectations are a tool to clarify communication, reduce confusion and as a conversation starter for corrective action.

I started my list of expectations for all those who worked with me around 1996.  I don’t recall the first list very well but it was basically the same as those that came later, just not as organized.  The list was originally written based on risk; those actions that put the employee, others or the organization at risk.  Additionally, it is important to clarify expectations of behavior for circumstances where there may be no discretionary time to discuss the desired actions or behaviors.  

Your list of expectations for those you lead may be a little different than mine, but probably similar in that the expectations should help your employees meet the mission, vision and values established by the organization.  Your expectations should be written down and covered with each of your employees to clarify understanding.  Some of the items may seem like “common sense” but common sense isn’t so common.  If it was, we would never have the conversation with an employee to show up on time!!

My expectations were slightly different for different levels of responsibility of my reports in the organization.  For the firefighters I worked with, the expectations were very task level in nature.  Wear your gear, be on time, treat people with respect, meet their needs, etc.  With supervisors, the expectations became a little more strategic in nature; make sure all are ready to respond, know your job, do your job, etc.  This approach allows supervisors to interpret the organizations expectations a bit and to add their own twist.  Ownership.  Buy in.  

Keep in mind that if you want something specific to occur, your expectation may need to be specific.  As an example, if I say, “wear appropriate personal protective equipment” to my firefighter, he/she may not feel that a turn out jacket is appropriate for first arrival at an auto accident.  The responder may feel that they could just put on their jacket if “they need it” for extrication or rescue.  But specifically, I always want my people to arrive ready for the worst scenario, so ALL gear is required for arrival.  

What about that bit that expectations are a “conversation starter?”  If I have covered the expectation with my employee and their is a failure, I can simply go back and state; “We covered this in our expectations discussion.  What part wasn’t clear?”  At this point, accountability and discipline come into play which we will cover in the next discussion.  

You can put your twist on your list of expectations but they can’t violate policy, practices, laws, civil rights, human rights, statutes or contract agreements established through collective bargaining or negotiations.  Your expectations should not deviate too much from organizational norms but they can be more restrictive than your organizations policy but not more permissive.  Here’s an example:  Your crew starts work at 8:00 a.m.  You may have the expectation that they are all at work, in proper attire, and prepared to start functioning by 8:00 a.m.  Your expectation may not allow your employees to arrive at 8:30 as that is an organizationally established expectation.  

When you establish your list of expectations, review them with your supervisor to make sure you aren’t treading into uncharted territory.    

Holding people accountable to your expectations?  That’s another conversation.  

Are You Making a Difference?

     (Originally written August 2019)

I attended my last fire service conference this last week. Great time with friends and for reflection. Learned a little bit about me and let a little bit of my career go. Ok, a lot. 

Watched some great people make some great presentations with some really valuable information.  Some of it I wished I had earlier in my career.  Woulda been helpful.  But I figured it out.  

Friday, over an average breakfast, I really realized what matters.  It doesn’t matter how many bugles you have, stripes or crosses on your sleeve. It doesn’t  matter how big your department is or how many fires you been on. Regardless of who you are, there is one better: more years, bigger/more fires, higher ranking, more heroic. What matters is that you made a difference in the life of somebody around you or someone you came in contact with.  I heard a lady at Starbucks once say “I don’t need to make a big difference, I need to make a small difference every day.”  Has stuck with me vividly since the day I heard it almost 4 years ago. 

I had a picture in my front entry of our last home that said “It doesn’t matter how big your house is or how much money you have in the bank, but that you made a difference in the life of a child.”  Simple. MOST importantly is that you make a difference in the life of a child, but it can be said about all people.  Make a difference. 

Last week, I welcomed my last group of recruits into the fire service. I talked to them about my past, about commitment, about the fact I have had a list of expectations of those I worked with since the mid to late 90s. A couple pages. I then told them that I thought maybe I failed or missed the mark.  I realized a couple weeks ago that my fire service expectations should have been shorter maybe. Maybe these 2 points: “Show Up, Be Nice.”  I told them, “If you can’t do number 2, please don’t do number 1.”  

As I get ready to leave the fire service, I’ve been a little nervous about what my purpose will be.  I believe in living a purpose filled life. This week, it ALL came together.  I found my next purpose.  And it came back to my expectation discussion with the recruits last week.   To make a difference in people’s lives. Not big differences, but a small difference every day.  Simple. Here’s my new purpose: “Show Up , Be Nice.”  

I promise to do my best to live this purpose to the best of my ability until a new purpose becomes more clear.  If you see me out of bounds, please bounce me back in.  That will make a difference in my life.  ❤️

I just want to share.....

Well, here I am, trying to get these words out of my head and onto paper.  Well, virtual paper at least.

I was encouraged to write by some friends who have seen some value in a few of the leadership lessons I have shared.  I am writing here for several reasons:

• Leadership should be free,
• Leadership should be available to everyone,
• Not everyone has (or wants) a Facebook account.  

A little background about me if you aren’t familiar with my history, who I am, where I came from or what qualifies me to share these notes.  In this day and age, anyone and everyone is blogging.  I am no better than the next, just wanted to put some of it down so perhaps you can use it. 

I grew up in a modest home, the son of a mailman and mom that worked off and on at odd jobs.  My parents were post depression era babies raised through WWII.  While neither graduated from high school, they did a fine job of providing for my 2 siblings and I.  We never went hungry, always had new clothes at the start of the school year and took road trip vacations.  

Being the first to graduate high school in my family, I didn’t get a lot of “career planning” growing up.  In fact, September after graduation, my mom asked me “what are you going to do?”  When she received a blank stare, she replied “Why don’t you join the volunteer fire department until you figure it out!?”  I never figured it out.  

I got into the fire service in 1982 in Des Moines (Washington) as a volunteer and was hired on in 1985 at the same department.  In 2006, Des Moines and neighboring Federal Way Fire merged to form South King Fire. (SKFR), allowing me new opportunities.  I left SKFR in 2015 to chase a dream in Colorado to be the Training Chief and Operations Chief.  The fire service has been amazing but I am thankful I jumped out in September of 2019.  

Across my career I have held many ranks and roles.  Volunteer, Resident Volunteer, career Firefighter, Lieutenant, Captain, Training Officer-Captain, Battalion Chief, Assistant Chief-Training, Deputy Chief-Operations.  All have presented unique opportunity and challenges, each with it’s own rewards.  My favorite role?  Easy......mentor/coach/confidant!!  

Personnel development has long been the favorite part of my career behind “helping Mrs. Smith” and the reason is easy.  My helping others do their job better, I increased my ability to “help Mrs. Smith.”  Simple as that.  If it helped others reap more reward from their career also, that’s a bonus.  

Across these pages I hope to share the lessons I have learned along this journey.  These lessons don’t come from years of research conducted on the way to a PhD or Masters degree.  In fact, I have neither.  My education stopped after an Associates and a Bachelors, but my learning did not.

I hope to create thought and discussion, to inspire you to be great and perhaps provide you with a nugget you can use or share.  I hope you enjoy what I have to share as much as I have enjoyed reflecting and writing it.