How to Hold People Accountable Without Losing Their Respect

We recently destroyed the engine on a brand new commercial mower after 4 months. It cost us $600 to replace the engine, and these mowers are supposed to last 4 to 5 years. So when I found out what happened, I was frustrated and angry. The engine failed because dirt and debris had gotten through the air filter and into the The intake. Our team members told us that they were cleaning the air filters. So immediately I'm thinking, how in the world did this happen if we were doing what we were supposed to be doing? And that's where I made a mistake as a leader. Instead of slowing down and figuring out what actually happened, I started creating a story in my own head. They're being lazy. They're not taking care of the equipment. They know what they're supposed to do And intentionally not doing it. And I allowed that frustration to come out toward one of my managers and the entire team. That's not how you lead people. You can be disappointed. You can have high standards. You absolutely need accountability. But losing your composure and allowing your frustration to control the conversation always makes the situation worse. After this happened, one of my coaches recommended that I read a book called Crucial Accountability, and it gave me a much better framework for dealing with exact situations just like this. Because if you're in business, you're going to have these conversations constantly. Maybe you're managing one person, maybe you're running a side hustle And dealing with subcontractors. Maybe a vendor didn't do what they said they were going to do. Maybe a customer didn't hold up their end of the agreement. Or maybe you're building a company with 20, 50, or 100 people. There will always be gaps between what was expected and what actually happened. The question is, how do you address that gap without avoiding the conversation on one side or blowing up on somebody on the other. The first thing I learned is that accountability actually starts before you ever talk to the person. It starts with you. The book calls this start with heart. What do I actually want out of this conversation? Do I want to prove that I'm right? Do I want them to feel stupid? Because I'm frustrated? Do I just want somewhere to channel and funnel my anger, or do I actually want to solve the problem, help this person succeed, and make sure that this doesn't happen again? Those produce completely different conversations. Then comes what the book calls Master My Stories, and this one hit me hard because this is exactly what I had There were facts, and then there was the story I created in my mind around these facts. The fact was that a 4-month-old mower had a destroyed engine. The fact was that debris had gotten through the air filtration system. The fact was that our team said they had been cleaning the air filters. Those were facts. Immediately, I think they're lazy. They don't care. They're ignoring our process. Those were the stories I added up in my brain. And when you confuse your story with the facts, you walk into the conversation already believing you know the other person's intentions. That, my friends, is an extremely dangerous territory to be in because once we actually dug into what happened, we found. Found out something important. They were cleaning the air filters, they just weren't cleaning them correctly. There's a foam piece on these filters that need to come off so you can properly get all of the debris and dirt out. That wasn't happening. So this wasn't as simple as somebody refusing to do what they had been told to do. We simply had a training gap. We had a verification gap. And the manager who had recently stepped into that role knew a lot about our systems and processes, but he hadn't actually gone completely through our normal GM training process. I've got to look in the mirror too, because I can sit there and say, why didn't you know this? Or why didn't you know that? But I also have to ask, did we properly teach this inside of our training? Was this taught the right way? Did we verify that they could do it? Did our system make it crystal clear what good actually looks like? That's a completely different way to look at accountability. And I think this is where a lot of leaders get it wrong. We immediately assume it's a motivation problem. They don't care, they're lazy, they won't do it. Sometimes that's true. There are absolutely times when somebody knows exactly what to do, has the ability to do it, and still chooses not to. That's an accountability issue. But before you reach that conclusion, you have to diagnose the gap. Do they know what's expected? Do they actually know how to do it? Have they been properly trained? Is something in the environment making it difficult? Is another person giving them conflicting information? Is the system itself broken? Because you can't solve an ability problem with more motivation, and you can't solve a motivation problem with more training. You've got to figure out which problem you actually have. If you're tired of guessing your way through this home service stuff, we built a shortcut. Inside our private school group, we give you access to every SOP document and every blueprint that we've built that took us Years to figure out. All you gotta do is go down in the link in the description below, join the group, and you'll gain access to all of this stuff, including myself, to help coach you and grow your business. So here's a simple way I'm trying to approach these conversations now and improve. Start with the gap. Here's what we expected. Here's what actually happened. Help me understand why. That's it. Instead of walking in saying, Why aren't you guys taking care of the equipment? I could have said, we've got a four-month-old mower that just lost an engine because debris got through the air filter. We expected these filters to be properly cleaned every day, and you guys have told us they've been getting clean. Help me understand what your process has actually looked like. Now we're talking about facts. I'm not accusing them of being lazy. I'm not pret Pretending there isn't a problem. The standard is still clear and is the standard. A $600 engine replacement on a 4-month-old commercial mower is a pretty big deal. But I am creating an environment where somebody can actually tell me the truth about what's happening in a safe place. That's what the book calls making it safe. Making a conversation Safe does not mean making the standard soft. Those two are completely different things. I can respect you and still tell you this isn't acceptable. I can care about you and still expect the process to be followed. I can listen to your side and still hold you accountable for your responsibilities. Good accountability isn't lowering the standard. It's raising the quality of the conversation. Then Once you understand the gap, you've got to make the consequences real. Not threats, not do this because I'm the boss. Real consequences. If we don't properly maintain our equipment, a mower that should last us 4 or 5 years can lose an engine in 4 months. That costs the company money. It creates downtime. Now another crew might not have the equipment they need to finish their route. It puts additional pressure on everybody else. And if you multiply little failures like that across a growing company, they become very expensive. That's the natural consequence. People need to understand why the standard exists. Then we have to ask another uncomfortable question as leaders: what can we do to To make the right behavior easier. Because telling somebody, make sure you clean the air filter correctly next time, isn't a system. If the process matters, we need to make it clear. Show them exactly how the filter comes apart. Do more training. Show them exactly what clean looks like. Have somebody demonstrate it back to us. Build it into our recurring equipment checks. And make sure the manager Responsible for that team knows exactly what they're verifying. Now we're not just hoping it gets better. We've increased their ability to succeed. And that's the last part that is moving towards action. Who is doing what by when, and when are we checking it again? Because if you walk away from an accountability conversation saying, that was a really good talk, but nobody knows exactly what happens next, You're probably going to have the same conversation again. There needs to be a clear next step. For me, this entire situation taught me 4 things I'm trying to remember whenever there's a gap. First, check your story. What are the actual facts and what are you telling yourself and assuming about the situation or this person? Second, describe the gap. Here's what we expected. Here's what happened. Third, with genuine curiosity of like, why would this decent, honest human being do such a thing? Help me understand why. Don't assume it's a motivation problem when it might be training, ability, communication, or a broken system. And fourth, decide exactly what comes next. Who owns it? What needs to change? And how are we going to follow up And get better moving forward. I'm still learning how to do this better. I did not handle that situation the way I should have in the beginning, and I can't go back and change that conversation, but I can learn from it. And I did, because leadership isn't choosing between accountability and caring about people. You need both. Have high standards, address the problems quickly, don't allow things to slide, but be— Before you go in and attack somebody's character, make sure you understand the gap. Check your story, state the facts, understand why, and decide what happens next. That's how you hold people accountable without losing their respect. Thank you guys so much for watching. Make sure you're subscribed to the channel if you guys want to grow a more successful lawn and landscape business.