Enforcing accountability with peers can be a daunting task, even for leaders. It is challenging to balance both the relationship and work priorities. Calling out a coworker on a late deadline or failing to meet an expectation is not a good way to keep friends. On the other hand, it can be extremely infuriating for managers to watch their peers shirk responsibilities when they are personally committed to their roles and their responsibilities. It is not easy to handle these situations when dealing with emotion and frustration. Yet, in executive positions, it is the responsibility of peers to promote accountability because there are very few if any, positions above that will provide the necessary feedback and reminders to the individual. 

Workplace leaders can hold their peers accountable by fostering a productive culture that thrives with constructive feedback. Cultivating the best-fit culture for a team can be challenging but encouraging accountability values alignment can be a great step. Further to foster this culture, leaders can focus on setting clear expectations, leading by example, promoting peer review, and utilizing goal-tracking software. Essentially, all of these tools work to provide crystal clear outlines of the set responsibilities and expectations of the role. Each of these work to improve communication or feedback in one way or another. Collaborative environments create cultures where individuals are enabled to openly and honestly communicate with their peers. By establishing shared values and mutual expectations for accountability, executives can strengthen their own skills, and their peer's integrity to ensure that each person upholds the standards and expectations of their role. 

Creating clear expectations for roles and responsibilities enables executives to hold their peers accountable by establishing a transparent framework for performance and behavior. When each leader knows the expectation, there is a lower likelihood of ambiguity, confusion, or misunderstanding. Clear expectations also make it easier to address issues as they arise since everyone is aligned on what success looks like and understands the standards to which they are held. Clarity helps executives make timely decisions based on company needs. Sometimes leaders' roles will include sacrifice, by establishing shared expectations, executives have a sense of mutual responsibility to continuously foster a beneficial, cooperative environment. 

2. Leading By Example

Leading by example is a paramount tool for executives hoping to hold their peers accountable. Leading by example can set a visible expectation and standard for performance or required actions. Specifically, leaders holding up their end of the bargain should encourage others to follow. When leaders consistently display a commitment to their role, and the expectations of their role and practice integrity in their decision-making they create an environment that will promote overall accountability. Direct reports will respond better when they see how hard their superior is working or how committed to the project they might be. The same can be true for peers. Leading by example can require sacrifice and compromise, but creating this environment is critical for team success. Furthermore, by setting clear expectations, the onus will not be on those completing their work to hold others accountable. If a clear expectation is set, peers have no reason not to complete it. By modeling accountability, executives encourage others to meet the same expectations, making it easier to address any lapses constructively. Peers are more likely to hold themselves to high standards when they see those same standards reflected in leadership, fostering a team culture where everyone is motivated to perform at their best and support one another's success.

3. Promote Mentorship and/or Peer Review

Promoting mentorship among company leaders is a great way to foster a culture of accountability. Mentorship encourages continuous learning and mutual growth. Through mentorship, leaders and executives share knowledge and reinforce commitments to expectations and organizational goals. Through mentorship, individuals generally develop connections with their coworkers which will promote honesty and open feedback long-term. Additionally, peer reviews or horizontal mentorship can promote accountability in a similar way. 

This dynamic encourages peers to hold each other accountable naturally, as professionals work together to overcome challenges, set realistic goals, and track progress. By promoting mentorship and peer connections, executives create a supportive network where accountability is viewed as a positive, growth-oriented process that benefits managers, their teams, and the organization as a whole. 

4. Utilize A Goal Tracking Software

AIM Insights is a software that provides continuous goal and progress reports to both managers and their teams. Members can see personal and team goals, sincerely impacting performance and lifting expectations. This specific software could be useful for holding accountability by setting benchmarks and expectations with timelines applicable to leaders. Additionally, AIM Insights provides tools for attainable goal-setting that are accessible to both managers and direct reports, with benchmarking and gap analysis available, creating transparency in performance, expectation, and growth. Through the use of software such as AIM Insights, executives can utilize a concrete tool to display goal achievement and expectations. 

Overall, fostering accountability among executive peers is a challenging task to undertake. But, necessary for building a cohesive and productive workplace culture. Although frustrating, it is crucial for executives to hold their peers accountable in the workplace. To ease this environment, leaders can promote cultures of accountability across all levels that will impact the expectations of peers. While it may be uncomfortable to call out colleagues on performance issues, establishing clear expectations, leading by example, promoting mentorship, and utilizing goal-tracking software can create an environment where accountability is embraced rather than avoided.

Moore's Circle of Conflict is a powerful tool for understanding the underlying causes of conflicts in professional environments. This model, developed by Christopher Moore, categorizes conflict sources into 5 different areas: data, values, relationships, structure, and interests. Each of these 5 types of conflict gives insight into why arguments or disagreements arise and how they can best be addressed. For managers, understanding how to categorize and address types of conflict is paramount for building a beneficial team culture. Understanding the Circle of Conflict enables managers to make strategic decisions in effective resolution within a team.  

Both conflict management and relationship management are paramount to building successful, productive teams in the workplace. Effective conflict management allows leaders to use constructive resolution techniques, mitigating impacts on morale and productivity as a result of said conflict. However, the most crucial aspect of mitigating and resolving conflict is promoting active listening, enabling managers to strategically address issues. When resolved with strategic solutions, team members can become more innovative, and collaboration may be improved across team members. Leaders also play a vital role in preparing the next generation of leaders to adequately address conflicts. 

 

Relationship management, on the other hand, focuses on fostering mutual trust, respect, and open communication within the team. Building a team culture based on trust will promote transparency and honesty in resolution. Strong relationships between team members or direct reports and managers will encourage constructive conflict where individuals feel supported to share their ideas and contribute and disagreements are easily solved. Effective relationship management will enable psychological safety within a team and promote balance. Conflict and relationship management skills enhance individual performance and drive collective success, as teams work in harmony toward common goals.

Data conflicts occur when there are misunderstandings or disputes over information or lack thereof. In a professional setting, data conflicts are common and can arise from miscommunications, incorrect data interpretations, or the absence of vital information. For example, if two departments are working together and have different data sources or data interpretations, disagreements are almost inevitable. 

When leaders are equipped to recognize a data conflict, they can prevent misunderstandings from escalating. The primary strategies for managers addressing data conflicts are clarifying information, enhancing transparency, and potential preventative training. Specifically, clarifying information could utilize leaders holding a meeting to go over any questions or disputes, with full access to data and information. To enhance transparency, leaders should work to provide as much information upfront, including how data is collected and shared. Finally, preventative training on data literacy or something similar may benefit teams repeatedly struggling for data conflicts. Addressing data conflicts effectively reduces tensions and enhances decision-making, ensuring everyone operates from the same factual basis.

Value conflicts are rooted in differences in beliefs or personal principles, such as ethics, cultural values, or social norms. For instance, one team member may value innovation and risk-taking, while another prioritizes stability and proven methods. 

Leaders who recognize value conflicts can play a pivotal role in guiding discussions that respect everyone’s beliefs. Key strategies for addressing value conflicts are setting common ground, promoting diversity, and creating open communication paths for disagreements. Value conflicts revolve around disagreements of morals or beliefs. To mitigate, promote conversations that find common ground and compromise for similar beliefs. Additionally, policies and actions that promote diversity and inclusion will bring outside perspectives that can impact value conflicts. Acknowledging diverse perspectives can help find similarities in values and resolve conflicts. Finally, creating open communication paths for conversation between team members provides an opportunity for individuals to share, feeling respected and understood. Addressing value conflicts with empathy not only improves relationships but also fosters a workplace where diversity of thought is valued.

Relationship conflicts typically stem from personal issues between colleagues, often due to misunderstandings, communication issues, or historical grievances. These conflicts can be deeply personal and can quickly disrupt team dynamics if left unaddressed. 

Leaders can tackle relationship conflicts by encouraging open communication, promoting team building, and additional training on conflict resolution. Creating opportunities for team members to share their perspectives and experiences is paramount to resolving relationship conflicts. Encouraging mutual respect and team building a great tools to aid in mitigating the conflict. When people feel connected to their co-workers, they are less likely to have serious conflicts that are beyond their ability to resolve. Finally, conflict resolution training can be a great tool for preventing relationship conflict, and equipping leaders with necessary tools to promote harmony across a team. When leaders proactively address relationship conflicts, they create a cohesive, positive environment, reinforcing a culture where collaboration can flourish despite personal differences.

Structural conflicts are caused by organizational structures, such as unclear job roles, power imbalances, or resource constraints. For example, if a team feels overwhelmed due to a lack of support staff or unclear role definitions, tension is likely to increase. 

Leaders can resolve structural conflicts by clarifying responsibilities and addressing power dynamics. Ensuring each individual understands the requirements and expectations of their role and how it impacts others can clarify and prevent misunderstandings. Accordingly, addressing power dynamics can be a great tool for managers to mitigate power differences as they relate to conflict in the office. Together, these tools serve as prime resources to strategically address structural conflicts in the workplace. By addressing structural conflicts head-on, leaders can ensure a fairer workplace where systems and processes support rather than hinder productivity.

Interest conflicts arise when team members have competing personal or professional goals. For example, one employee may seek a promotion while another wants to maintain a work-life balance. These conflicts are common in goal-oriented environments and require thoughtful leadership to resolve. 

Leaders can address interest conflicts by promoting personal and organizational value alignment, and flexibility and encouraging a collaborative culture. Values alignment will create an understanding environment for both managers and their teams. By understanding individual goals, managers can find ways to align these with the company’s objectives, allowing for mutually beneficial outcomes. Flexibility will create an environment where compromise is encouraged and professionals are willing to meet in the middle. Finally, a collaborative culture will allow leaders to help team members and facilitate a productive environment moving forward. When handled effectively, interest conflicts can be opportunities for growth and innovation, as team members find creative solutions that satisfy multiple interests.

Moore's Circle of Conflict is a valuable tool for managers and executives who strive for effective conflict resolution. Improving communication and open dialogue will enable managers to efficiently resolve conflict within teams. By understanding the nature of conflicts and taking targeted actions, leaders can transform challenges into opportunities for collective growth. 

In the continuously evolving workplace, generations have begun to prioritize emotional intelligence and interpersonal factors. A 2023 Forbes article entitled “Why Emotional Intelligence Is Crucial For Effective Leadership” explains that today's leaders differ from those of traditional, stereotypical leaders. Rather than solely focusing on specific data, sales targets, or goals, managers are now expected to achieve these goals while also promoting psychological safety. Forbes author, Sanjay Sehgal highlights the difference in today's leaders, boasting self-awareness and care for fostering relationships over giving directions creating a new kind of workplace. 

In this new and evolving role that managers have an expectation to undertake, many struggle to support direct reports going through personal struggles or challenges. Managers' ability to navigate these situations requires empathy, emotional intelligence, and the focus to balance professional and personal needs. Sometimes managers struggle in switching from a task-oriented to a relationship-oriented workplace, however, prioritizing relationships in the workplace is paramount to the success of modern leaders. Leaders commonly lack the training or experience relevant to handling sensitive, emotionally impactful conversations, which can make it difficult to provide genuine support. As organizations increasingly prioritize balance, managers must develop the awareness needed to effectively support their teams during challenging times. Here are 6 ways managers can provide emotional support and build psychological safety for their team members:

Oftentimes, communication barriers hinder managers' ability to emotionally support their direct reports. Without a clear understanding of the extent or challenge someone is facing, leaders have no way of knowing what will best support their teams. Miscommunication or lack of trust can lead to misunderstandings, leaving employees feeling unsupported or unvalued by the team. On the other hand, open communication strengthens relationships, fosters a sense of psychological safety, and ensures employees understand the personal and professional support available. 

2. Offer Flexibility

To emotionally support direct reports by demonstrating empathy and understanding of personal challenges, managers can offer flexibility in teams, where available. Finding productive methods to manage contributions and find a compromise to support individuals is challenging. Altering schedules, adding a cushion to deadlines, or allowing remote work can aid employees in managing their struggles. Flexibility and understanding when possible can foster stress and aid in reducing stress for employees facing a variety of challenges. Creating an environment where direct reports are comfortable asking for help or support should be at the forefront of focus in creating psychological safety. 

3. Build a Strong Team Culture

Creating a strong team culture positively boosts a manager's ability to emotionally support direct reports by fostering a sense of trust, camaraderie, and mutual respect among teams, and levels of an organization's hierarchy. Working in an inclusive culture, employees are much more likely to openly communicate personal and professional hurdles, enabling managers to provide timely and appropriate support. Building productive workplace cultures has another benefit for providing support to team members. A strong culture encourages peer support and empathy, building a culture where team members care for each other, reduce stress, and provide a comforting work environment. 

4. Set Clear Expectations

Employees' fundamental understanding of their roles, responsibilities, and goals works to mitigate stress and promote efficacy in the workplace. Clear expectations offer a foundation for trust and open communication which encourages employees to ask for help, and clarification and express concerns as they arise. Building a structure to foster a supportive environment will promote employees' feelings of security, and better enable managers to provide meaningful emotional support when needed.

5. Promote Balance

Enhancing workplace balance is a strong tool for managers hoping to provide emotional support to their direct reports. When managers encourage work-life balance, employees are more in control of their personal and professional lives which, can be supportive in facing hurdles in either sphere. Ongoing support reduces burnout and anxiety, which makes employees more apt to approach managers or leaders to discuss their challenges. A balanced workplace creates an environment where every employee can feel supported in work and personal needs. By prioritizing balance, managers demonstrate care for their team's well-being, strengthening trust and improving their ability to offer emotional support when needed.

6. Offer Continuous Feedback

Providing opportunities to receive continuous feedback can aid in supporting direct reports through personal challenges. In creating trust and promoting transparency, providing continuous feedback is crucial for continuous growth. Regular feedback not only provides employees with a clear sense of their performance but helps to alleviate confusion and, provides opportunities for discussion about responsibilities and workloads. Feedback circles enable a conversation between direct reports and their employees, allowing managers to better address challenges and comprehend major factors affecting their direct reports. Having a proactive approach to discussing performance with employees demonstrates a focus on overall development and well-being, promoting comfort and support. 

In today’s workplace, emotionally supporting team members is crucial for managers to foster a positive and productive environment. Encouraging open communication ensures that employees feel heard, valued, and safe to express their challenges. Offering flexibility, where possible, helps managers accommodate personal struggles, reducing stress and building trust. A strong team culture and clear expectations further reinforce psychological safety and mutual respect, making it easier for employees to seek support. Promoting work-life balance enhances employees' well-being, helping them manage both personal and professional demands. Finally, continuous feedback creates a foundation for growth and clarity, allowing managers to offer timely emotional support. Altogether, these strategies build a resilient, connected team, benefiting both individual employees and the organization as a whole.

Daniel Kahneman’s Thinking, Fast and Slow provides valuable insight into understanding how the human brain's analytical systems impact decision-making. The book provides a dual system thinking theory, explaining that when someone is faced with a decision, they will utilize one of two systems, called system 1 or 2 thinking. 

Strong decision-making skills are crucial for managers' success. Leaders are constantly faced with decisions that heavily impact the lives of others. Managers' decisions affect team morale, culture, and efficiency so mindfulness in making these decisions is crucial to team success and longevity.  Layoffs, raises, promotions, client placements, and strategies are all decisions that leaders face on behalf of their direct reports. To best keep serving teams and executives, it is paramount for leaders to be deliberate in their decision-making. 

Managers may employ a variety of decision-making tactics so to mitigate bias in decision-making, every leader should be conscious of how they utilize system one or system two thinking. 

System one thinking is immediate. This system is essentially automatic and is initiated by the surrounding environment and habits. System one thinking is dangerous because it is subconscious and can sincerely affect decision-making processes in all people. System one thinking enables unconscious bias to influence choices. These biases are problematic because the individual is unaware of the bias that impacts their decisions. Unconscious bias can appear in all individuals and is extremely hard to detect and reverse. 

System two is critical thinking. System 2 thinking is intentional and engages the brain in analyzing every aspect and result of decisions. System 2 thinking is usually initiated by a fight or flight type response. When the brain is unfamiliar with the circumstance, system two thinking kicks in to analyze and understand aspects the brain doesn’t realize in system one thinking. 

To minimize bias and prioritize system two thinking, managers can employ a variety of strategies to challenge their perspectives and beliefs. For managers to foster a positive team culture, they must encourage open dialogue, learning, and psychological safety. Being mindful of individuals' cognitive processes, biases and experiences will enhance decision-makers' tendencies away from system 1 thinking.  To better utilize system two thinking, managers should consider finding new opportunities for mentorship or collaboration that will broaden their understanding and perspective. 

A critical opportunity for leaders to learn from others' experiences is mentorship programs. Mentorship programs have benefits for individuals at all levels within an organizational hierarchy. Every member can benefit from mentorship but, finding mentors for executives can be challenging.  Ambition in Motions Horizontal Mentorship Program is an opportunity for executives of different industries and experiences to collaborate and create a productive learning environment. Opening new opportunities to grow and learn in a dynamic environment catered to specific problems faced in the workplace makes horizontal mentorship a great tool to initiate system two thinking and encourage learning from others. 

In the workplace, situations depending on system one or system two thinking heavily impact the outcome of decisions. For example, consider Sarah. Sarah is a manager at a small consulting firm and is responsible for 15 direct reports working underneath her. In a quarterly meeting with her boss, Sarah learned she has to lay off 20% of her staff, 3 members. Sarah is faced with a tough decision to make. 

If Sarah depended on her system one thinking, she would not critically evaluate her employees' performance. System one thinking promotes irrational decision-making and emotionally driven reasoning. If Sarah utilized system one thinking, she would likely lay off employees with whom she had issues or problems within the last couple of weeks rather than evaluating long-term commitment and performance. Or, using system one thinking, Sarah may lay off an individual who she had an argument with or faced a conflict while working on a client project. 

On the other hand, if Sarah critically evaluates options for this decision, she will be more apt to conduct the layoffs with consistent reasoning and explanation. System two thinking forces decision-makers brains to be engaged in the process of finding an evidence-based solution. If Sarah engages her system two thinking, she will be basing her decision on quantitative data or, factors such as efficiency or long-term performance, goal setting, and achievements. 

To collect quantitative data useful in system two decision makers, leaders should consider utilizing AIM Insights. AIM Insights is a software that provides continuous goal and progress reports to both managers and their teams. Members can see personal and team goals, sincerely impacting performance and lifting expectations. Additionally, AIM Insights provides tools for attainable goal-setting that are accessible to both managers and direct reports, with benchmarking and gap analysis available, creating transparency in performance, expectation, and growth. Through the use of software such as AIM Insights, managers have readily available data to find evidence-based solutions to problems they face in their roles. 

However, a pivotal benefit of AIM Insights is executive coaching. Executive coaching provides leaders with a personal connection to aid in goal setting and analyzing AIM Insight metrics. These experienced industry professionals provide guidance and consistently analyze results and metrics through a system-two lens. From the removal of personal connections with direct reports, executive coaches gain emotional distance and are able to objectively evaluate the performance of members, aiding in data-driven decision-making. 

Overall, it is crucial for all individuals, and especially leaders to engage their system's two thinking processes. Understanding the differences in automatic and critical thinking provides valuable insights into decision-making habits and how information is processed. By recognizing the best settings for each of the thinking models, leaders are enabled to enhance decision-making skills and efficiency along with mitigating bias. Embracing the dual-system thinking model will unlock potential and encourage mindfulness in decision-making across roles. 

Continued professional education is not a new concept in the workplace. For years, teachers, accountants, lawyers, and many other professions have mandated the continuation of professional education for these individuals to be up to date on the new legislature and field changes. However, for unrequired industries, these educational opportunities are equally as important. Seeking developmental opportunities can be difficult, professionals are often worried that their employer may perceive their participation in these programs as dissatisfaction or intent to leave their current role. 

Attending development and growth programs relevant to any industry is essential for personal growth, career advancement, and performance enhancement in nearly every role. Continued education programs encourage life-long learning, stress the importance of keeping up with industry trends and practices, and exhibit the value of new skills and perspectives within an individual's career. 

Educational and professional development opportunities within the workplace have become scarce. It is a challenging task for managers to find developmental programs for a variety of roles and, focuses. Managers often feel lost with configuring resources to upskill their employees.  Managers often struggle to encourage their direct reports to seek continual development because they want to maintain the employee's commitment and focus in their current role. Seeking professional development opportunities does not directly indicate that an individual is dissatisfied or unhappy in their role. Those motivated by learning and new environments may become more committed to their role with the opportunity for professional growth. 

Nevertheless, each individual must take their advancements into their own hands. As creatures of habit, it is easy for humans to get stuck in a rut or become complacent in their jobs. Every individual must take charge and drive their career paths and advancements by proactively seeking opportunities to broaden their knowledge, perspectives, and experiences. 

Professional development programs take on a variety of forms and focus. Based on interests, level of formality, and availability, individuals can find the perfect space to grow their capabilities. However, seeking these opportunities through employers may not yield adequate opportunities for development or learning. To find the best-fit opportunities, individuals should conduct their own research and determine what the best next step may be to broaden their knowledge, skills, and experiences. 

Finding adequate options for development programs and determining the best route for career advancement is a challenging task for most. Depending on the formality, commitment and cost, there are different routes best for specific scenarios. Here is a deep dive into 3 Categories of learning opportunities for direct reports seeking professional development and advancement programs:

Attending workshops or seminars relevant to any professional industry is a stepping-stone to advancement, growth, and performance improvement. Workshops and seminars may be presented in different ways on a variety of topics but can generally be broken into two overarching categories. 

The first category is seminars or workshops focused on industry-specific topics, including niche topics or tools to help participants broaden or improve their skill set within a specific role, group, or industry. On the other hand, general skills workshops focus on over-arching topics relevant to advancement and growth in a variety of industries. General skills workshops commonly focus on topics related to leadership or soft skills such as management or organization.  A general skills workshop may focus on leadership or communication and may be most impactful when entire teams participate or, in the use of preparation for leadership roles. 

Interactive workshops, like executive mastermind groups, can be a great way to gain objectivity, learn from others, and improve one’s own skill set.

2. Certificates

The continuation of formal education can be a paramount tool for the development and possible advancement of professionals across industries and positions. Those seeking to continue their education in a formal setting outside of traditional secondary or post-graduate education should consider certificates and licensures. In obtaining these licensures or certificates, individuals are enabled to broaden their roles, responsibilities, and industry knowledge. For each industry or role, there are a variety of opportunities available for certifications. Compared to workshops, certificates tend to take a more formal setting. Content to obtain a certificate is commonly done through a course or a several-day seminar, usually capped with an exam. Certificates are a strong form of professional advancement because in the event that individuals seek new roles, certificates, and licensures are a concrete representation of knowledge, experience, and education in a specific field. 

The AIM Insights People Leader Certification can be a great avenue for a leader to showcase their abilities and benchmark their performance compared to other leaders of similar teams.

3. Mentorship

Mentorship is a crucial tool for developing strong leaders and integrating team culture throughout different levels of the workplace. However, a seemingly informal form of professional development, establishing mentorship connections is highly impactful in an individual's ability to lead and advance in their fields. 

Mentor and mentee connections are a key differentiator in individuals' capacity to learn from new perspectives and adapt in the workplace. Mentorship may be implemented in professional atmospheres through a variety of ways but essentially should aid in the personal and professional development of younger generations from those with more experience in the industry. However, not all firms or companies facilitate adequate mentorship connections. Individuals seeking mentorship may consider joining mentorship groups or joining professionally focused organizations. For example, certified public accountants (CPAs) may join the AICPA and establish mentoring relationships with other accountants who have more industry experience or, accounting experience in other focuses. 

By exploring a diverse variety of options in professional advancement programs, individuals have the opportunity to improve their expertise, gain valuable skills, and expand their industry knowledge. Given the wide array of advancement opportunities, formality levels, and time commitments, every individual should actively seek opportunities to better themselves and their career path. 

Professionals across all industries and roles can immensely benefit from continuous education in their fields. Regardless of position, every team may benefit from seminars on improving communication, leadership, or team culture. The most imperative key to success is drive. Those seeking promotion or advancement should take charge of their future career path, and participate in a variety of programs and activities that will enable them to succeed. No matter their success or experience, every professional has something to learn.