An Outside Facilitator

I’m working in Dubai this month to meet with clients. During my journey here I considered why I fly halfway around the world, every quarter, to meet with companies. The reason is simple. The meetings make sure that their planning and execution gets results.

After the first six to 12 months—while I get a company up to speed on the Rockefeller methods I use—the meetings ensure these methods get ingrained into a company’s DNA. I facilitate a quarterly meeting, sometimes an annual one, in the same way. We work to build habits they can continue on their own.

We review the past quarter: What worked, and what we’ll do better next time. We review the commitments the company was scheduled to deliver on during the quarter. Finally, we decide as a group what the top 3-5 things are to accomplish during the next quarter.

The key is having an outside facilitator at the meeting, someone to hold an executive team accountable to what they said they’d do. Without this, their efforts wouldn’t be as focused, tangible or accountable. I use two tools for this. Number one is counting the percentage of their commitments completed on time. I also measure those top 3-5 things, goals we call rocks. If either of those fall below 80 percent, then we’ve got a failure on our hands.

Acting as an outside facilitator is key. But I’ve got to say, it’s sometimes not fun to hold these CEOs accountable. There are times when the tension in the room is so thick you’d have to cut it with a chainsaw. But the fact is, they haven’t come close to delivering what they intended to deliver. So they let themselves down.

The interesting part? Most of the time when people really miss the mark, I don’t need to be tough on them. With such driven, successful people, during that powerful silence they reprimand themselves. Coaches often struggle with that, because they’re too worried about companies liking them or being best friends. After a meeting with a dedicated, outside coach, they step up their game.

Coach Kevin’s Challenge

What can you do to stay focused on your commitments? Is there any way to hold your team accountable to your top goals?