Are You “Countable”?

In The 17 Indispensable Laws of Teamwork, John Maxwell coined the idea of “countability” in chapter 9. He explains the Law of Countability by saying that “Teammates must be able to count on each other when it counts!” And if we ever want to be known as a bridge builder, the same thing better hold true! Anyone crossing the bridges we’ve built has to be able to count on the effort we’ve put into making sure they can cross safely…

When we’re a member of a team, countability is critical to developing strong relationships with our teammates and creating a high performing atmosphere. But if we’re in a position where we hold responsibility for leading that team, or if we’re even working to earn the kind of influence that allows us to lead from wherever we are on the team, we have to take our countability to a whole new level!

For a large part of my career, I held positions where nearly every action I took or decision I made had potential to impact one person positively and the person right beside them negatively. That taught me to be very cautious in making each decision, which was often stinking tall order for someone with such a highly Driven and Decisive behavioral style. Regardless of how hard I would work at not offending any one person with my actions or decisions, it still happened. And in those cases, where I was called on the proverbial carpet to explain why something I had done seemed to show preference to one team member while slighting another, I had to have my reasons detailed to show that my decision was in line with existing precedence; I had to exhibit consistency in everything I did! Even then, there were plenty of times where being consistent still wasn’t viewed as being fair…

To that end, I’ve never been willing to interview close friends or family members for positions I help any of our clients fill. Our son has one of the strongest work histories of anyone I’ve seen in their mid 20s but I still exclude myself from doing anything more than passing along his resume. In the roles I’ve held, I can’t afford to even give the perception of favoritism.

When we’re responsible for leading a team effectively, and for achieving the best results we can with the team we’re leading, consistency is a core tenet of earning the influence we’ll need to have in order to get (and keep) buy-in from our team members. Wavering in any way will quickly lead to us being known as anything but a bridge builder…

For what it’s worth, even the most consistent approach won’t always be viewed as fair. Heck, I’ve been told more than a few times that life’s not fair! To build strong teams that are engaged and profitable, there’s one more thing we need to constantly consider along with consistency. We’ll look at that next time then we’ll jump into some team leadership skills that ties all this together.