Create a culture where everyone strives for excellence and knows how to achieve it
Individual and organizational excellence is built on a foundation of accountability.
When accountability is the norm, people feel safe to take ownership of problems, they cooperate instead of point fingers, and they find sustainable solutions that make the whole organization smarter. It begins with changing senior managers’ behavior. Learn how.
CREATING A CULTURE OF EXCELLENCE
LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM
“One and done” leadership training initiatives rarely produce meaningful change. Achieving lasting behavior and cultural transformation requires multiple interventions.
Here are some key components of the Creating a Culture of Excellence Leadership Development Program.
Baseline Leadership Assessment. Each participant will receive candid feedback from their direct reports on certain high-impact leadership behaviors through a 180-degree assessment. This inspires motivation to improve, provides clarity about exactly what to change, and establishes baseline data to measure progress.
Coaching & Development Plan. Each participant will meet with Michael to review their assessment results and design a custom development plan.
Workshops. There are a million things you can do to become a better leader. We focus on the few and most powerful leadership behaviors that make the greatest positive impact on people and performance. Four workshops are delivered in several bite-sized parts either in person or virtually. Each workshop includes a 90-minute virtual follow-up session to reinforce learning and build accountability into the learning model. (See workshop descriptions below.)
Tools & Resources. Each workshop introduces new tools and resources to help managers apply what they learn. Client organizations will receive editable digital versions of these tools that they may modify and make their own. We recommend saving these tools in a shared common drive.
Culture Change Planning. The executive team will meet with Michael to identify potential obstacles that participants may face in adopting the new leadership habits and practices and then brainstorm solutions.
Company-wide Keynote. After the senior managers have begun modeling a higher standard of accountability and performance, you’ll want the whole organization to learn this new standard and how to achieve it.
Progress Leadership Assessment. Participants will receive another 180-degree feedback assessment to measure progress.
Coaching & Updated Development Plan. Participants will meet with Michael again to review their results, celebrate their progress, and document next steps.
It usually takes about a year for the senior management cohort to run through the program. Subsequent cohorts may complete the program in only 6 – 9 months. Multiple cohorts may run concurrently. Workshops work best with cohorts of 9–25 participants.
These workshops teach managers the highest-impact leadership behaviors that empower excellence.
Inspiring Personal Accountability
Building Accountable Relationships
Delegation & Empowerment
Creating the Conditions of Accountability
Inspiring Personal Accountability
Inspiring Personal Accountability
The first step in creating a culture of accountability is recognizing how you have contributed to your own problems and the existing culture. We all tend to believe that other people are the problem. Thinking that way IS the problem.
Inspiring Personal Accountability sheds some light on the cultural forces at play that are hurting organizational results. This initial workshop focuses on the steps managers at all levels can take to personally model the behaviour they want to see in others.
Participants will learn:
A definition of accountability that has the power to change behaviours just by hearing it.
Three powerful leadership habits that encourage others to take greater ownership of problems and solutions.
How to increase psychological safety in the workplace to produce stronger trust, better teamwork, and improved collaboration.
How to take a systems approach to solve interpersonal and organizational problems.
Delivery Format
May be delivered in-person or virtually.
Virtual format is delivered in two 3-hour parts provided one week apart.
Building Accountable Relationships
Building Accountable Relationships
Once leaders know how to set the standard of personal accountability themselves, the next question is how can they help others stay accountable to consistently achieve the right results?
Building Accountable Relationships identifies the most important habits people must develop to ensure their important relationships are producing the desired benefits for both parties and teaches participants how to help others be accountable in a positive and supportive way.
Participants will learn:
How to create and establish mutually agreed upon expectations and hold others accountable to those expectations with consideration and kindness.
How to establish regularly scheduled high impact one-on-one meetings and why doing so is the ultimate accountability tool.
How to request feedback that increases self-awareness and improves performance and why doing so is a pre-requisite to providing feedback.
How to provide difficult feedback in a positive manner that encourages others to accept it.
Delivery Format
Best suited for virtual delivery to allow participants to complete mini assignments between sessions.
Delivered in three 2.5-hour parts provided one or two weeks apart.
Delegation & Empowerment
Delegation & Empowerment
Accountability is about taking ownership of results and working to improve future results. Managers often become frustrated, however, when the people to whom they delegate work don’t produce the results the manager had in mind. This leads many managers to conclude: “If you want something done right, do it yourself.” This attitude kills accountability because it encourages managers to micromanage, discourages employees from learning and taking initiative, and drastically reduces organizational capacity.
Delegation & Empowerment shows managers how to set people up for success rather than “throw them in the deep end and see if they sink or swim.” When managers set employees up for success, everybody wins.
Participants will learn:
The five essential steps of effective delegation.
What, how and when to delegate.
How to maintain control without being controlling.
How to effectively use delegation as a training and development tool.
Delivery Format
Best suited for virtual delivery to allow participants to complete mini assignments
between sessions.
Delivered in two 3-hour parts provided one or two weeks apart.
Creating the Conditions of Accountability
Creating the Conditions of Accountability
Managers tend to believe that being accountable is a trait you either have or don’t have by the time you enter the workforce. In other words, “It’s the person.” Is it possible, however, that it could also be the environment? Could managers be unwittingly creating conditions that make it harder for employees to be accountable?
Creating the Conditions of Accountability uncovers the organizational beliefs and practices that may be producing undesirable results and create a safe space to address them. Participants will learn how they can create the conditions of accountability to flourish in their organization.
This workshop is designed for senior managers only as they will be brainstorming strategic initiatives they will need to implement.
Participants will:
Learn the six essential conditions that organizations must provide employees to create and sustain a culture of accountability.
Diagnose which of the six conditions of accountability their organization needs to work on the most.
Identify organizational practices that make it harder for employees to be accountable and determine the few, key changes needed to improve those practices.
Delivery Format
This workshop may be delivered in-person or virtually.
If delivered virtually, it will be provided in two 3-hour parts provided one week apart.
client success stories
"Our recent work with Michael on Accountability has given our employees tools to take personal ownership of results and we are already reaching higher levels of achievement. I highly recommend any organization wanting to implement impactful change in their organization to give Michael a call!"
"Michael has distilled the premise of accountability to simple behaviours that even front line supervisory employees can easily grasp and apply. The provided tools are practical and will be easy to implement and refer to in the future."
"Like others, I was somewhat hesitant to move our leadership development workshop from an in-person experience to a virtual Zoom meeting. I can honestly say, I’ve been very impressed. Michael uses activities and discussions throughout the workshop to engage all participants. I’ve even found the breakout sessions to be even more efficient than an in-person experience."
"We now have a deeper understanding of how to foster accountability and have implemented the simple and effective practices we learned to improve our culture and business results. This has been the best experience we’ve had with a consultant."
"I found this accountability training extremely insightful and encouraging and I know that I will continue to implement these principles at work and at home. You did an excellent job of presenting this training and I feel you made it a safe place to be vulnerable without feeling exposed. Thank you so much!"
“The information and content presented in Inspiring Personal Accountability was superb. Michael engaged our team and captured many “aha” moments during his swift, yet highly informative sessions. Fantastic job Michael!”
“This was an amazing session. I have applied the principles both at home and at work to produce better outcomes for myself and others. Thank you.”
"Michael has given our team leaders the tools to move our strategic direction forward. The workshops provided us with the confidence, clarity, and direction needed to ensure our operations are focused on accountability and execution. I believe this training will positively impact our employee experiences and profitability for the long-term."
"Michael has a fantastic facilitation style that made a somewhat uncomfortable topic - our personal accountability - comfortable and actually enjoyable for our staff. The impact of these workshops can be see in how we meet with our teams, communicate with one another, and hold ourselves and one another accountable to fulfil the mission of our organization."
"The leadership principles and practices Michael taught our management team have transformed the way we lead. We are demonstrating a higher standard of accountability which is producing a more trusting, psychologically safe, team-oriented environment. We are also applying continuous improvement habits that lead to better problem solving and more sustainable solutions. Personally, I have become more reflective of my leadership impact and I know others have too. I highly recommend this training."
It’s very cool to see my leadership assessment scores improve thanks to the strategies I’ve learned and applied. It actually works! My team and I are now having much better conversations and they are taking greater ownership of their work. I’ve heard people say, ‘Yeah, I’ve done this kind of training before,’ but I’m like, ‘No, you haven’t!
"Michael Timms' leadership framework is simple, realistic, and easy to apply. This program has helped our managers create a safe and accountable environment for employees and managers to have honest conversations, and work together effectively to accomplish corporate and career goals. His organized and efficient process has supported us to ensure the positive changes last. I highly recommend this leadership development program to any growing organization.”
We’ve done lots of training in the past. This is the one I’ve felt was the most beneficial.
The 'Creating a Culture of Excellence' program has truly helped our managers become better leaders. They’re engaging more with their teams and inspiring higher performance through meaningful conversations. This isn’t just a once and done seminar; it’s an ongoing program with practical assignments, breakout sessions, and follow-ups, designed to produce lasting results. I highly recommend it to any organization looking to elevate their leadership!
Highly recommend this program! It’s made a huge difference for me professionally and personally. We’re still talking about the concepts as a company and I’ve been sharing the principles with my team. Even small efforts to apply the concepts produce significant benefits. Truly impactful and appreciated!
After applying what I learned, several of my team members did a complete 180. They’re now far more motivated, engaged, and committed. They’re eagerly taking on more responsibilities, which has significantly reduced the pressure on me. I’m amazed at the results—it’s working wonderfully!