The recent political silly season is over — finally — and once again, I was listening for one particular word in the endless ads that peppered the airwaves: accountability.
It seems like the only time you hear that word is in the context of blaming one's opponent for lack of it. I suspect that the reason so many of us grow so weary during political campaign season is that finger-pointing is more prevalent than accepting responsibility for one's actions. And the gridlock that ensues is always the other person's fault. Can someone please make it all stop?
Businesses, on the other hand, can't afford to shirk responsibility or accountability. Customers expect nothing less. Accountability must be a core value, never compromised, never up for discussion.
"Leaders must develop a lower threshold for alibis and become better communicators and enforcers of what they want done," writes Dave Anderson, author of "No-Nonsense Leadership." "If you are more interested in being liked and popular than holding people accountable for results, you have a serious leadership weakness. It is not your job to make people happy. Your job is to get them better. Holding people accountable to high standards and results is nothing to apologize for. Failing to stretch them to their potential is."
My friend Bob Dilenschneider, founder and principal of the Dilenschneider Group in New York, counsels corporations all over the world on planning and communications. In his recent "Red Book" paper on "Why Accountability Matters," he suggests that rather than dwelling on culpability, it's better to focus instead on accountability in terms of taking responsibility for one's actions. "Accountability should be approached as a mind-set — one that shapes our goals and the action you take to achieve these goals."
To me, that means accountability is a good thing, not a negative. I want to own my decisions because I try to do the right thing even when it is not the easy thing. I am willing to accept the blame when necessary as well as the credit when deserved for my actions.
"Responsibility equals accountability equals ownership. And a sense of ownership is the most powerful weapon a team or organization can have," says Pat Summitt, former Tennessee women's basketball coach. For the record, she holds the most all-time wins for a coach in NCAA basketball history of either a men's or women's team in any division.
Accountability starts at the top and needs to be clearly communicated at every level. Employees need to share goals with management, take ownership of projects and work as a team to the best of their ability. Managers engender accountability with these steps:
