Accountable Leadership

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Accountable Leadership

I hope you have big shoulders? That question is not about weight lifting at a fitness gym about a personal trainer asking a client about their strength. Rather it seems to be the opinion of many senior managers and business owners regardless of the industry as to the causes of project failures or failures in general.

One thing that may need to be learned (or reacquire) is a lesson in accountability.

Accountability means responsible behavior. Means ownership. And it is fully essential at each level of organizations and governments. However, at a fundamental level, accountability is frequently misconstrued by leaders who associate it with them but not to themselves.
When leaders take individual accountability, they are prepared to answer for the results of their choices, their behaviors, as well as their behavior in all circumstances in which they are involved. Accountable leaders do not point the finger at others when things go topsy-turvy. Instead, they make things right – they are fixers.

Accountable leaders build a precise comprehension of their organization where it exceeds expectations and where it has an opportunity. Accountable leaders step up to uphold opportunities to accomplish something. Accountable leaders query the choices and processes that form the organization. They also raise questions and obtain answers.

Accountability is a sought after feature for any organization because employees, consumers, and shareholders want it. Also, other reasons factor into why accountability is important such as:

• Accountability is based on trust.
• Accountability enhances production.
• Accountability advances proprietorship.
• Accountability rouses belief.

MEASURES TO ACHIEVE ACCOUNTABILITY
The "buck stops here" is a passage at that time by President Harry S. Truman denoting that he acknowledged accountability for every decision that came from his government. This type of approach is still common amongst organizations nowadays but it's more of the exception than a policy.

Accountability begins with integrity. Frequently this requires casting aside individual pride, conceding your own mistakes, and being completely truthful with yourself. Trustworthy leaders become accountable by investigating their position in a situation and formulating a rational solution to resolve issues, disagreement, and challenges in a real and sincere manner.

Accountable leaders willingly express, "I'm sorry" after something has gone wrong and they are to blame for the transgression. The substance to a sincere apology is a concentration on making reparations, committing to what needs to be done and to fix the circumstances, and executing on it when promised. By apologizing and making a strategy to fix the situation, accountable leaders permit a center of attention on the conclusion rather than on the problem.

Accountable leaders ask for comments from others – bosses, counterparts, subordinates, friends, and associates – concerning how something that didn't go correctly could have gone better. Accountable leaders search for ways to do things differently in the future. They look for opportunities to start change when the change incites improved ways of taking care of situations, making choices, and creating aptitude.

Accountable leaders do not shun responsibility, they do not hesitate, or under or over commit. They realize when to say no and they recognize when to ask for additional information. Prior to agreeing to new tasks, additional deliverables, and to-do's, they check their schedules and know whether they have the substantial time necessary to complete the work on time and with quality.

Successful and accountable leadership can help drive a company forward. On the downside, a failure to live up to the potential of such leadership can have cascading and lasting impacts across an entire organization.

References:
Baldoni, J. (2008), "Failure to Accept Responsibility is a Failure to Lead", HBR.
Smith, M. (2017), "Why Leaders Struggle With Accountability", TLNT.
Stehlik, D. (2014). "Failure: The Impartial Executioner of Leaders, Followers, and Their Organizations", Journal of Practical Consulting, 5(1), 41-52.

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		2 Heba Strategy Consultant, United Arab Emirates
	Accountability Empowers your Team Members! Thank you Anthony, such an interesting and informative article. I always perceived accountability as one of the most important traits in the leadership characteristics. To be a strong leader with followers looking up to, you should be able to empower them, allow them to try and err in a safe environment, this can be only achieved in my point of view by taking accountability and sometimes the blame on their behalfs.

		2 Theophilus Mothusi Melaetsa HR Consultant, Botswana
	Power, Authority are Useless Without a Sense of Responsibility and Accountability An insightful topic. People are often motivated to accept leadership roles because of the perks associated with it, and because they trust their technical skills in a specific job role. They don't consider the behavioral traits that are associated with a leader's job role. This is a main reason for the downfall of many leaders. Leadership roles directly give the incumbent power and authority. However, it is upon an individual to use these two key elements properly for the growth of the organisation whether in terms of increase in profit margins, or having a highly motivated staff. The moment these elements are perceived to be abused, the incumbent of a leadership role has lost the trust of his team, resulting in him/her not able to hold the team members accountable for their behaviour, attitudes in work, because they lost respect for him/her. It is important also to emphasize that a sense of responsibility is aligned to accountability. Someone who is perceived to lack a sense of responsibility cannot be deemed to be accountable; what will he/she be accountable for if he/she doesn't attach an element of responsibility to what is required of him/her? Lack of accountability from individuals who are in leadership roles, has negatively affected businesses, mainly because it leads to poor decision making and maladministration. One may ask, can accountability be taught and coached to individuals? My belief is that a sense of responsibility and the need to be accountable, should be taught to individuals at an early stage of their work life. This will ensure that over a specific period it is instilled in their work ethics.

		0 Praveen Kumar N Manager, India
	Accountable Leaders Excellent One Anthony. Thank you for sharing this. At a time when accountability is at a premium, you seldom see those leaders who qualify this completely. It is very important for one to take full ac...

		1 Maurice Hogarth Consultant, United Kingdom
	Accountability is in the Nature of Leadership; not an Add On Anthony, I do agree with much of what you say, however, re: "accountability means responsible behaviour". No. Ownership etc.; yes. If people take an action; they are 'responsible' for that action as ...

		1 Pierre AKMEL Strategy Consultant, France
	Accountable Leadership Your development on this subject is very close to that of corporate social responsibility, where behavior takes priority over technique. But after 20 years of practicing corporate social responsibilit...

		1 Maurice Hogarth Consultant, United Kingdom
	Your Bad from my Bad @Theophilus Mothusi: Agreed. Everyone (leaders /managers) is assessed on the basis of what they 'DO'. Actions speak louder than words. Every job role has 'Responsibilities' (duties, tasks…) which ne...

		1 Jaap de Jonge Editor, Netherlands
	Accountability, Responsibility, Making Mistakes and the Cancel Culture I'm finding this discussion really interesting and agree with the importance of accountability and responsibility as well as that it should be taught early. This is also true for the principle that p...

		1 Maurice Hogarth Consultant, United Kingdom
	Blame for Ease or Fame @Jaap de Jonge: Agreed. There is a quotation to the effect that "Those who haven't made a mistake haven't made anything." This trend to demand 'sacking' seems to come from the blame culture that we ha...

		1 Jaap de Jonge Editor, Netherlands
	Mechanisms to Promote Accountable Leadership Yes, a blame or cancel culture may eventually lead to a no-risk, no-action culture or even worse, a culture of hiding what is undertaken and decided. Nobody wants that. So we have to look for mechani...

		0 Maurice Hogarth Consultant, United Kingdom
	Eventually is Now and Ever Has Been @Jaap de Jonge: The only point I would disagree with is "... A blame or cancel culture may eventually lead...Nobody wants this". Unfortunately this culture is already here and has been for some consid...