Personal Accountability is defined by Webster’s dictionary as, “the quality or state of being accountable; especially an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or to account for one’s actions”. I’ve heard it said that personal accountability is the best way to change corporate culture for the better, one person at a time. In our rapidly changing, and increasingly complex business environment, strong talent is often hard to find. When we do find a strong candidate for our organization, the competition for that person is fierce. Often, however, a strong candidate will choose the strong corporate culture over higher pay.
Effective leaders understand the power of accepting responsibility for the results they create. When something goes wrong, or a project does not turn out as originally intended, leaders look inward to explore how they may have impacted the result. Rather than directing blame towards others or at external circumstances, effective leaders seek to understand their contribution and to learn and grow in response to challenges. When the individuals within an organization adopt the concept of personal accountability, there is less blame on others and more focus on moving forward to achieve the goals and vision of the organization.
Let’s look at this from another viewpoint. In discussing accountability, it is sometimes easier to start with what accountability is NOT, as our society has been built on the Model of Blame. If something is “wrong” then there must be someone or something to blame; someone or something is responsible.
Let’s get this out now; personal accountability is not self-blame. Too many people believe that being accountable is being responsible and being responsible has the experience of blame attached. The first and most important step in understanding and applying accountability is accepting the concept there is no blame. This idea, while it sounds simple, is really quite radical, and doesn’t fit within belief systems held by most people today.
If the concept of no blame is difficult for you, simply ask yourself this question, “What if there is no one to blame?” How would that impact your life? How could it assist you and free up your energy? Become conscious of where in your life you blame others and yourself. If possible, let go of the blame and see how it feels.
The truth is, for most people, the idea that there is no blame is exceptionally difficult to accept. We have been hard wired to blame and there must be someone or something at fault. If we begin to release this idea, we can let go of the emotional energy and weight of blame in our lives. What we are aiming for is the experience of truly accepting what is.
Assigning blame creates “victims”. Personal accountability is about eliminating blame, complaining, and procrastination. Personal accountability is about accepting responsibility – in essence, it is about leadership.
Now, by saying that we don’t assign blame, does that mean we never discipline employees? Not at all. We should hold ourselves and our teams accountable. Discipline is accountability. Accountability equates to responsibility. However, when we point fingers, when we accept the “us against them” mentality, when we look for someone or something to blame, we create a “victim” mentality. We delay progress towards our vision.
When we think of personal accountability, how many “other people” do we think about? Remember, it’s “Personal Accountability”, not “That Person’s Accountability”. We can’t think about who, other than us, needs to hear this message. We have to be concerned with our own behaviors and actions.
Here are 10 steps a leader can take help create a corporate culture of personal accountability:
1. Don’t talk about people, talk to people.
2. Communicate in a respectful manner. If you are too mad to be respectful, calm down before addressing the problem.
3. Yelling is not acceptable.
4. Do not “air our dirty laundry” in public. If you have a problem with someone, speak with them behind closed doors.
5. Be mindful of who is listening. Close doors or lower your voice (or the volume on your speaker phone) as necessary.
6. Don’t be a “bully” to others, particularly those in jobs subordinate to us. We address problems with the appropriate person in an appropriate manner.
7. Don’t preach desired behavior; rather practice desired behavior. People will form their opinions of us not just in terms of how we treat them, but how they see us treating others. Additionally, remember that our team members are our internal customers. They will treat our external customers the way that we treat them.
8. Do not perpetuate problems through gossip. Just to make sure we’re on the same page, gossip is defined as, “idle talk or rumor, especially about the personal or private affairs of others” or “a report (often malicious) about the behavior of other people”. Do not spread rumors. Address issues then move on.
9. Do not speak negatively of others, of the company, or of the company policies to those “outside the team” or to other team members.
10. Always ask these questions when a problem occurs:
• “Why did this problem occur? Why did this person make a mistake?”
• “What could I have done to prevent this problem? Was it a lack of communication on my part?”
• “Did I fully explain my expectations?”
• “How would I want to be treated in this situation?”
Our job is always going to be tough, with unexpected crises popping up, but we don’t need to make it tougher by bringing unnecessary drama and stress into the workplace. Let’s all do our part to reach the goals of the organization, and help to change corporate culture one person at a time, starting with ourselves.
- By Mark Morris
