Ask Don't Tell Leadership - How Do I Create Accountability As A Leader?

Accountability. It is one of the most powerful management dynamics in organizations. The power to motivate your staff can be a matter of how you create accountability for them.

But what does it mean to be accountable? How do I create accountability for my employees or other team members?

How do I develop a culture that embraces accountability? And where can I start practicing the art of responsibility-taking? We'll answer all these questions, and more! 

1) What's Accountability All About?   Accountability is fundamentally about accepting responsibility for one's own actions. The word itself derives from the Latin word ad- (to) + causa (cause). The Latin word for "responsibility" is "culpa" or "culpability."

2) What Is Accountability and How Do I Create It? To create accountability, you must first recognize an opportunity for employees to be accountable to themselves and their work. That, in turn, is based on aligning individual's goals with the organization's goals through:

a) having clear expectations of employee outcomes;

b) having those expectations placed clearly within each team member's job description; and,

c) creating realistic deadlines that are accurate and specific enough to encourage performance.

3) How Do I Practice Accountability? The best way to learn how to practice accountability is to experience it directly. But here are some tips:

a) Maintain a high level of self-respect and self-confidence. Your team members will notice that confidence and act on it.

b) Be explicit about what you want from your staff, including your own performance. Or, just remember, "what gets measured gets done."

c) Critique your own performance or others' in terms of expectations met or not met and challenges met or not met. This is helpful insight for anyone.

d) Get involved in every function of your organization. You wouldn't like to think that someone else has all the power for your success.

e) Remember that your team members are human and prone to forget what you're saying, doing, or asking them to do. Don't expect 100 percent of their commitment or work effort. 

4) Where Do I Start? Find a real goal for which individual performance will be measured. Then ask yourself how you can create accountability for that goal specifically in the following ways:

a) Write clear expectations of the outcome and specific dates by which the goal must be accomplished.

b) Hold people accountable if they fail to meet expectations by pointing out specific reasons why they failed to accomplish the expected results in time.

c) Build in a learning community where employees can all learn from each other's successes and failures. Everyone will improve faster together than they could alone.

d) Give timely positive feedback when employees meet their responsibilities, as well as timely negative feedback when they don't. The same is true for you, the manager or leader.

5) What About Me? Make sure that accountability applies to you, too! Hold yourself accountable for your own work and performance just as you do others. Ask yourself the following questions to help you practice accountability: 

a) "What must I do to reach my goal?"

b) "What must I not do?"