In this post:
Discussion of what accountability is, why you should care, and how to effectively embrace it.
Accountability is one of those words that I think most people hear and conjure up a decent definition or understanding of the term. If “I am accountable” for something, then it is understood that I am responsible for it. I believe the concept of being held accountable is a bit less concrete than the mere concept of accountability, so I’d like to delve a little into that subject in this month’s post.
An example: My current role positions me between my boss and one of his subordinate leaders. Generally, I push tasks from my boss down to that subordinate leader’s action officers – not directly through that subordinate leader.
Between multiple personnel absences and frankly poor processes, the responsible action owner had not provided an output that I expected for my boss, so I tried to involve myself to get an acceptable product before their deadline.
Mind you, I did not know the details of what the desired end product was supposed to look like, but I was given a sense of the expected result. The available team members tried to help put together a product, and I took what I was able to cobble together as their final product for my boss’s action officer.
Ultimately, the end result was unsatisfactory to my boss, but neither he nor the subordinate leader knew I was involved in trying to make this product happen at all. While my intent was good, the fact of the matter was that the tasking officer’s intent was unclear and the action officer’s resulting product was essentially bound to be a failure, nevermind my ignorant influence.
The subordinate leader called me and my boss’s action officer to try to understand what happened and why the provided product was unsatisfactory. This discussion is what inspired this post (even though this happened back in maybe late October, early November).
This subordinate leader told us that as developing leaders, we needed to learn to hold these subordinate organizations accountable for the tasks or products that they owed to superior organizations.
It occurred to me after the fact that I have no memories of receiving any sort of instruction or training with regard to holding others accountable. This is not the sort of thing anyone has ever actually discussed with me, guided me to perform, or otherwise even really think about in any meaningful way.
So, here we are!
In this discussion of accountability, I intend to cover the following:
What is Accountability
Holding Yourself Accountable
Holding Others Accountable
What is Accountability
This section is just to make sure we really are talking about the same thing.
Accountability as it is used here is simply as we stated before: the state of being responsible to someone for something. Generally, accountability implies accepting that responsibility through one’s office or express willingness; one is not accountable for anything by chance.
Additionally, there are usually some kind of consequences when accountability is not met with closure.
An employee is accountable to their employer for some agreed-upon set of tasks. Failing to complete those tasks in the time expected should result in disciplinary actions of some sort, generally in the form of reduced hours or termination.
A contractor is accountable to their client to meet certain conditions in exchange for certain terms. A breach of contract or otherwise failure to deliver will likely result in negative effects for the contractor.
A federal or state official is accountable to their constituents for the activities that fall under their purview. Their performance should be reflected in the votes they receive when that time comes.
Parents are generally accountable for their children…
Holding Yourself Accountable
Using our definition of accountability immediately gets to an awkward start.
If I willingly establish a goal (or task) for myself and either actively or inherently accept that I will complete that goal by some time period, what happens if I don’t? After all, no one else can hold me accountable besides me in that situation.
I gave myself this project to write 72 blog posts on various topics on a monthly basis. There are no consequences for failing to write a post each month, or for being late in starting, finishing, or posting on any given month except any I might execute.
Well, I would feel relentlessly guilty until I catch up, but that’s self-imposed and could very well be tossed aside. Post 30 could have been the improper end of 72 Airman’s Writings and nothing substantial would change in the world. But besides that feeling of guilt? No one else holds me at financial liability for failing to write a post. No one gets hurt if I fail to write a post.
So what do we do, here?
One of the first things we need to do when holding ourselves accountable is consider the Why.
Why is the goal I’m pursuing something that even needs doing? Assuming the cause is a worthy one, what are the consequences of failing to meet that goal?
Why am I writing 72 Airman’s Writings?
- This is a monthly writing exercise I give myself that is meant to focus on personal development and communication. I learn while I write, I consider how others might receive what I am sharing, and I practice structuring communication.
- This is an opportunity to share thoughts with others who might need those particular thoughts. I’ve been doing this leadership thing for a long time and I am still constantly learning things – presumably, others can learn from what I share regardless of their own breadth or depth of experience.
What if I fail to write a post or permanently cease to write the next 41 posts?
- I lose 41 instances of that practice at minimum. My focus on personal development may shift into some other form, but I lose this form or product, specifically.
- Others will not receive this form of thought from my perspective any more. I have the sense that this carries more effect than I can realize, as it may prompt others to discuss leadership topics after reading my posts.
- I may not engage with topics that may be outside of my current comfort zone.
- I can no longer receive feedback on my writing or my ability to communicate and therefore cannot actively improve my writing.
It is up to me (you?) to recognize the Whys and the What Ifs of the goals we pursue, but if we deem the cause worthy, then we take up accountability for them while (and because) we understand what is at stake if we lack that accountability.
If teachers fail to educate their students, then an entire segment of the population of a generation will fall behind their peers and fail to pull their weight for society.
If contractors violate their contracts, resources are lost without results. That, and the reputation of that contractor could be drastically affected in the future.
If officials fail their constituents without good faith effort, then the will of an entire population goes unrepresented or perhaps actively countered.
Holding Others Accountable
So what changes when it comes to holding others accountable?
I keep coming back to the 3 C’s from Turn the Ship Around!
First, be sure that the to-be-accountable person has a clear understanding of the expected results of their task. (Clarity)
Be sure the person is qualified to perform the task. (Competence)
Be sure that the necessary team and resources are available to that individual or team to perform the task. (Control)
However, I also need to add a couple thoughts to that.
Especially for longer tasks, be sure to establish a good feedback loop to ensure that the task is still on track. If circumstances change, then realignment may be necessary. If the task is recognized to be different than expected before, then new skills may be necessary. If resources – human or otherwise – cease to be available or new ones become available, then agency may need to be redistributed or redelegated.
And just like before, it’s important that accountability come with appropriate consequences, positive, negative, corrective – whatever is most appropriate.
This post comes at the end of the year, right before the New Year and its typical resolutions begin to crop up.
Too often, the gyms are packed in January and taper back off into February as people realize their resolve is not set to endure. They lack accountability to follow through with their new exercise goals.
Perhaps their Why is insufficient. Perhaps other circumstances proved more powerful than their Why, whatever their intentions might have been…
Can you take this post and make positive changes in your life, personally or professionally?
References
– https://hbr.org/2016/01/the-right-way-to-hold-people-accountable
72 Airman's Writings 