Webster’s Definition: an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or to account for one's actions.
Many leaders approach “accountability” wrong!
For instance:
- Many leaders see “accountability” as just a tool to make sure their workers are producing at the level they want them to produce.
- Many leaders use a number of exercises to bring this about: Dashboards, Accountability charts or graphs, even “accountability meetings.”
- Many leaders miss the fundamental and transformational point – high performance organizations (and individuals) don’t just talk accountability, they walk it…constantly!
Now, for those who get it right:
- A few enlightened servant leaders understand accountability is not a tool, it is part of the foundation…part of the value system that everything is built upon. And it starts with them.
- A few enlightened servant leaders focus first on holding the image in the mirror accountable before anyone else.
- A few enlightened servant leaders understand leadership is an inside out process. They get the fact that others will not practice healthy accountability unless they demonstrate how it is done.
Make sure your inner world and outer world are in alignment. Hold yourself to a higher standard than those whom you serve. They will get caught in your updraft.
Once you accomplish this, you will differentiate yourself by being one of the few who actually practice accountability, not just one of the many who preach it!
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