YThe Leader's Gift: Accountability
January 2010
Remembering What Matters
Volume 6, Issue 1
The Leader's Gift: Accountability
Accountability occurs in two ways. Someone imposes it upon you or you do it for yourself. If you are a leader who is responsible for other people's performance and behavior, you prefer it when people hold themselves accountable.
Those who are wise enough to hold themselves to the highest standards of excellence and performance are on the road to freedom. No one will police you if you understand what's wanted and needed, and have the skills and commitment to consistently deliver it. In doing so, you not only become free to manage yourself, you free up your boss to take on more strategic concerns than watching to see if you are doing your job properly. When you consistently achieve great results, you also free your organization up to enjoy a competitive advantage over those who do not perform as well. Success provides you the freedom to create more success.
Unfortunately, many often fall short of this ideal. They have not learned important life lessons and struggle to contribute at the highest levels. But even great performers often unconsciously "ask" to be held accountable by exhibiting counterproductive behavior. In doing so, they consume a lot of energy and minimize the experience of freedom for themselves, their boss, and their organization.
For example, we are working with a brilliant rocket scientist who is able to bring in huge contracts that are a major aspect of our client's strategic growth. But she regularly stirs up all kinds of controversy among the staff supporting those contracts. She will not share her office when she works out of state for weeks at a time, even though the organization's growth has resulted in a very cramped facility. She fired a colleague's "borrowed intern" after her colleague chose to share this intern to support her urgent deadline. She had no authority to do so, and did not tell her colleague - even though the intern had otherwise performed well, and a replacement was provided to her as soon as she announced that her needs were not being met. There was more, but this one incident consumed over two hours of three people's time to "resolve." Not much got resolved, however, because our rocket scientist always has a scapegoat or excuse to deflect attention away from her own behavior.
So how is accountability the leader's gift in this scenario? Her colleague chose to take this on as a commitment to the divisional leader who officially supervised both of them. He didn't want his boss' time used up in this way (Gift #1). In doing so, he also wanted to shield the staff from having to work within the chaotic environment that the rocket scientist seemed hell bent on creating (Gift #2).
But an even bigger gift is to the rocket scientist herself. She is under the false impression that the numbers are all that matter and if you are a star performer, no one will call you to account for your toxic behavior. If she continues on her course without anyone intervening, she'll certainly be limiting her career growth in this organization. And of course, she'll experience ongoing conflict and upset that will impact her happiness, and eventually her well being.
Our leader in this story is giving his colleague, the rocket scientist, the gift of respectful, honest feedback as part of his intention to effectively integrate her into the organization. Perhaps this will be a life changing opportunity for her (Gift #3).
Since this is a current scenario, we do not know if our rocket scientist will accept the gift of accountability. We do know our leader will get a gift whether she does or not. He will gain patience, strength, and a deeper ability to reach out to someone who is obviously not yet connected to her own heart. His leadership experience will grow regardless of the outcome (Gift #4).
In an economic environment where we are challenged to excel on every level, there's no room for compromise. Accountability is the road to freedom, and it is a gift that keeps on giving.
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