One of the words I hear most often in organisations is ACCOUNTABILITY.
It’s in strategic plans. Leadership frameworks. Performance reviews. Values statements.
What I’ve learned over the years is that talking about accountability doesn’t create it.
Experiencing accountability does.
People learn what accountability really means by watching their leaders.
- Do we own our mistakes?
- Do we acknowledge when we’ve made the wrong decision?
- Do we ask for feedback?
- Do we follow through on what we say we’ll do?
Whether we realise it or not, we’re modelling accountability every day.
I’ve found that the strongest leadership cultures aren’t built on perfect leaders.
They’re built on authentic ones.
Leaders who are prepared to say,
“I got that wrong.”
“Let’s learn from it.”
“How can we do it better next time?”
Those conversations build trust. Trust builds ownership. Ownership builds accountability.
As you head into the weekend, I’d encourage you to reflect on this question:
If your team copied your approach to accountability exactly, would you be proud of the culture they created?
Have a wonderful weekend.
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