As leaders, the word accountability is often used personally, professionally, and organizationally. What truly is necessary for accountability to flourish? I believe accountability is a mindset-first type of situation. Without the right individual mindset, it becomes impossible for a culture of accountability to drive decision-making and behavior.
The first thing we, as leaders, must understand is that people appreciate accountability on all levels. Why? Humans require dependability and need to feel trust. Otherwise, our brains protect us from FEAR with flight, fight, and freeze.
ac·count·a·bil·i·ty
/əˌkoun(t)əˈbilədē/
the quality or state of being accountable. especially : an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or to account for one's actions.
- Merriam-Webster 2024
I believe there are five core elements for a culture of accountability to flourish.
- Trust
- Strong Emotional Intelligence
- Understanding of Motivation
- Commitment
- Desire for Optimal Results
Catalyst Leadership Dynamic's Core Fundamentals of Adaptability
Trust
What is trust to you? I want you to take a real moment and define trust. Trust for you may differ from trust for me; assumption is a trap for this one. Believe it or not, I have found significant variance in this definition.
Sure, there are proper fundamentals that define trust, which we can all agree upon. But the difficulty comes from the variance—the variance of being human. One size does not fit all.
Further, trust in granting and earning does vary personally, professionally, and organizationally. Here is where many leaders go wrong.
One fundamental kicker to be aware of is that you can work diligently and for an extended time to earn trust, but one significant misstep can erode all that good work.
Prepare to begin over again, which has true impact and disadvantage- a hard pill to swallow. So, keep this idea in mind daily as you execute your day. Trust is fundamental for accountability.
Emotional Intelligence
We often discuss EQ. Below are the components of EQ and what we should be aware of as human beings. High EQ is required for accountability to flourish.
- Self-Awareness: Your ability to understand your thoughts, moods, and behaviors and how they affect others.
- Self-Regulation: Your ability to redirect disruptive, impulsive, and harmful compulsion. Your ability to suspend judgment before your behavior.
- Internal Motivation: Your ability to understand what drives your behavior. Your passion drives your ability to achieve goals.
- Use of Empathy: Understanding the emotional behavior of others. Your ability to adjust behavior while remaining authentic when meeting people where they are.
- Dynamic Social Skills: Your ability to build meaningful relationships and networks. Your ability to engage others in conversation and communication. As with most information, combining knowledge with behavior is useful.
An effective approach is recognizing accountability in real-time. This is where knowledge transforms into action. The key question is, once you recognize the situation, how will you ensure accountability is appropriately applied? Now that you understand the distinct dimensions, you might wonder about the characteristics of these crucial EQ abilities.
What Really Fuels Motivation? The Key Ingredients You Need to Know
How we think, learn, and behave are influenced by internal motivation. Further, our motivation drives us to work towards our goals. Do you “Play to Protect” or “Play to Win”. This is a simple but precious question.
We all have unique motivation styles. Do you know and fully understand yours? How about the motivation of your team members or your unit as a whole? For optimal effectiveness, the application of accountability must connect to the individual's internal motivation.
Motivation is made up of:
- Successful intentional drive. Constantly striving to improve or to meet a standard of excellence set by oneself.
- Intentional commitment to your goals even when not convenient. Align with the goals of the group or organization.
- Opportunity recognition and act on what you identify in a timely manner.
- Optimism. Engage the goals consistently while rejecting obstacles and setbacks.
The Power of Commitment
A steadfast commitment starts with clear understanding and unwavering determination to engage with and pursue a particular goal, action, directive, or relationship, even when it's not convenient. We must put in the effort.
Commitment and energy management must also be considered when managing accountability. We have previously discussed the concept of energy management.
We generally apply four significant types of energy in our personal, professional, and organizational lives. We manage spiritual, cognitive, emotional, and physical energies daily. How effective we are in this effort impacts our outcomes and results significantly.
Here is why priority matters: managing accountability must consider priority. Sacrifice is necessary for priority. The idea of sacrifice is uncomfortable for many, myself included. What do you mean we can’t have it all? Of course we can! Trade-offs required.
Differentiating between the short-term pleasures and the long-term satisfaction is necessary for priority management. Enter the art of the pivot. Be careful of the convenience trap on this one!
"Differentiating between the short-term pleasures and the long-term satisfaction is necessary for priority management. Enter the art of the pivot. Be careful of the convenience trap on this one!"
-Jeff Rogers, CPMBC
For everything to function effectively, discipline through boundaries is essential. Establishing boundaries can be challenging for many individuals. Servant leaders, in particular, tend to prioritize supporting and assisting others, often at their own expense.
Boundaries are necessary. To sustain a healthy commitment, setting and maintaining boundaries is crucial for effective accountability management.
I often say, “If everything is a priority, then nothing is a priority!” The same applies to boundaries.
Honesty is key: being truthful with others and, more importantly, with yourself is vital for accountability. Garbage in, garbage out!
How to Get Results That Actually Matter
Understanding what the intended outcomes look and feel like with clarity defines results.
Lacking clarity on this vital step will throw off all your excellent work. As leaders, we define our SOPs and systems to achieve optimal results. This is how we define accountability; we measure it with KPIs to inform us if we are on or off course.
We develop a strategy and determine tactics to achieve the desired outcomes. This is hard work. Engagement is earned here.
I like to think of engagement as the level of enthusiasm and commitment an individual demonstrates in what they are doing. I think the higher this engagement level is, the more work performance is elevated, and more passion is exercised.
This results in a sense of fulfillment and healthy pride in a well-done job. Positive engagement significantly impacts performance in all different avenues. The more natural engagement, the more self-assigned accountability exists!
I bet you can
