Building Accountability

  • Our experience with organizations of all sizes and disciplines has shown that an ignored or under supported demand for being accountable leads to decline in trust, performance, chaos and ultimately failure.
  • The presence of or absence of the expectation for personal and team accountability are closely tied to the ethical standards of a Board of Directors and/or those of the CEO
  1. The concept of this tool begins with the root of the word account (as found in Webster’s Dictionary); that is, “to be held to account for our words and actions”.
  2. Therefore, all of what we do and say have a consequences and impact somewhere and with others, ranging from inconsequential to profound.
  3. The foundation for building a culture of integrity is based on a freely given word to do so, both verbally and in writing, to –
    “Make a promise to perform a specific action step with a by-when date for completion.”
  4. To whomever the promise is given then supports the promise giver in its fulfillment. The practice of which is closely observed and experienced by the organization’s people; its absence will be mimicked in kind, its presence ultimately adopted.
  5. Being held accountable or not will become imbedded in its culture.
  6. No one keeps all their promises all the time, so to maintain our integrity and our reputation as trustworthy, we will “clean up” any broken ones by:
    1. Alerting the promise holder ahead of time that the original promise will not be kept, declaring that there are reasons but none are offered as excuses
    2. Then, negotiating the conditions of a new promise acceptable to all involved.
    3. Records kept,
    4. New promise supported as before.
  7. Note: “The core of building and maintaining trusting, successful relationships, either personal or professional, is contained inside a consistent pattern of keeping our word.”  JLG