“You’re going to mess up. So instead of trying to be perfect, learn how to be accountable.” – Whitney Goodman
Leadership and accountability must come together. Accountability is when you accept responsibility for the consequences of your actions, words, and decisions. As a leader, you must not only hold your people accountable but you are expected to exemplify the standard of personal accountability you expect in others.
Unfortunately, the series of recent events happening around us are showing the lack of accountability among the people in various leadership roles. Almost a year after the flood control scandal was exposed, still no leader has claimed accountability on their role to this corruption of massive proportion, even when their handprints are all over it. Unprogrammed budget insertions (major source of the corruption) were proposed, passed and released through the legislative and executive bodies of the government yet no leader has been made accountable.
The unfortunate incident which caused the untimely death of Ateneo athletes Rene Baterbonia and Divine Adili, exposed the weak sense of accountability among Ateneo’s top leaders. It took them several days to come forward and make their statement, which was apologetic but still void of accountability. By then people have already speculated and formed wrong assumptions about the team members. The bodies of the two athletes have been flown and buried in their home town but none of the Ateneo leaders (from the president, coach, team manager or training officers) has taken personal accountability on what happened.
Then there was the shooting incident in a Tacloban City school where 3 students were killed by two minor students. While the parents and relatives of the dead students are grieving, its’ still being debated on who’s accountable for the incident: is it the two minors who are protected by the Juvenile Justice Law, their parents, the owners of the guns used in the killing spree or the school which failed to protect the safety of their students? Again, no one has come forward to claim accountability.
Making decisions and taking actions are major tasks of a leader. They do this almost every day – minor or major, big or small, simple or complex. Regardless, their decisions and actions impact the team, its members and the people around them. However, in one of the surveys Gallup recently did, where they asked leaders on how well they believe they are performing across seven core leadership competencies, respondents identified creating accountability as the lowest-rated competency.
While they may agree with it, taking accountability is difficult for leaders because it requires vulnerability. Most leaders see admission of fault as a sign of weakness which can also trigger fear of judgment and loss of authority. And there is the blame game, where it is easier to point fingers on other people or at external factors than to face the ugly consequence of a flawed decision.
That’s why it is imperative that we properly choose people we put in leadership positions, the people we entrust to decide on our behalf. We need accountable leaders ready to accept the consequences of their decisions and the outcomes without shifting the blame. Because while leaders can delegate responsibilities to team members, the overarching accountability for the final outcome still lies with the leader.
This reminds me of the Asiana Airlines CEO, Yoon Young-doo, who flew to San Francisco on July 9, 2013, to take full accountability for the crash landing of Flight 214 at San Francisco International Airport (SFO). He bowed to apologize to passengers and victims’ families, visited the injured in local hospitals, and overhauled the pilot training. While he knows that he will bear the brunt of the angry people’s hate and outbursts, he did not hide behind his desk or sent staff on his behalf. He took accountability as the airlines CEO.
How many of our own leaders are ready to do just that?
