No one disputes
the importance of accountability in healthy workplaces, but the meaning of the
word seems to escape many.
Case in point.
During a
monthly “lunch and learn” with a group of company leaders, the topic veered to
performance management and the problem of late reviews.
Senior
leadership was often late with evaluations, and that gave tacit approval for
all managers to follow suit.
And when they
did follow suit, there were no formal consequences to their actions. The
practice may have been hell on employee morale, but the CEO never held his
managers accountable, and I mentioned that.
Well, one of
the senior leaders objected. She said she was
held accountable when her reviews were late. I asked how. She responded that if
she missed her deadline, she’d go to the CEO and fully expect to offer an
explanation.
I was speechless
… for a moment.
Recovering
quickly, I told her that what she’d described was not what I’d call being held
accountable. Accountability has costs. And then I asked a question she
absolutely did not like:
“What about your employees waiting for
their reviews? How are you being held accountable to them?”
Silence.
Another manager
in the room said, “I never thought about that.” She nodded her head slowly to
indicate she would in the future.
(I’d always
liked this manager—she was good people. Naturally she was later fired by The
Silent One.)
Corporate accountability is a community
thing
True
accountability takes a community. That’s why addicts are often ordered to group
therapy. One on one, the addict may talk crap to his counselor, but put him in a
group and he’ll be shamed by his peers if he starts in with any manipulative,
blame-shifting mumbo jumbo.
Unfortunately, some
leaders believe being held “accountable” to nothing more than their own conscious
fulfills the spirit of the word. They’re wrong. And it matters, because without
accountability organizations don’t function well.
Deadlines are
missed, promises are broken, trust is abused, and efforts at improving processes
are futile, because some will continue as they please, and no one will insist they
do otherwise.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident
…”
I’m a proud
American, and whenever I reflect on the Founding Fathers and the Declaration of
Independence, I appreciate anew the wonder of their accomplishments.
Have you read
the Declaration of Independence lately? You might want to. It’s
awesome. Awesome.
The Founding
Fathers held the King of Great Britain accountable, and they held each other
accountable, too.
When we follow
their lead, it’s amazing what we can achieve.
