Being Accountable to Yourself in Leadership (Part II)

As a leader, what strategies can you adopt to be more careful, to be self-accountable – essentially to report to yourself?

1. Just as companies are rightfully concerned about how they are viewed by customers or shareholders, consider taking time to reflect on how your actions are viewed by all stakeholders: your direct reports, your peers, your clients. Go through a formal 360 Leadership Assessment process or simply get hold of a leadership assessment form and use it to reflect on how others in your team would rate you on each dimension.

For example: Puts the interests of the team before own interests; Shares credit for successes; Readily shares relevant information; Asks how am I doing; Treats others with respect regardless of their position; Fosters teamwork across all departments; Stands behind decisions made by the team; Provides honest feedback in a timely basis. Would others respond in this way about you?

2. At the end of each day, when you clear your desk before you head home, take a few short minutes to mentally go over your day. Think about significant conversations you held, meetings you attended, emails you sent and other actions you undertook.

Are you proud? Could you have done better? This will inspire you to plan your next day around your highest purpose. Getting into this habit of introspection will pay dividends in the long run.

3. Decide to hold yourself accountable for developing other leaders. By mentoring a protégé to enhance their personal and professional growth, you strengthen your own leadership skills and reinforce your determination to be self-accountable as you become the model.

4. When something goes wrong, look inwardly for solutions. It is especially in difficult times that our self-accountability is challenged. Martin Luther King said it poignantly: “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”

5. When a mistake is made, do you ask: “Whose fault is it?” or do you say: “What can we learn from this?” or “What can I do to improve this situation?”To that end, consider reading John G. Miller’s book: QBQ! The Question behind the Question: Practicing Personal Accountability in Work and in Life. Reading the book inspires one to move away from the blame game we have all been tempted to play at one time or other and take ownership of issues.

6. Think about promises you make to new hires during the interviewing courtship period. In our zeal to want to attract the brightest and most talented, we can easily over promise. Keep a record of your interview notes and what you promised to candidates. If subsequent events make it impossible to keep the promises, at least you can address them with the individual. This is better than forgetting about them altogether.

7. What about promises you made to yourself? Write out your personal and professional goals with clear targets. Read them once a week. Are your day-to-day action aligned with your values, your standards, your philosophy of leading? What are your boundaries? Do you take measures to protect them? If your answers to these questions are negative, what is causing this? What insights does this give you? Use this information as a means to spur you to action rather than guilt.

8. Think about what you are avoiding doing. Moliere, 17th century French dramatist, said: “It is not only what we do, but also what we do not do, for which we are accountable.” Is there anything that you are avoiding doing that needs to be done? For example, are you putting off a difficult conversation? Are you delaying any important decisions? Are you delegating away responsibilities that should stay in your court?

Self-accountability, then, is staying true to ourselves despite difficult circumstances. It’s doing the right thing even when we are tempted to bend a few rules for expediency’s sake. Perhaps Deborah Lee put it best: “Self-accountability is who you are when no one is looking”. It’s also the best antidote to feeling victimized by circumstances and in so doing, frees up precious creative energy for us to accomplish what matters to us. Above all, it entails owning up to the consequences of our decisions and choices, because there is no choice without accountability.

Copyright © 2006 by Bruna Martinuzzi. All Rights Reserved.

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