Importance of Accountability in Leadership
In case you’re seeming to be a superior leader in all parts of your lifeyou should have Accountability in Leadership, you need to consider yourself responsible. Accountability is keeping your commitments to individuals. Holding those commitments will manufacture further, progressively significant connections and when you assemble profound associations with individuals, you make devotion and trust. When you create devotion and trust, individuals will never need to let you down on the grounds that they realize that you’ll never let them down.
If something goes wrong in your team or department of any university, the buck stops with you. You have to put up your hand and take ownership of the mistake. You have to take accountability for your actions (or lack thereof). This can hard to do, but for leaders it’s vital. Taking accountability builds trust and respect, and models behaviour of accountability in your employees and team.
Accountability in Leadership
Effective leaders regularly review decisions, especially all those ones related to hires and promotions. Regular review mechanisms facilitate a proper track of them and enough time of reaction to amend any possible poor decision before the damage gets too big.
Effective leaders make sure that their decisions and actions plans are clearly understood. The same way, they are aware of the importance of listening to both superiors, subordinates, and peers. They make clear the information, inputs, and results they expect. When misunderstandings occur, they do not focus on the negative role played by their team members but on their role in miscommunication their message. Accountable leaders take ownership of negative results.
How Accountability improves performance?
Accountability eliminates the time and effort you spend on distracting activities and other unproductive behaviour. Research shows that some people have a tendency to engage in ineffective behaviour. Without accountability, you may only catch these behaviours when mistakes and errors have already been made and your organization has already suffered the loss. By building a culture of accountability on the beginning, you free your association of insufficient conduct, put the ideal individuals on the correct positions and send the message that you’re serious about quality work.
Accountability Inspires Confidence
When done right, accountability can increase your team members’ skills and confidence. Don’t mistake accountability for controlling behaviour. The key is to provide the right support – give constructive feedback, improve on your members’ suggestions, give them the freedom to decide, and challenge them to think of better solutions as a team. When people know that you’re actually listening and concerned about their performance, they’re more likely to step up and do their best.
What Happens if You Lack Accountability?
If the leader in the example above refuses to take any ownership for the failure of the big project, they’re no longer holding themselves accountable. This can have disastrous effects that ripple throughout the business.
Here are three big problems that can arise when accountability is ignored:
First, it breeds resentment. If you refuse to admit you’ve done something wrong as a leader and won’t take accountability for failure, others will begin to resent you. Even if you have some great communicators in your team, it’s extremely unlikely they’ll tell you that you’re not holding yourself accountable. Giving unsolicited feedback to leaders is viewed as criticism. Thus, without the option for healthy communication, resentment builds.
Second, it shatters trust and respect. If you say you’ll do something, fail to do it, then don’t own your failure, you’ll lose respect and trust will erode. Without trust in leaders, people become less transparent, collaborative, honest, and ultimately less engaged. They can begin to feel less aligned with company values, which leaders are meant to exemplify, and may start looking for a workplace that better matches their values.
Third, it sets a poor example. Employees look to their leaders to set the tone in a business. If a leader is refusing to take accountability then a “pass the buck” mentality can trickle down through the organization. If this occurs, disorganization increases. If no-one holds each other accountable, it slowly becomes acceptable to arrive ten minutes late for meetings and push back deadlines time and again.
Check yourself: are you holding yourself accountable? Leaders must be hyper aware of holding themselves accountable. As mentioned above, very few employees would be willing to give you honest feedback on this issue, even if you asked them for it.
Tips to Hold Yourself Accountable
Everyone in a business needs to take ownership over their projects and role for the company to run smoothly and successfully.
Here are tips for more leadership accountability:
Watch your language. This can be a major sign of whether you consider yourself responsible or not. On the off chance that you end up avoiding proprietorship, assess the situation and attempt to revise your behavior. If you don’t, you’ll gradually break down the trust among you and the individual you’re conversing with. Use words and a tone that exhibit plan of possession and you can start to modify the trust.
Take a pause and be honest. Similar to my first point, it really is ok to say “I don’t know” or “I forgot”. Being a leader doesn’t turn you into a robot or superhero. It’s ok to make mistakes. Everyone can relate to this and you’ll build more respect through honesty than always seeming right.
Work to fix the problem. Once you’ve owned up to your mistake, don’t foist the problem onto someone else. Being accountable for something means getting the job done. That means you need to see the project through, even if you failed at first. And don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it.
Think of what’s best for the company. A great leader realizes that true success is when the entire company is doing well. It’s not about simply furthering themselves or seeking glory.
Conclusion
Leadership accountability is essential for maintaining trust with colleagues, which influences everything from clear communication to employee engagement. If you’re a leader, try to be very honest with yourself and discover if you truly take accountability for your actions. Hopefully, this article has helped you do that, and more.
