Personal Accountability – A Characteristic of Leadership

All of us see leaders throughout our organizations. They can be people with titles like CEO’s or Managers or they can be employees working in obscure levels of the organization without a title. Are leaders born or can individuals be trained to be leaders?

Scholars have debated for years whether leaders are born or developed. Is there a common denominator in all leaders? I believe there is and it is something that can be taught. It is the characteristic of personal accountability.

Personal accountability begins with ownership of one’s job, career and personal life. It is the assumption and belief that “I am responsible for my actions on a daily basis”. We have the opportunity, individually, to take responsibility for our actions, thoughts and attitudes.

John Miller of QBQ, Inc., a personal accountability consultant, defines some very unique attributes of those who take personal responsibility. These employees:

• Eliminate blaming others for things that happen.
• Eliminate being a victim and instead act with responsibility.
• Eliminate procrastination in carrying out responsibilities
• Ask questions that begin with What or How , contain the word I, and focus on action. For example, they ask “How can I help you with that problem?”  “What can I do to help get this done on time?”  “What can I do to adapt to the new organization?”

We all see leaders at all levels and in all sorts of jobs that truly exemplify these traits. Think of the person you meet at a customer service window. The typical response to your problem is seldom, “How can I make you happy?” Instead, you are generally faced with a myriad of excuses, explanations or, in too many cases, no assistance at all in solving your issue. Wouldn’t you become a life-long customer of a company if the representative actually practiced personal accountability in solving your problem? What if you encountered a representative that asked the question, “What can I do today to make you a satisfied customer?” and then, by their actions, demonstrated they meant what they said?

Personal accountability is a virtue that we admire in others. We enjoy people who actually take responsibility for their own actions and responsibilities, not blaming others for their mistakes, not making excuses for things for which they are responsible and not procrastinating in doing their jobs.

Individuals who are personally responsible don’t blame a failure on the team. Instead, they continue to take ownership, individually, for a shortcoming of the team and simply offer solutions or alternatives to solve team issues.

Awareness of these simple characteristics is easily prescribed, but accepting them and putting them in practice takes a conscious effort. However, the results are immediate, long lasting and very effective in becoming a leader at any level.

Bill McClure spent 35 years in various management roles with Lockheed Martin. .