Accountability is one of those words that’s often bandied about, yet glossed over. We tend to associate it with negative consequence—when we imagine what might be on a performance improvement plan, for example, this probably ranks high on the language most would expect to see.
But there’s so much more to it than that.
In a word, accountability is the willingness to assert ownership over outcomes. Good, bad, and in between. And how we go about modeling accountability is one of the biggest predictors of future outcomes.
When Things Go Wrong, Apologize
I haven’t met a single person who has never made a mistake. Human beings aren’t engineered to be perfect. Mistakes are inevitable. But as a mentor of mine was fond of saying, examining how you approach, correct, and grow from mistakes is the fastest way to set yourself apart from the pack.
It’s hardly ever fun, but the first step is always taking ownership of the outcome when things don’t go your way. Whether it’s interpersonal, a miscommunication, an outage, the path to repair is the same:
- Review what happened.
- Consider the impact it had on others.
- Evaluate why it happened in the first place.
- Determine what needs to change to prevent it from happening again.
- Then apologize, making sure to address each of these points.
If you’ve ever heard a half-hearted apology, I’m willing to bet it had something to do with feeling like one of these steps were skipped.
Speaking of outages, engineers among you will find it strikingly similar to a root cause analysis:
- Define the problem. What happened?
- Acknowledge the impact. What was the type and severity of the disruption?
- Examine the evidence. Why did it happen?
- Determine next steps. What are we doing to prevent it from occurring again?
- Communicate to stakeholders. This is the delivery of the apology.
This isn’t to say that we can approach human problems exactly like engineering problems: emotional intelligence is a core skill, and one that we can’t afford to neglect. But knowing how to account for error—regardless of the cause—is the path to cultivating and keeping the respect of others. **
When Things Go Well, Celebrate
The great thing about taking ownership of outcomes is that you still get to do that when you go above and beyond! Funny enough, this is an area of accountability where I often see a lot of room for improvement when it comes to organizational development in IT and software engineering.
Professional athletes, on the other hand, are great at this. This is especially true of those that function as a part of a team: even if you don’t watch sports, chances are you’ve seen teammates lift each other up (sometimes literally!) after a big play. It’s part of the culture: if you make a play that turns the tide of the game, the team rallies around you to celebrate that success.
And here’s what’s often missed: celebrating wins serves an important leadership and team-building function. Regardless of whether you report to a line manager or lead a division, where would you rather be: on a team where an effort is made to build morale, or one where it isn’t? The ability to recognize and celebrate wins, big or small, whether they’re strategic or part of a growth plan, is foundational. It’s mandatory. And it’s what keeps teams going in rough waters.
In All Cases, Review and Follow Through
Both of these templates require an all-important final step, however: follow-through via a change in process or behavior based on lessons learned.
For instance, you can deliver RCAs until you’re blue in the face, but after a few times people are going to wonder why a given problem still a problem if you haven’t addressed it. Similarly, if someone hears you apologize for the same behavior multiple times, they’re going to start to wonder whether you’re taking what they have to say seriously. Both of these situations are incredibly difficult to repair, so it pays to prevent it from occurring in the first place.
Similarly, whether you’ve met or exceeded expectations, there’s always room to improve. What went well? What didn’t go so well? What can you do differently next time? How can you build on the momentum you have, and turn one success into two or more? A willingness to ask these questions, especially when you don’t think you need to, is the mark of a high-performing team with a solid growth trajectory.