Accountable & Responsible: The Third Trait of a Healthy Corporate Culture
Accountability & Responsibility
All individuals & teams stand up; no blaming, no excuses
We are reflecting on what makes for a healthy corporate/business culture. In September I argued that “Loyalty” was the first characteristic. What I meant was pit-bull tenacity in pursuit of the mission and vision of the company, its purpose for existing --- and constancy in our commitments to our team-members (rather than back-stabbing and betrayal). We noted that “loyalty” does not mean “unwillingness to let go of our old ways of doing business or our underperforming colleagues.”
In October we looked at “Openness, Teachability, and Humility” as the second characteristic. This follows from loyalty. Once you get your core commitments straight and strong, the counterpart is to build a culture that is radically open to new ideas, new people, and to criticism. Our security lies in the anchors to which we are loyal: purpose and team. Once that anchor is set, radical openness should follow. Arrogance --- thinking we know everything --- narrowness --- and fear of criticism will take down any organization.
The third characteristic is the combination of Accountability and Responsibility. This builds on the previous trait in that with openness comes a “need to learn” and even a “need for improvement or correction.” And wherever there is a need or a weakness, there is an opportunity for denial, blame, and excuses. A healthy culture is one where we accept personal responsibility and where we hold ourselves and each other accountable for our actions (including our weaknesses). A culture of irresponsibility breeds dissension and distrust among colleagues and customers and long-term disaster and loss for the company.
Responsibility literally means “answerability” or “accountability.” The responsible party is the one deserving praise or blame for what happens. A responsible person (or company) willingly accepts accountability, agrees to care for something, and can be counted upon to do what they say they will. A culture of responsibility and accountability must be based, in turn, on four things: knowledge, freedom, forgiveness, and relationship.
First, if we want people and organizations to accept responsibility, they must be given access to the knowledge required for wise decisions. That was implied in the previous characteristic about teachability. You can’t be held responsible for what you don’t or can’t know. Responsibility requires knowledge.
Second, holding people responsible without their having freedom to choose and to act is a sham and a farce—like a tyrant who hangs some poor souls, blaming them for the bad weather. If we ask for responsibility, we must give freedom and opportunity (the next trait on this list; come back in December).
Third, responsibility and accountability won’t work without forgiveness and a culture that learns from mistakes rather than punishing them. People will not admit fault, will not take responsibility if there is no forgiveness, no margin for error, no opportunity for growth. This trait also comes up later on this list.
Fourth, responsibility entails a “response” to someone: a meaningful set of relationships. We can be accountable to others because our lives and interests are interdependent and we know it and experience it is a positive way. We live and work with others who share the consequences of our failure as well as success. Accountability puts the emphasis on this relational context of responsibility. We hold each other accountable. No power or authority is safe without accountability; no accountability will produce responsibility unless the relationship is clear, fair, and constructive. This relational trait comes up eighth on this list.
It is not easy for most of us to swallow our pride and say “that was my fault” or “I’m going to need some help on this.” A culture of accountability and responsibility has to start at the top. Nobody is fooled by CEOs --- or anyone else --- pretending to be all and know all. A powerful cynicism spreads through such company cultures. So from the top down, let’s not just be humble and open but also accountable and responsible.
-David W. Gill
© 2009 David W. Gill.
E-mail: dgill@ethixbiz.com