6 myths about accountability that keep leaders from empowering their teams
The phrase "holding someone accountable" tends to have a negative connotation to it.
We hear it and tend to think about the negative consequences of not doing something or not doing something correctly. We think of the hard conversation that has to happen and the consequences that will follow.
In most corporate cultures, accountability becomes about blame. Who messed up and why?
This type of accountability can feel like you're being punished. It can feel like someone shining a light on your failures or flaws.
The person on the receiving end may then feel disappointed, embarrassed, and ashamed. They may shrink themselves, lose their confidence, and pull back on their efforts so they don't mess up again.
What if we instead looked at accountability as a tool for empowering our team members?
Accountability is a powerful tool for:
Ensuring we're on the same page with clear expectations
Seeing the impact and value of our work
Motivating us to complete our work by understanding the consequences
Understanding our working habits and discipline
Yet, there are several myths lingering in our corporate cultures that continue to perpetuate the negative beliefs about accountability.
Let's take a look at each and consider how to start looking at accountability differently going forward:
Myth #1: Holding someone accountable is only for when someone messes up
This is the most common attitude I see about accountability, and I find it to be the one holding us back the most.
Holding someone accountable isn't simply telling someone when they messed up.
Accountability is more holistically about the process of completing a task, including being responsible for your decisions and actions and being transparent during and after the process.
So it's not simply a one-way conversation when something goes wrong: 'You messed up now fix it.'
It needs to be an on-going partnership with all the people involved so everyone knows what the expectations are, what is being done, and what the results are - no matter if they're good or bad results.
You can hold someone accountable to their goals by being a trusted thought partner, brainstorm buddy, or asking about their timelines and progress. In fact, most of these conversations aren't about the result - they're about the process along the way.
That's what creates a well-oiled machine of a team: accountability rooted in trust and transparency.
Myth #2: Accountability is about blame
I'd say accountability is actually about integrity, not blame.
When we come from blame, it looks like finger pointing, people taking things personally, and usually a lack of solutions to the situation.
Integrity is about aligning your words and actions - did you do what you said you'd do? If you did, great, you're building trust. If not, what will you do to make it right? Or what needs to change to get us there?
Accountability needs to be solution-oriented. Always moving us forward to the goal or expectation.
If there is a mistake or we veer off course, there are times it doesn't even matter who messed up, all that matters is what are we going to do next.
Myth #3: Accountability means hand-holding
I used to think of accountability as hand-holding or chasing someone down to remind them to do something (as a lot of managers tend to view it). When you do this, you're holding onto all of the responsibility, and the other person will learn to use you as a crutch.
But accountability can become a really empowering process for the other people involved when done intentionally.
It's about creating a supportive system or structure to help them take ownership over what they need to do. It's about learning what works and doesn't work for them. It's about learning what's missing for them to be successful or what road blocks are in the way.
Next time your instinct is to chase someone down on your team to ask "did you do it or not?" think about what questions you can ask next to empower them instead of holding onto all of the responsibility yourself (psst: see some ideas in the next section).
Myth #4: Holding someone accountable is more than just 'did you do it or not?'
It needs to be a bigger conversation:
If they completed the task, what worked well for them? What made the difference this time? What could make it even easier next time?
If they didn't complete the task, what got in the way? Is this a recurring pattern? What's worked in the past in other situations that could help here?
This is how you create a supportive system or structure for each person - by learning what works for each of them individually and then creating shortcuts to repeat it in the future.
We don't have to re-invent the wheel for each project or task, we need to get to know our own working habits to lean into what works and fill in our blind spots.
Myth #5: Holding someone accountable is harder than fixing something myself
So many leaders avoid having the hard conversation when someone makes a mistake.
It can feel productive in the moment when you tell yourself things like:
'It's quicker if I just fix it myself'
'I don't want them to feel bad'
'I've already told them about this issue'
But in the long run, you're usually making things worse for both yourself and the other person.
They may never realize their mistake.
They learn that you'll always fix it so they stop caring about it.
You'll spend more time fixing mistakes than teaching them.
Instead, we need to practice giving meaningful feedback that encourages growth. We need joint responsibility with our team members, and learning from their mistakes can help them step up to take ownership.
Myth #6: Accountability as a leader means taking the blame for my team members' mistakes
Not exactly. Again, we want to stay away from the blame language and mentality.
Instead of blame, let's look at it as responsibility.
If you're in a room sharing a project that someone on your team completed and there's a mistake, yes, you are responsible for it.
Don't finger point or pass the blame onto them.
Instead, acknowledge the issue and commit to next steps for resolving it or ensuring it doesn't happen again.
Then, with your team member, you can have a productive conversation (like the examples above) where you ask questions about what got in the way and what we could do differently going forward.
It's not just telling them they messed up, it's about creating solutions together to move past any problems.
Accountability is one of six skills in the free Leadership Blind Spot Audit… take it to see where your own gaps are. Take the audit here.
Brittany Canaski is a highly-rated Leadership Coach, Trainer, and Founder of Hello Velocity where she builds confident leaders and high-performing teams. When she's not building her business, you can find her planning her next travel adventure with her husband, watching Formula 1 racing, or volunteering in her local community of Charlotte, NC.
