MPowerment Matters

Accountability

February 2008

For the last few weeks the word “accountability” has been swirling around me. I have been meaning to write this article and to use accountability as its topic, but I haven’t been able to come up with a “hook” that I really like. Meanwhile, time’s a wastin’.

My problem has been that the need for accountability is prevalent everywhere in business. There is no escaping it. Anybody that has read more than a couple of my articles, knows that I am a big believer in developing leadership competencies throughout organizations of all kinds; and in every organization having a strategic plan and thought process.

Accountability is woven throughout those two topics. In that Wikipedia is the resource of choice of the internet era, I looked there for a suitable definition. It states that accountability is “the acknowledgment and assumption of responsibility for actions, products, decisions, and policies including the administration, governance and implementation within the scope of the role or employment position and encompassing the obligation to report, explain and be answerable for resulting consequences.” From that statement, I would like to pull out the words “responsibility” and “obligation to report, explain and be answerable for resulting consequences.”

As in every area, leaders have to be role models. If a firm is going to have a culture of accountability, it must start with leadership. To whom are leaders accountable? That is an easy one- to every stakeholder the organization may have:

• Shareholders
• Investors
• Family members
• Employees
• Suppliers
• The community.

All of the above groups have expectations from the business. Shareholders and investors are looking for a return on their investment, a profit. Family members are looking for an improvement in the quality of their lives. Employees are looking for meaningful work in a comfortable, equitable environment for fair pay. Suppliers are looking for a strong continuous relationship through which they can provide goods and services and be paid a fair amount in a timely manner. The community is looking for good corporate citizens who contribute to the community in tangible and non-tangible ways and who are cognizant of helping to maintain or raise the quality of life.

Obviously, each of those groups does not have the same priority to a business leader. Nor will all business leaders put the list in the same order. But clearly, every leader is accountable to all of the various groups.

We have seen many examples of CEOs being ousted from public companies for not achieving desired results. In those companies, the leaders are being held accountable for failure to achieve. And that failure to achieve can impact all of the stakeholder groups. Look at a company like ENRON and you see that the failure of the corporate bigwigs to think and act as role models cost huge loss to everyone the company touched.

If a company is public, many would say the prime accountability is to the shareholders. Of course others may argue it is to the law, or the community. If greater shareholder value can be created by ignoring environmental impact or EPA regulations, there may still be some that would say, shareholders come first, but most would now acknowledge that there are some higher accountabilities.

Let’s look at where accountability starts for a leader. It is fair to conclude that we expect our leaders to act in a legal, moral and ethical manner. How we define the latter two terms may be subject to discussion, but in general, it is a reasonable expectation.

Assuming the leader in question is the founder of the business, he or she must set the vision for the organization. If not, the leader must vigorously pursue the vision or alter it and pursue the new vision. Where is the company going and how is it going to get there? What values will it embrace as it moves from the present to the future. What behaviors will be rewarded or tolerated to express those values? Which behaviors will it refuse to tolerate? Clarity of communication in these areas is critical and the leaders must get the word out in as many ways, shapes, forms and repetitions as it takes to get everyone to understand what is meant.

This is such a critical starting point for any organization. Values and culture are crucial in attracting and retaining employees. And only by holding people accountable for their values and behaviors can a leader insure that they take root and flourish. A leader will only have the credibility to hold others accountable if he or she is the role model for them. If a company owner is exhorting her employees to always act with integrity while she is blatantly acting without integrity or allowing a pet employee to do so, she is not being accountable and she is setting the stage for a total lack of accountability from her charges.

As Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan state in their book Execution, “Leaders get the behavior they exhibit and tolerate.” If he wants employees to feel safe admitting mistakes and taking responsibility for failures, the leader has to do the same. He has to be willing to stand up in a room filled with his employees and admit to errors in strategy, thought or action. That is being accountable. The flip side of that could be that the leader has to learn to give credit where credit is due and not hog the glory.

We have all heard sports figures say they do not want to be role models. They want to be able to be themselves. Maybe they have that option, maybe they don’t. That is another discussion for another time. But organizational leaders do not have that choice-they must be role models. And they must be prepared to apologize when they fail to act accordingly. Telling an off-color joke, making a sexist remark, overlooking negative behavior in others and any number of “insignificant” little behaviors can turn disastrous. It becomes impossible to hold people to a standard to which you do not hold yourself and everybody else.

Leaders are accountable for results. That means that they must hold everyone working for them accountable for their results. Going back to Bossidy and Charan, if you tolerate mediocrity, that is what you get. Mediocrity is never a goal, so we should never be happy with it as a result.

Leaders are responsible for the morale of the organization. There is nothing that can sap morale faster than tolerating a slacker or someone with a negative attitude. One bad apple can kill morale and cause loss of respect for a leader who allows that condition to continue. The leader must be accountable to everyone. Behavior that violates policy or cultural values cannot be tolerated. Of course, that does not mean that every person must be exactly like everyone else. Diversity is critical to success; but diversity within the guidelines of the culture is what should be sought.

In many organizations, managers are judged by the quality of the people that report to them. Thus, they are being held accountable for training, developing, mentoring and coaching their teams. Results count. People move up on the basis of results.

What are some excuses for not hitting performance goals? In some instances, it could be lack of proper training. In others it could be lack of resources. Some might say they didn’t have the tools necessary to complete the job. In some cases it could be lack of marketing or poor sales management. It could be poor planning for what to do in an economic downturn. It doesn’t matter. In all cases, someone needs to be accountable. And in every case, it is ultimately the leader. Yes, leaders delegate and give others responsibility to get things done. But if they don’t get them done, it comes back to the leader. How will she hold her direct reports accountable? And how will she be held accountable?

Accountability is a weighty subject. Everyone should take a serious look at the organization in which they work with accountability in mind. Are there gaps? Are people held accountable for their performance? Their behaviors? For the growth of their direct reports? Is the leader accountable to all of the groups listed above? What can be changed to increase accountability and thus improve performance?


The Managing Partner Development Institute has scheduled its next conference for April 11-12, 2008 in Pittsburgh, PA. For more information, go to the MPDI website at www.managingpartnerinstitute.org. The conference will be a good one, with some excellent guest speakers and some exciting sessions on topics such as conflict resolution within your law firm. Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia are offering significant CLE hours for attendance.

MPDI is also scheduling a series of one and two hour CLE sessions in the months ahead. Continue to check the website for more details.


If you are interested in nurturing a more innovative culture in your organization, give us a call and we can discuss ways to achieve it. Our “Entrepreneurial Obstacle Course” is designed to help groups overcome those obstacles that keep them from acting in an entrepreneurial fashion. Innovation is critical for business success in our fast-paced environment and it should be a part of everyone’s mindset.


Please check out our blogs at www.entrepreneursmentor.net and www.blog.mpdi.org. The former touches on all aspects of being an entrepreneur. The latter deals with law firm leadership issues.


We are happy to facilitate company meetings and brainstorming sessions. Sometimes an outside facilitator makes for a more productive, more open environment.

We also come into companies and do sessions on topics such as communication, collaboration, teambuilding, creating a mentoring program, time management and goal setting. Feel free to e-mail or call with any questions.