Do you struggle to meet your goals? Do you feel that you do not get the results you want? Do you often find yourself feeling helpless with situations around you? Well, all this could be because of lack of accountability. In all our undertakings in life, we need to be accountable for our actions and their consequences. Unfortunately, most of us fall short of this and take the easy way out of shrugging all the responsibility and looking to shift the blame to someone or something.
What and Why of Accountability
Accountability goes hand in hand with ownership – if ownership refers to the active role one plays in guiding their life and choices, then accountability involves taking responsibility for one's actions, decisions, and their consequences. While, we all want the freedom make our own choices, we do not like being held accountable for the outcomes. This leads to all the unpleasant and unwelcome scenarios that we started with.
The question arises why is accountability so important. The single-most basic reason for being accountable is to stay on track with your goals and see them through. But this is a very simplified view of something as complex as accountability, which is not easy to practice. Instinctively, we try to avoid responsibility, hence sometimes, we also avoid being in situations that require high degree of accountability.
Being accountable fosters trust and reliability. A person who takes full responsibility for his actions is looked up to. For example, when a sportsperson owns up to a loss because of his or her strategy, it shows courage and confidence. Instead of hiding behind excuses or shifting blame, they display a strength of character by opening themselves to criticism and ridicule. They know that acknowledgement and acceptance is the first step towards improvement. Accountability is essential for personal and professional growth.
Accountability for Personal Growth
In your personal life, being accountable has many benefits, from becoming empowered to improving relationships. Some of the advantages of being accountable are:
1. Empowerment: When you hold yourself accountable, you are more likely to see through fulfilling your goals as it helps to develop some sense of control on the direction you are taking. This can feel quite empowering and can result in greater self-belief and confidence.
2. Improved problem-solving: Taking stock of things helps you to pre-empt and solve problems more efficiently. Because you are not looking to transfer the blame, you will take the problems head on and explore ways to solve them.
3. Resilience: Empowerment with problem solving capabilities lead to higher resilience. When you feel confident about your ability to solve problems that you may encounter, you will not fear failure. You will have the belief that you will find a way out.
4. Building trust: Being accountable for your actions and decisions tells people around you that you are not afraid to own up to any mistakes you make. It shows honesty and commitment to make things better.
Professional success and Accountability
As in personal life, accountability plays a very important role in your professional success. Being accountable in professional space is not just bound by the organizational code of conduct or job description bringing personal accountability can help you in:
1. Establishing credibility: Accountability enhances an individual's credibility. When people see that someone consistently owns up to their mistakes, makes amends, and learns from experiences, they are more likely to trust that person's judgment and intentions.
2. Fostering culture of ownership and responsibility: By being accountable, you set an example for others to follow. When people see you not being afraid of taking responsibility and are free from the fear of being blamed, they can be encouraged to become more accountable.
3. Earning respect and trust: In a professional setting, teams rely on each member to fulfil their responsibilities. When team members are accountable for their tasks, it builds a sense of mutual trust. Teammates can depend on each other, leading to a more cohesive and effective working environment.
4. Conflict-resolution: Accountable individuals are more likely to engage in constructive conflict resolution. Instead of blaming others, they focus on finding solutions and working collaboratively to address issues. This approach contributes to a healthier and more respectful resolution of conflicts
How to become accountable
There are many challenges in developing accountability and ownership. Most of these arise from the fear of being judged and lacking confidence in your ability. Three main challenges that prove to be a hinderance to accountability are
1. Fear of failure: Fear of failure is one the main reasons why people avoid being accountable. They are more driven by the consequences rather than the process, with no room for course correction. Lack of self-confidence or inability to look at failure as learning opportunity can hold a person back from taking chances.
2. Lack of clarity in goals: When you do not know what you want to do or achieve, you will struggle to understand what is expected of you. With lack of clear expectations and goals, accountability becomes difficult to develop.
3. Blame-shifting and excuses: Some individuals may believe that external factors have more control over their lives than they do, leading to a diminished sense of personal accountability. They look for excuses to avoid taking responsibilities and in case of failure, shift the blame to external factors.
So how do you go about becoming accountable? The first step in this direction is self-awareness. Being honest with oneself, about oneself is essential to becoming accountable. Having clarity on what you are doing and how you are will help you in taking responsibility for your actions. To develop accountability, you must:
1. Set goals and expectations: Setting clear goals and expectations creates a roadmap for you and others around you. When everyone knows what they are expected to do, it becomes easier to become accountable.
2. Self-reflect and evaluate: Reflecting on your decisions and actions gives you a chance to assess whether you are on track with your goals or do you need to change anything. This helps you to alter the course of your journey, as required thereby influencing the possible outcomes favourably.
3. Seek feedback: Seeking feedback reduces your blind spots and helps you look at the situation from different perspectives. When you open yourself up to feedback and criticism, it shows your commitment to taking responsibility for your actions.
Being accountable is not an easy attribute to develop as it requires a great deal of resolve and commitment. Since accountability involves opening yourself to criticism and failure, it can seem to be quite a daunting endeavour to undertake. However, the benefits that it brings to personal and professional growth greatly outweigh the effort required to be more accountable. Your commitment to taking ownership and accountability will you in the driver’s seat of your life and empower you to steer it in the direction of your choosing.
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