With Leadership Comes Accountability
Being in leadership is a privilege, and with this privilege comes additional responsibility – the responsibility to lead by example, to lead with integrity and consistency, and to put others and the organization before yourself. In short, a leader must demonstrate accountability. Too often, leadership and authority are used as a means to escape accountability. Likely without realizing it, the mindset switches to the idea that the rules don’t apply to the leaders, because while they are the ones holding others accountable, who is going to hold them accountable?
This is where peer accountability comes into play. Even though leaders serve at the top rungs of an organization, it is their job to hold each other accountable for their performance and the exhibition of the company’s core values. In other words, no one is exempt from accountability – even, or especially, the CEO. The higher the position in the company, the more accountability should exist. Otherwise, the whole system of accountability breaks down.
Accountability starts at the top, and it is very visible to the entire company. If it doesn’t exist there, it has very little chance of saturating the rest of the organization. Accountability is not an aspect of the workplace that applies less to you as you climb the corporate ladder. It is exactly the opposite – the strongest leaders foster the most accountability for themselves and for others.
The Culture Counts blog is a discussion of law firm culture and legal innovation, including topics such as effective leadership, employee engagement, workplace culture, ideal work environment, company core values, and workplace productivity.
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