Accountability is really an act of love. ~Patrick Lencioni

On Friday, January 13, 2017 the Department of Justice issued their report on the investigation of the Chicago Police Department, sparked by the highly publicized shooting of Laquan McDonald in 2014. I’m going to focus on one word that I heard mentioned a number of times during the press conference: accountability. I first heard it from the U.S. Attorney who stated that a part of the solution will be training, supervision, and accountability. Then I heard Mayor Rahm Emanuel state several times, emphatically, that the changes (i.e., training, supervision, and accountability) are being requested by the police officers.

What, I think, Mayor Emanuel was trying to say was the same thing stated on walkthetalk.com. “Accountability should not be defined as a punitive response to something going wrong.” I agree, it’s a misuse of the idea of accountability if it’s being used from a cynical or punitive perspective.

This author (who unfortunately wasn’t identified) from walkthetalk.com said:

Webster’s Dictionary defines “accountability” as “the quality or state of being accountable; an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility for one’s actions.” Notice the adjectives describing accountability in the dictionary: quality, obligation, willingness, and responsibility. Does that sound like punitive response to something that has gone wrong? Of course not. Accountability means preventing something from going wrong.

It means there are clear and agreed upon expectations from two parties, both the sender and the receiver. Consequently, it is also both parties’ responsibility. When I engage in a project with a client, we’re both accountable for what we agreed upon as the scope and outcomes of the project. If the client withholds feedback and I don’t hear that I’m falling short of their expectations, I lose my chance to improve.

I honestly can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen leadership marginalize or force-out employees because they weren’t meeting someone’s expectations and that someone was too uncomfortable to hold them accountable. That’s because leadership was viewing accountability through a punitive lens as opposed to a lens of love as suggested by Patrick Lencioni. Keep in mind, that holding someone accountable also means you really did provide them with clear expectations, upfront. You can’t expect others to read your mind.

I’m reading a novel written from a 4^th graders perspective. What she observes about the adults around her is that they are afraid of one another. Until she meets Jesse, who seems unafraid of other adults, which really means he’s willing to be vulnerable. Grace, the young 4^th grader, then refers to Jesse as “magic” because he doesn’t seem to be afraid of really engaging others.

You can call it love, or magic, or whatever term you want, but using a positive lens for accountability could change your view of how you lead.