Accountability: How Great Leaders Avoid the Danger Zone Between Ambition and Greed

There’s a fine line between ambition and greed. And it could make the difference in whether or not a company will become a noteworthy success or a cautionary tale.

After all, ambition is a good thing. You need ambition to set big goals. And it’s ambition that gives you the motivation you need to push through the resistance—within yourself, inside your company, and from the market—to achieve great things.

But greed is what emerges when our ambition becomes self-absorbed—when we pursue our goals at the expense of other people. Greed impairs our judgment to make sound business decisions because it causes us to focus on our personal gain to the unjust exclusion of others. It sacrifices principle—and people—on the altar of expedience. And, if left unchecked, greed will spread throughout the company, eroding trust with employees, customers, and partners. 

Now, none of us would ever like to admit that we’re vulnerable to greed on any level. But the reality is that if we’re not careful, we’ll find ourselves in a “danger zone” that could draw us onto a slippery slope toward greed before we’re aware of what’s happening. 

And that’s what makes greed so insidious: we typically don’t know we’ve succumbed to it until it’s too late.

So, what can we do to develop the self-awareness—the early warning system—we need to avoid the “danger zone” between ambition and greed?

The answer lies in Accountability, the fourth of the “Great 8” leadership virtues from my book “The Great 8: A New Paradigm for Leadership."

(See “Eight Leadership Virtues to Create a Culture that Attracts (and Keeps) the Best Talent.”)

Virtue #4: Accountability vs. Greed

Greed is a dark vice in that it’s hard to see in ourselves. It works in secret, in our inner motivations. And the only way to drag it out into the open is through the practice of Accountability.

Think about it. Here are some scenarios that may not lead to an episode of “American Greed” but demonstrate how subtle greed can be:

• Overlooking a manager’s offensive behavior because he happens to make a lot of money for the company.
• Taking on more clients than the company can adequately serve.
• Cutting out a long-time strategic partner to squeeze more profit from a deal.
• Not allowing employees to share in the wealth they’ve helped create for the company.

This is where Accountability comes in. It gives us an objective set of eyes to observe our behavior and ensure we're staying on the right track. And it means permitting certain people inside and outside our companies to ask the hard questions. It's about opening ourselves up to scrutiny by saying, "Look, if you see me acting in ways that don't reflect our values, let me know."   

The idea is that when you permit others to hold you accountable, you gain a better perspective to make wise decisions for the organization. Also, you're modeling what true Accountability looks like so that you have greater credibility with your team, as you teach them how to practice Accountability and to spread that practice throughout the company.

The Application: Building Your Accountability Team

How do you apply the virtue of Accountability to avoid the “danger zone” in real-world situations?

Here’s a scenario we see a lot at Legacy Advisory Partners, especially when consulting with leadership teams of closely-held businesses.

As the business owner approaches retirement age, it’s natural for employees to want to know: “What’s going to happen to the business long-term? Who will take over the helm? Will the company be sold? What will happen to my job?”

But the owner typically doesn’t want to talk about it—not yet, anyway. “What happens if I share what I’m thinking? Won’t my best people leave?”

This is a prime example of being in the “danger zone.” On one level, it doesn’t seem like greed. After all, the owner thinks, “By keeping my cards close to the vest, I’m doing what’s best for the company—to ensure our top people don’t leave.”

But when you probe more in-depth, you can see how greed emerges as a key motivator. "If I share my candid thoughts about the future, I'll lose talent. And this will reduce the value of the asset I've worked so hard to build."

The irony is that this type of thinking actually diminishes the company’s value. That’s because although the owner doesn’t want to talk about the future, everyone else is thinking about it. It’s the elephant in the room, as employees waste time and energy worrying about where they stand, jockeying for certain positions or looking for other jobs.

As Michael Gerber, author of the book “The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It,” put it, “If you are greedy, your employees will be greedy, giving you less and less of themselves and always asking for more.” 

That’s why you want to build an Accountability team—to point out when you might be approaching the “danger zone” and then serve as a sounding board to help you navigate around that situation.

So, in the example above, outside advisors can help you identify how greed might be holding you—and your company—back. Then they can guide you through a strategy for how to communicate your thoughts and plans for the company’s future in a way that addresses your employees’ concerns, without undermining your business objectives.

The critical thing to remember is to build your Accountability team on both the horizontal and vertical levels to ensure you've covered all your bases:

• Horizontal: This is peer accountability with your leadership team. While you have some authority over them, you’re still giving them permission to hold your feet to the fire and to speak up when they perceive that you might be making decisions that are driven by greed and could undermine the values of your company.
• Vertical: This is accountability with your board, advisory board, and outside mentors. It's essential to select the right people who are strong leaders with high character. Seek their advice, counsel, and feedback on a consistent basis.

The Key Takeaways

To recap, here are the key takeaways on how you can apply the virtue of Accountability to keep your company on the path toward sustainable success.

#1. Be open.

This refers back to the first of the “Great 8” leadership virtues: Humility, which is essential for true accountability to be possible. That’s because our natural response is to get defensive when we receive criticism. But it takes an attitude of humility to “be open” to the idea that we’re all vulnerable to the temptation of greed and need other people to help point out our blind spots.

(See: “Humility: The Key to Winning the Battle Within.”)

#2. Give permission.

Accountability means permitting certain people inside and outside your organization to ask you the hard questions. It's about opening yourself up to scrutiny by saying, "Look, if you see me acting in ways that don't reflect our values, let me know."

#3. Follow through.

If the people you've permitted to hold you accountable observe that you're ignoring their feedback, they'll stop giving it. So, if you see merit to their recommendations, communicate how you will act on them—and follow through. And if, for any reason, you decide to go a different direction, explain what you're thinking to your team or board and make your case. Invite them to "sanity check" your assumptions. Then make your decision and execute.

The Bottom Line

Greed is hard to see in ourselves as it works deep within our inner motivations. And we often don’t know we’ve crossed the line into the “danger zone” until it’s too late. But when we commit to the practice of Accountability—to do the right thing, in the right way, with the right motives—we’re able to shine a light on greed, defuse its power, and put our companies on a solid foundation to achieve sustainable success.

If you'd like to learn how to expand your influence and impact, then join me on this journey to becoming a Virtue-Based Leader by subscribing below to receive my best content sent to your inbox. Subscribe Here

About the Author: J. David Harper, Jr. serves as CEO and principal of Legacy Advisory Partners, an Atlanta, Georgia-based firm that helps companies across the nation to build strong leadership teams—and keep them. David is also the author of the book “The Great 8: A New Paradigm for Leadership” that teaches business leaders how they can tap into eight timeless “virtues” to expand their influence and achieve sustainable success for their organizations.