Exploring Responsibility

I received many responses to last week's missive about Accountability , so this week, I will continue in the vein of Accountability by looking at its partner, Responsibility.?

Responsibility is a key component of Accountability, but they are not the same thing. Responsibility is not about the relationship between the leader and the led; rather, it is internal to all of us. Responsibility is our internal driver and we are all driven differently by these internal forces.

In relation to Accountability, Responsibility is our personal feeling of obligation. Accountability steers our sense of obligation and is important in organizations to enable the achievement of Strategy. Without the guardrails of Accountability, this internal driver can be dangerous and unreliable.

Last week, I commented that our world's problems result from a lack of Accountability. When the internal driver is unfettered, we can get abhorrent behaviour. This week, I was given an example of an Executive showing favouritism to one of their Direct Reports. In another case, a different Executive laundered money. These are corporate examples, but it is easy to see how this applies in politics or down to behaviour in our own families.

We all have different levels of internal ethics and, ironically, we see in our world people working in their self-interest. The notion of the greater good is often overlooked to position that self-interest.

Hence, Accountability is needed to provide those guardrails to ensure the greater good.

That said, there is a fine balance in hierarchies where the leader needs to work to ensure the best interest of the led. When this fails, self-interest comes to the forefront. That self-interest grows when leaders don't fulfill their Accountability as leaders. In turn, this occurs when the leaders are not held to account by their leaders.?

Accountability is not just for the 10 to 20% of employees who are driven by self-interest, just as it is not needed to curb bad use of Responsibility. It reinforces good use of Responsibility as well. The act of Accountability is to acknowledge when someone does well. It reinforces good decisions and performance.

The handoff that occurs between the definition of Accountability and someone's commitment to do what is expected of them is the realm of Responsibility. A sense of Responsibility is essential to commitment; commitment cannot grow out of fear. The exercise of Accountability, where the leader acknowledges things done well, is what enables it. Therefore, catching people doing things right is the work of the leader to enhance commitment.

So, how do you get the productive Responsibility you want and need, and not the self-interest sense of Responsibility? It is all about dialogue. As I like to say, in a pool game, anyone can bash a ball around the table; the real art is calling the shots ahead of time. Therefore, you need to establish standards of expectation upfront – that your employees are accountable for the work you give them in exchange for a pay cheque.?

Here are a few things to consider:

• You are accountable to your manager for your Direct Reports’ behaviour, so you need to set context.
• Be straightforward and clear on acceptable behaviour and what is not. They aren't mind readers, and their beliefs and ethical compass are different than yours.
• Resist the temptation to think they should know better, and be clear with them about what you expect.
• If you sense there is an issue, deal with it, don't wait for all the data. You might be wrong, but you are more likely right.
• Remember, the issue you walk past sets the standard you expect.

You will need to be clear about what is acceptable and unacceptable. However, you can cheat by bringing the team together and getting their input. Ask the team how they define acceptable behaviour and codify it.

My final piece of advice is to do this as soon as possible. If you are looking for a reason to have this conversation, I suggest you use this missive as a galvanizer.

Clarity is a gift and a right of every employee, so don't wait to provide it. When you do, you will enable your people to flourish. ?