We want accountable cultures but don’t really want to be accountable

How good would it be to be in an organisation, or a team, that does what they say they will do? Or at minimum let you know when they can’t.

• People respond to messages. To your messages.
• People apologise for tardy work or missing deadlines.
• People share learnings, out loud, from targets not met without fear of punishment.
• When gossip starts others say they don’t think it’s fair to be talking about them – not to them.

Just these things alone sound pretty cool, right? I think so too.

Do you want to know how to get started on embedding a highly accountable culture yourself? I? could give you a sense of the top 5 things that need to happen for this to commence. And I will do that in our online event . But sometimes these strategic components can feel like they are out of your influence.

Turning a workplace culture around can often feel like turning the Titanic around. And we all know how well that worked out. But what if you can do some small things now? Would you want to do that?

I’m not sure you really do. It requires a new way of working. For you. It requires a new way of doing. For you. It requires you to become the walking example. Not the frustrated, talking one.

Could you start responding to the messages you receive? Not just delete or ignore the ones you don’t want to. Or respond ‘when you have time’.

Could you take full responsibility for average work? Could you let people know, before they tell you, that it could be better?

Could you highlight your mistakes and then back them up with what you learned from them?

Could you catch yourself talking about someone – not to them? Then go and discuss your issue directly with them. And not spread your frustrations around.

My experience, when we are in an environment of overwhelm (which we are right now) is that it’s easier to point the finger and ask the ‘organisation’ or the ‘leadership’ to make the changes. However, as Leo Tolstoy wisely said; ‘Everyone thinks of changing the world (replace with workplace), but no one thinks of changing himself’. He shared this insight in the late 1800s when he began exploring social reform, and it remains relevant today.

It’s the same in our workplaces. We are looking to reform, change, grow, evolve. We keep looking ‘out there’ for the solution. The solution is the next decision we make – to be accountable for our own words and behaviours. If you want it for others, then you need to start within.

Do you dream of a workplace where people actually do what they say they'll do? Then check out my upcoming session on ‘Why it’s so hard to create high accountability cultures’ here .