Revolutionize Teamwork: How to Create and Lead Accountable Teams (Ignite Reads Book 0)

by Eric Coryell

While there are lots of positive emotions around the notion of being in control, the responsibility that comes with it can be exhausting.

In the simplest terms, accountability is doing what is expected of you or doing what you said you were going to do within a stated time frame.

if you fall short of those expectations, you can act in one of two ways: you can act in a way that is unaccountable, or you can act in a way that is accountable.

Unaccountable behavior: Make excuses, blame others, deflect, hide, or continue doing the same things over and over, expecting different results.

Accountable behavior: Own the fact that you are not meeting expectations and start doing things differently until you meet the desired expectations.

The good news for the team members is that they get to be more accountable and responsible. The bad news is…they have to be more accountable and responsible.

However, as the team becomes accountable, its members have to work out their differences with each other directly. That’s called being an adult.

“holding them accountable” really means, however, is that the leader will step in and take the accountability away from the individual or team if they fail to meet expectations. This helps minimize the leader’s anxiety, but he or she ends up exhausted from carrying the load. Meanwhile, team members have less anxiety but end up feeling disempowered and disengaged.