Accountability entails accepting responsibility for the results expected of you, both positive and negative. It means accepting responsibility, regardless of the consequences. It means accepting responsibility, even if remaining silent means that no one would ever know. Accountability is not just about accepting responsibility, it is about maintaining your integrity, no matter what.
Don’t play the blame game
Being an effective leader means that you do not blame others or things that were out of your control. You take it on the chin and recognize that you are only human, and mistakes are ok. Once you take accountability, you work hard to make things right, but if this is not possible, you move on. Also, you implement precautions to ensure that it does not happen again.
Until you hold yourself accountable, you are a victim. Moreover, being a victim is the exact opposite of being an education leader. By being a victim, you leave your career in the hands of outside forces and in the process, make yourself weak. Higher-ups don’t want to promote or elevate leaders who can’t take responsibility for their own actions. They want to promote optimistic leaders who understand the things that are outside of their control and those that are.
If you want to reach your potential as a leader, you have to embrace your power to influence the outcome of a large number of situations. Great education leaders take the initiative to influence the outcome and hold themselves accountable for the results.
Concluding thoughts
So the next time a situation arises in which you are tempted to blame outside factors and entities for the failure of a project or for an obstacle that is in your way, remember that effective leaders take responsibility for their actions and the actions of other people on their team. Extreme ownership can be difficult, and it can seem unfair, but at the end of the day, heavy is the head that lays the crown. If you can not deal with this reality, then you are in the wrong profession.
