Accountability.* It’s something in which I believe very strongly, one of my core values.
I expect to hold myself accountable and I expect others with whom I have a relationship to reciprocate. Mutual accountability is the key to building trust, personally and professionally. I don’t think I’m overstating the case that we’ve been seeing a decline in the willingness of individuals in business, government, the media, to accept responsibility for their actions.
So it was refreshing to hear this in recent days: “I failed, nobody else failed. It was my fault. I gave guidance. I am the one that approved the the forecast sheets. Execution is where we learn, and we adapted accordingly.”
General Gustave Perna, logistics chief for Operation Warp Speed spoke these words last week while apologizing for shipping fewer Pfizer Covid vaccine doses than expected. He took responsibility, even though this mistake was in no way a lapse in his personal behavior. This is a man I admire.
How will you demonstrate your accountability in 2021?
*Webster’s Dictionary defines “accountability” as “the quality or state of being accountable; an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility for one’s actions.” … Accountability is a willingness to accept responsibility for our own actions.