Entitlement or Accountability?

It’s true that we all feel a sense of entitlement about certain things that should happen in the organizations we work for. However, those feelings of entitlement can be counterproductive. Rather than feel entitled, we think its more productive to take accountability. Entitlement or accountability—which one yields the greatest personal benefit and provides the most productive end result? Of course, there are certain things we should expect to happen in our organizations, but to act “entitled” seems to imply that we have to play the role of “victim” when those things we expect to happen don’t occur. And when that happens, we fall Below the Line with the accompanying sense of powerlessness that something is happening to us that is out of our control.

In a recent public workshop, one of the participants, we’ll refer to her as “Mary,” complained that she’d been with her company for over three years and never received a performance appraisal. She was there at the workshop, in her own words, “to find out how to help the managers in her company to become more accountable.” By the end of the day, Mary had turned her perspective around, from organizational entitlement to personal accountability, by asking the question, “What else can I do to achieve the desired results?” As she was leaving the workshop, she said, “First thing tomorrow morning, I’m going to start actively seeking feedback from my boss and the department heads we serve.”

Taking accountability allows us to NOT depend on so-called “entitlements,” by making sure we get what we need, when we need it. Here are just a few examples of “entitlements,” for which we can take accountability:

• Making sure your annual performance appraisal happens in a meaningful way
• Getting feedback about your performance from a supervisor in real time
• Knowing what the next job opportunities are in the company
• Having a career path plan
• Identifying and requesting the necessary training and development

When you define certain aspects or features of organizational life as an entitlement—such as receiving an annual performance appraisal or getting real feedback on how you and your work are perceived—it immediately places those things outside of your control. Someone is supposed to provide them to you and, if they don’t, you become a victim and have someone to blame. In contrast, by taking accountability, you place those things within your control and ensure they can and do occur—in other words, “I make sure my performance appraisal happens,” “I make sure I receive the feedback I need,” and “I make sure I know where I’m going in the organization.” At the end of the day, the one thing you are most entitled to do is—to be accountable.

If you’d like to find out more about how to take personal Accountability in your organization, sign up for one of our complimentary Author webinars by visiting www.partnersinleadership.com.