Follow Through, Get Real, And Speak Up
Article | Accountability Insights
How often do you hear people in your organization saying things that sound something like the following?
| • | “Nobody does what they say they’ll do.” | |
| • | “People promise me a response by the end of the day, and I get nothing, without a word of explanation.” | |
| • | “Numbers are not looking good for the quarter, but I’m not going to be the one to raise the red flag.” | |
| • | “Every time (you fill in the blank) sets a deadline, they miss it. Nobody can depend on anything around here.” | |
| • | “We talk and talk about the same old issues, but nothing ever changes. We never get around to making it happen.” |
Simply stated, such complaints signal an accountability crisis. Organizations that do not address this crisis pay a high price for their inattention: unmet expectations and undelivered results throughout the organization. Only when leaders and organizations are serious about Creating A Culture Of Accountability can they permanently move from “talking about it” to “doing something about it.”
Three core values reside at the heart of any culture that maintains a climate of positive accountability: Follow Through, Get Real, and Speak Up. Follow Through means “doing what you say you will do,” Get Real means “getting to the truth,” and Speak Up means “saying what needs to be said.” A complete and constant focus on these three values allows people to hold others accountable for results in a positive, principled way—making it possible for them to take accountability, fulfill expectations, and deliver results. When this happens, saying and doing become one and the same.
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