Accountability Leadership

Part I: Leadership and Accountability

For your organization to reach its goals, put its systems and structures in alignment with its strategy. The key ingredient is accountability within in the organization. Instead of defining accountability as blame, regard it as an employee’s obligation to deliver the value he’s being paid to deliver, with no surprises. (Of course, employers have accountabilities, too.) Some accountabilities are fixed; some are relative. Fixed accountabilities include the employees’ commitment to complete their assignments on time within available resources. Relative accountabilities require employees, in cooperative teams, to add the value their roles require.

Expert Elliott Jaques developed the expression "Quantity x Quality x Time / Resources," and phrased it as a formula: QQT/R. The "/R" does not indicate mathematical division - it separates the constraints on management’s resources from the employees’ results. These variables are both independent and interdependent; expect trade-offs among them. QQT/R is not a rigid rule. Instead, it helps managers and employees reach clear, agreed-upon commitments by focusing on how to deliver on goals, rather...