Page 80 - Fearless Leadership

The Need to Be Right 67

Every day you witness this lack of accountability. Committed, but frus-
trated, people conspire against each other and company initiatives, and
they withhold their contribution and support. We give and accept reasons,
excuses, and justification in place of results. We pay for effort and not for
performance. We tolerate vague and ambiguous promises, and we allow
people to hedge instead of committing.
We have become so indoctrinated to these behaviors that we have
allowed an implied code of “no-accountability” to emerge. We do not even
notice the slippage between words and actions, and we miss the fact
entirely that we have blind spots that are designed to avoid accountability.
Looked at in this perspective, you can begin to appreciate the insidi-
ous nature of automatic behaviors:

Going it alone allows you to be a victim and avoid being
accountable for your resignation and unwillingness to confront
and resolve issues.
Being insensitive to your impact on others lets you justify your
behavior and avoid taking accountability for how it impacts
people and business results.
Having an “I know” attitude gives you cover to attack and
diminish others—after all, you’re right.
By avoiding difficult situations, you place the burden on others
to read between the lines and avoid taking accountability for
being emotionally honest.
Blaming others or circumstances allows you to take the offensive
and point the finger instead of taking accountability for how
your behavior has contributed to the situation.
Treating your commitments casually gives you a convenient way
to hedge and escape being held accountable for your word.
Conspiring against others or initiatives allows you to flagrantly
demonstrate that you are not accountable for partnership,
teamwork, or the success of the enterprise.
Withholding emotional commitment lets you pretend to be engaged
while you avoid being accountable for fully committing.
Not taking a stand lets you slide and wiggle around issues because
no one can tie you down.