Dear Yogesh,

Accountability conversations often confuse me. My question here is, should I let the person who I want to hold accountable accept his version of the truth (as long as I am confident that the misstep will not happen again), or should I push my way into having them acknowledge and admit that they did wrong?

What would you do in a situation like this?

Regards,
Karan

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Dear Karan,

Let me share a situation that happens to most of us at various steps of life. There are times when we need glasses to see when our vision has blurred, and our eyes do not see as clearly as they used to. So, with time you have to choose a pair of glasses and decide what style you like. After a certain time, you do not remember how long you’ve worn those glasses, but what it does make you remind you is of the value of good vision, but also of the challenges that come when it is impaired.

Great leaders have great vision—the vision to see situations clearly so that you are able to judge them well, and also the consequences of those situations are a part and parcel of the vision. Some leaders are short-sighted. They see the objectives and situations that are close. There are also leaders that have a long-sighted vision, and they look clearly for opportunities and obstacles.

When it comes to accountability, leaders must have a twenty-twenty vision. They should be able to see situations, opportunities, threats, and other things clearly.

When you have a near-sighted vision, you are only able to see things that give immediate outcomes and work for the immediate results that you seek. Farsightedness, on the other hand, can help you gain results in relationships and processes. If we focus more on one and not enough on the other, that means our vision is impaired, and our decisions and results may suffer.

In your case, the immediate resolution may be accompanied by weakened relationships and fractured processes even though it may help you achieve what you want in the short term.

With the proper lenses and twenty-twenty vision, we step up to situations like this with an eye on immediate results as well as long-term processes and relationships. Additionally, by making sure accountability is not blurry, we prevent future blindness.

Accountability is not just about making sure people work as they have claimed or stick to their words. True accountability is about helping people and channeling them to become the best versions of themselves. It is about helping them make their biggest and best contributions today and in the future.

As leaders, let the people identify and work on the blind spots so they can be clearer to see and achieve objectives that are near and far. We get to influence them and play a part in their personal and professional development. That takes vision.

New York Times best-selling author Daniel Pink said, “Greatness and near-sightedness are incompatible. Meaningful achievement depends on lifting one’s sights and pushing toward the horizon.” Warren G. Bennis, an American scholar, adds, “Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality.”

I hope this improves your view of accountability and helps as you consider how to handle accountability in the future.

Regards,
Yogesh Sood

The above is an adaptation of a blog written by Scott Robley on APRIL 13, 2022

https://cruciallearning.com/blog/the-long-and-short-view-of-accountability/