Every day at work there are opportunities to make things happen, and also ways to avoid the action.   I think the basic difference comes down to this:  If you want to make things happen, take responsibility.  If you want to stay out of the action, avoid accountability at all costs.

Too simple?  Think about it for a minute.  Regardless of whether a person has been given “authority”, if you just look at those who are consistently effective you’ll notice that they demonstrate initiative, a can-do attitude, and they step up in a responsible way when something needs to be done.  You’ll also notice that people who shy away from the work or who usually have a ready explanation for why something wasn’t done or can’t be done usually point somewhere else for the cause.  It has nothing to do with them.  

Now amplify that into a company or a whole organization.  If the overall attitude is “We’ll find a way to make it happen!” or “I’ll get right on it” (and you see the follow-through) there’s usually a strong culture of accountability in place.  We’ve all seen the opposite as well:  lots of excuses, finger-pointing, justification and rationalizing. 

Here’s the point of it all:  a strong leader takes responsibility for bulding a culture of accountability and modeling it personally through their words and actions.  They are a living example of what a difference a single committed person can make, and they aren’t content to stay alone for long.  They inspire confidence, a can-do spirit and taking responsibility in others.

I was reminded yesterday of someone who took such a position and inspired many people through his life:  Buckminster Fuller.  What inspires me about Bucky’s life is the turnaround he experienced at age 32.  Earlier in life he had been expelled from Harvard for “irresponsibility and lack of interest”.  Bankrupt and jobless at the age of 32, he lost his young daughter to polio and meningitis.  He felt responsible and wanted to commit suicide.  However, on the bridge he was going to jump from he decided to begin an “experiment to find what a single individual can contribute to changing the world and benefiting all humanity.”  He became accountable to a higher purpose and that changed everything.  Over the next 50+ years this independent visionary designed and invented things like the geodesic dome, wrote 30 books, received 28 patents, and dedicated himself to working on behalf of all humanity.  There’s an institute dedicated to disseminating his ideas where you can learn more about this original thinker.