As the saying goes, you can’t be half pregnant – neither can you be half accountable if you want to be considered a true leader. both in your head and heart – you know what needed to be done. and you know you needed to set a good personal example if you wanted to demonstrate effective leadership.

Sure, there are short cuts you can take, risks you can tolerate, people’ expectations you can discount– but in the end – it is either done properly or it is not. You have either set the right example, established yourself as someone who is accountable for the commitments you made – or you are not.

Whilst as leaders, responsibility might be able to be shared – accountability cannot. It takes courage to delegate responsibility to others so they can grow and learn but ultimately bear the accountability yourself of whether they succeed or not.

As a leader;

1. Is your leadership approach and the commitments you make and keep consistent with your personal values and your personal brand?
2. Do you take personal responsibility and admit mistakes, both as an individual and as a leader?
3. Do you hold others accountable to help build a culture of accountability? And
4. Are you the kind of leader that you would follow?