Accountability and Great Leadership

Accountability and the Leader
Great leadership is the foundation of success in all organizations. This essay focuses on the idea of accountability. It will discuss what accountability entails, when a leader could be held accountable, how to use communication to influence one’s team, and the outcome for organizations. In the current Covid-19 pandemic, the electorate worldwide has been given a rare moment to audit their leaders. The question on the minds of the concerned lot is whether their leaders will deliver in this period. Will economies crumble? Will the healthcare sector be able to ensure safety for the masses? Will the elected leaders offer the required guidance and leadership to help mitigate the threat of the pandemic? Albeit a worldwide catastrophe, this pandemic has offered citizens a platform and opportunity to hold their leaders accountable. Accountability is the portion for all leaders regardless of the position or nature of one’s job.
Without effective leadership, it is difficult to motivate one’s team. Trust will also become a problem when effective leadership is missing. As noted in the Stanford Report (2005), Powell said that “leadership is all about people…and getting the most out of people.” However, to get the most out of people, one must create an environment that allows for such to happen. People will not give themselves to their leader's vision if they do not believe in it. A leader must communicate this vision in a way that motivates or moves their followers to act. This is merely being accountable for their position. Accountability calls for one to revel in their position while accepting the consequences of their actions and those of their subordinates. Whether the team fails or succeeds, an effective leader should know that success and failure start with the leader. This is the epitome of accountability and being a leader. The stakes are different for all leaders, and any leader in the army will agree.
In the army, every mistake or miscalculation by a leader could have catastrophic results. There are instances when soldiers go AWOL and end up doing things that are against the army’s and their commander’s demands. In such instances, the commander is held liable because these events took place under their watch. Doty and Doty (2012) write that an old saying in the army says, “the commander is responsible for everything the unit does or fails to do.” Their position makes them responsible and accountable for all that happens. When there is mission failure, the same happens. As the person in charge, one must take the blame. This is the mark of a committed leader. There is always someone else who could take up the blame. However, a leader who assumes their position with pride will always take the blame and allow himself/herself to be held accountable. Gibori (2017) writes th...