An ability to make yourself accountable for your work is a great way to get noticed by leadership. Leaders want employees who are able to determine what actions are necessary and to assess the impacts on business. Taking accountability for yourself is a sure-fire way of standing out from the crowd. This will help your prospects for growth within the company and will mark you as a future leader who knows responsibility. Ron Ashkenas writes about his experience with taking accountability measures in the workplace.
The reality is that the most effective organizations engage in continual (and sometimes brutally candid) dialogue — across levels, functions, and with customers and suppliers. For organizations to be successful, dozens, hundreds, and thousands of people have to be engaged and aligned around common goals and directions. That doesn't mean that everyone needs to move in lockstep, but it does mean that everyone needs to take accountability, to see themselves as part of the solution on the field rather than a distant observer in the stands.
So that's where accountability comes in. If you want to be part of a successful organization, you need to be part of the dialogue — to share your views, influence others, and make a difference. If you don't feel that you can take the initiative to do that, then either think about what gets in your way or what you can do differently. If conditions don't allow you to speak up and exert your influence, go somewhere else. But waiting for senior leaders or the CEO to make things better is probably not going to be a very effective strategy. It makes more sense to blame the last snowstorm.
…More at Take Accountability for Your Own Success – HBR Blog Network
It makes sense to have a success strategy that starts with accountability to help you grow in your career. Everyone can (and will) reason away failure but if you hold yourself accountable for your work then chances are you will be noticed! An increasingly dynamic economic market makes it ever more difficult to compete as constraints change and markets shift but by being flexible and accountable then you set yourself up for success no matter what the difficulties and pitfalls that lie ahead. Make yourself accountable to exhibit your value and get noticed by leadership today!