Have
you ever said any of the following:
“That’s
the way we’ve always done it”
“It’s
not my job.”
“I
didn’t know you needed it right away.”
“It
wasn’t my fault that it’s late.”
“That’s
not my department.”
“No
one told me what to do.”
“I’m
waiting for approval.”
“Don’t
blame me. It was the boss’s Idea.”
“Someone
should have told me not to do that.”
“My
people dropped the ball.”
“I
thought I told you.”
“Why
didn’t you ask me?”
This
list sounds pretty silly doesn’t it? Yet we all at some point have used
these statements. These are blame oriented excuses that we must recognize
in ourselves and others on our team. In order to build a culture of
Accountability we need to stop the use of statements like those above. We
all share ownership for our teams circumstances and results. It’s not
them, it’s US. Without acceptance of the results no matter where
you are on the team there is no accountability and it must start with YOU every day. It is a journey so
don’t feel bad when you say something like the statements above.
Recognize it as an opportunity to build your accountability to your team and
make a change by saying to yourself “How did I let that Happen?” as a
replacement for those above.