Developing colleagues who are accountable to themselves and
your team is a huge factor to creating a winning culture in any organisation.
Here
are some thought provoking quotes on accountability you can use with your team:
“Responsibility equals accountability equals ownership. And
a sense of ownership is the most powerful weapon a team or organization can have.” Pat
Summitt, Former Tennessee Women’s Basketball Coach
“When your teammate looks you in the eye and holds you
accountable, that’s the greatest kind of leadership there is.” Doug Collins, Philadelphia 76ers Coach
“In putting together your standards, remember that it is
essential to involve your entire team. Standards are not rules issued by the
boss; they are a collective identity. Remember, standards are the things that
you do all the time and the things for which you hold one another accountable.”
Mike Krzyzewski, USA Men’s Basketball
Coach
“Everybody is going to have to be accountable. If you’re on
the field, you have to give me 100 percent. Always. We have to weed out the bad
seeds, point blank. If you can’t give me what I’m giving you on the field, I
don’t need you on the field with me. I have no problem telling that guy I don’t
need him on the field, and I have no problem going to tell Bill (Belichick) I
don’t want him on the field. That’s how you win.” Vince Wilfork, New England Patriots
"Coach Belichick holds us accountable everyday. We
appreciate when he's tough on us. He gets the best out of us." Tom Brady, New England Patriots
“The most important quality I look for in a player is
accountability. You’ve got to be accountable for who you are. It’s too easy to
blame things on someone else.” Lenny
Wilkens, Former NBA Basketball Coach
“Leaders must develop a lower threshold for alibis and
become better communicators and enforcers of what they want done. If you are
more interested in being liked and popular than holding people accountable for
results, you have a serious leadership weakness. It is not your job to make
people happy. Your job is to get them better. Holding people accountable to
high standards and results is nothing to apologize for. Failing to stretch them
to their potential is.” Dave Anderson,
Author of No-Nonsense Leadership
“New cadet, you are allowed four responses: ‘Yes, sir,’ ‘No,
sir,’ ‘No excuse, sir,’ and ‘Sir, I do not understand.’ New cadet, what are
your four responses?” It takes a couple of tries before the neophytes learn the
codes. It will take a little longer for them to stop trying to explain things.
In that phrase, “No excuse, sir” (or “ma’am”) is an early, critical lesson.
Take responsibility for your actions. Always. No matter what the consequences. Ed Ruggerro, Author of Duty First
“The big thing that we want is someone who is willing to be
accountable on a daily basis.” Jim
McElwain, Colorado State Football Coach
“It is not only what we do, but also what we do not do, for
which we are accountable.” Moliere
“Our tradition calls for a commitment to accountability.
This is not an assumption – this is a promise that I will be there for you; and
I can count on you being there for me.” Bob Ladouceur, De La Salle High School
Football Coach
“If you’re going to lead, you need to make goals. And those goals can’t come from the top down,
they’ve got to come from the people who are responsible for achieving
them. Your job is to help them get
there, and remind them every day what their goals are, and what they have to do
to make their dreams come true. Sorry,
but showing them a slide once a year about what you think their goals should be
just doesn’t cut it, and it never will.
Their goals have to come from them, and those goals have got to be in
their bones. Trust your people with that crucial responsibility, and they will
never disappoint you. Far from it, they
will almost always set the goals higher than you would have ever dared – and
then they are the ones who are accountable for their goals!” Bo Schembechler, Former Michigan Football
Coach
“Being there every week for my teammates is really important
to me. It's about accountability.” Peyton
Manning, Denver Broncos
“There is nothing hard-hearted about holding people accountable
for high standards and making tough, agonising decisions concerning yesterday’s
heroes who no longer contribute. It’s tough love. Leaders must care enough
about their people, their futures, and the welfare of the organisation. You’re
not getting paid to maintain anyone. You are paid to lead and stretch them. Do
your best to motivate and equip these people to perform, but if they don’t, you
must stop hugging and burping them and take swift, appropriate action to cut
your losses. Dave Anderson, Author of
No-Nonsense Leadership
“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good
men do nothing.” Edmund Burke, Irish
Statesman
Positive Leadership: Accountability
