I have been a teacher for over 20 years, and I absolutely love it. Mostly. Teaching like any profession has its pros and cons. For me it has always been more pro than con, though I learned early on that teaching full-time tipped the scales, so for the past 15 years, I have taught part-time.
In many ways, my experience as an educator has resembled my experience as a supervisor- building relationships, helping people grow, setting high expectations- and I now combine these in my work with other supervisors, helping them lead with confidence and skill.
But I sometimes wonder if I am not preaching to the proverbial choir. It seems more often than not that the people who come to me for help already have most of what they need to be successful. The sheer fact that they are coming to me indicates that they recognize they need help and are willing to invest in it. The ones who really need it, I imagine, are the ones who are not self-aware enough to realize it or, perhaps worse still, do not deem it worthwhile to try. They lack accountability, and increasingly I wonder if there isn’t something we can do about it.
When I started working with adults, I thought it would be really different than working with children. In many cases this is true but in other cases it is not. A lot of the same principles apply, and a lot of the same joys and challenges remain. One of those challenges is accountability. How do I help others become more accountable? Is it even my job to try?
Each year, I try to mitigate what has become a predictable end of the semester barrage of emails and meeting requests from students wanting to discuss failing grades. Despite knowing the expectations and conceding they were not met, students attempt to justify why they should receive a better grade. Their most commonly used approach is to seek mercy (But it’s Christmas) while frequently attempting to convince me why it is not their fault. There is a glaring lack of accountability, or, I should say, a lack of their own accountability. Instead, directly or indirectly, the defense is often that the blame is my own.
When they realize that I am not swayed, requests quickly turn to accusations. In moments of frustration or entitlement or perhaps both, I have had students threaten to report me to the board (exactly which board I am not sure), accuse me of lacking compassion, write scathing reviews, complain to my dean, and speak to me in a way I am never quite prepared for. These moments always come after they have agreed that they did not meet the expectations.
My role as I see it is more about teaching content. As an educator and social worker tasked with teaching and preparing other educators and social workers, I have always understood it to be my responsibility to help prepare my students to be successful in the field. This involves meeting expectations not just of their teacher or their future boss but of their colleagues and ultimately the clients they serve as well. It necessarily involves being accountable and is not unlike supervising other people. The goal is always to help others succeed.
How we show up in our work directly impacts those we have chosen to serve and those we have chosen to serve alongside. Over the years, I- and I imagine you too- have had numerous experiences with colleagues, partners, supervisors, and people I have supervised who have lacked accountability, and it is more than frustrating (though it is most certainly that). It is damaging.
When you don’t show up, literally or figuratively for your students, clients, patients- or whoever your work serves- there are consequences.
We need to hold ourselves and each other accountable to ensure that these consequences are not damaging others and instead that we are showing up and serving with integrity and accountability.
Of course, things happen. Each of us has things in our personal lives that necessarily impact our ability to work effectively or at all. As educators, as supervisors, we need to be understanding of this. And we need to continue serving our clients. To do this, it is essential that we are clear about expectations and what to do when they cannot be met. If we do not know what is going on because there has not been any communication, we have no ability to support those going through it.
So, what do we do when this does not happen?
What can we do?
For the past 5 years, in addition to teaching, I have been coaching and training supervisors and their teams to be more effective and satisfied in their work. These trainings often center around skill development in things like time management, feedback, and communication. These skills are deemed important, and it is not hard to find trainings to help develop them. But there seem to be other skills that are not offered in trainings. Skills that are essential to success in a workplace. Skills like accountability.
It seems we are missing a huge opportunity here to help our students, our teams- ourselves- develop one of the most important skills we will ever need.
So, why aren’t we doing that?
Is it because accountability is considered more of a character trait than a skill? Is it because we simply do not know how to teach it?
Whatever the reason or reasons, our lack of focus on this key area is not helping. We are simply kicking the can down the proverbial road in a way that does not benefit the can, the kicker, or the next one to pick it up. Employees and leaders who lack accountability are damaging, and this damage will continue as long as we fail to address it.
Accountability impacts so much of the work that we do regardless of position or industry:
- Showing up on time when we say we will
- Completing deadlines on time when we say we will
- Responding to calls and emails when we say we will
And then, when we make a mistake as we all inevitably do and will, accountability demands that we:
- Own up to our mistakes
- Apologize for our mistakes
- Make amends for our mistakes
We have all worked with or for people who do not take accountability. Who do not apologize or do something different the next time when they make a mistake. But unlike other instances of not meeting expectations, we do not have great options in place for helping them do better. If someone does not know how to use a new system or needs help in becoming a stronger public speaker, there are ample options of trainings to support them. But when someone lacks accountability, we simply fire them. Or put them on a performance plan and tell them to do better with no support to help them. It seems like a missed opportunity. But can you help an adult become more accountable? Is it a skill that can even be developed?
We certainly do not treat it as such, but maybe we should. If we do not bother to try, what is the alternative? Continuing to fire people and make it the next guy’s problem. Who benefits from that?
So, what can be done?
I’m sincerely asking.
