Quotes About Accountability

I see my love of country imbued with a responsibility to bear witness to its faults.

responsibility is the accounting of one's actual response relative to one's ability for response (response/ability).

People who spend most of their time putting out fires are usually also the arsonists.

When performance is measured, performance improves. When performance is measured and reported back, the rate of improvement accelerates." —Pearson's Law

Gerry, you peed on Weems's car!" I shrugged. It seemed like the thing to do at the time.

It's not a woman's fault if a man decides to behave like an ass.

You, my brother, have some explaining to do," she murmured, and taking his arm, hustled him outside.

If you always make excuses to not follow through you deserve the weight of anxiety on your chest.

You know the phrase 'Don't shoot the messenger'?" Edmondson says. "In fact, it's not enough to not shoot them. You have to hug the messenger and let them know how much you need that feedback. That way you can be sure that they feel safe enough to tell you the truth next time.

They did not rely on any outside structure or safety net. They were the structure, and if any of them failed, the group would fail.

Spotlight Your Fallibility Early On—Especially If You're a Leader:

Eliminate Bad Apples:

Deliver the Negative Stuff in Person: This was an informal rule that I encountered at several cultures. It goes like this: If you have negative news or feedback to give someone—even as small as a rejected item on an expense report—you are obligated to deliver that news face-to-face.

I was exactly like the various White House officials who testified later during the Watergate hearings that they had believed—in the words of their boss, President Nixon—that "when the president does it, it is not illegal.

see note to p. 249), which I can still recommend

Only we, the public, can force our representatives to reverse their abdication of the war powers that the Constitution gives exclusively to the Congress.

I asked, "How do you think that would work?" The major said, "If they didn't get any Execute message? Oh, I think they'd come back." Pause. "Most of them." The last three words didn't register with me right away because before they were out of his mouth, my head was exploding. I kept my face blank but a voice inside was screaming, "Think? You think they'd come back?!

I'm stupid. Labeling Sometimes I do things that aren't too smart, but I'm not stupid. It's your fault we have these marital problems. Blaming I need to look at my part of the problem and look for ways I can make the situation better. Your turn: EVENT: Write out the event that is associated with your thoughts and feelings.

The longer it takes for a boss to respond to their e-mails, the less satisfied people are with their leader.

Management isn't about walking around and seeing if people are in their offices

There's no going back. Pay your son to take out the trash—and you've pretty much guaranteed the kid will never do it again for free.

Lead with questions, not answers." "Engage in dialogue and debate, not coercion." "Conduct autopsies, without blame." "Build 'red flag' mechanisms." In other words, make it easy for employees and customers to speak up when they identify a problem.

Each team member takes thirty seconds to report on their progress.

Whether you're fixing sinks, ringing up groceries, selling cars, or writing a lesson plan, you and I need autonomy just as deeply as a great painter. However, encouraging autonomy doesn't mean discouraging accountability. Whatever operating system is in place, people must be accountable for their work.