Ownership & Accountability

My lifelong partnership and journey with horses is the inspiration for “Straight from the Horse’s Mouth”. Lessons from the stable to the workplace.

Willingness to "own" and be accountable are probably one of the most important leadership traits. Sadly, intense competition and pressure to succeed can cause people to deflect blame to others.

In the horse world, it is common to see trainers or owners blaming the horse when things don’t go as expected. But the horse is almost never to blame.

Being accountable is a critical leadership quality – it’s about “owning” the plan – and “owning” outcomes of how plan was executed. As leader in partnership with your horse, it’s your responsibility to honestly assess root causes of outcomes – resist temptation to blame others.

For example, if competition was tougher than expected, think about what you can do to enhance certain skills to be more competitive at next show. If lack of success was due to skipping steps in training, lack of organization or planning – own it and fix it.

Good leaders “own” the entire plan end-to-end – preparation of resources (people, tools, partners), and the execution.

Good leaders also define metrics for success and measure results along the way.

Most importantly, if things don’t go as expected, good leaders learn from the experience and course correct. When correcting problems with a team member, strong leaders address the issue privately vs. chastising the employee in front of others.

Strong leaders know that they are responsible for how resources are prepared and deployed. Owning and being accountable for the results shows strength, confidence and ultimately builds trust.

Share your examples of how to demonstrate ownership and accountability!