Accountability is free, just add leadership Published Dec. 5, 2014 By Lt. Col. Jay Johnson 571st Global Mobility Squadron TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- What do you think of when you hear the term accountability? For most, the answer is going to have negative connotations. Think of the contexts in which accountability has been portrayed in the media recently. Do these sound familiar? Who was accountable for the American lives lost in Benghazi? Who is accountable for the withdrawal of American service members from Iraq? Have we come to use "accountability" as a synonym for "culpability?" Finger pointing is rife in America from political parties blaming each other for economic woes to spouses blaming each other for the failures of their marriages to teachers being blamed for poor academic performance. Placing blame is easy to do and it plays to our desire for justice. I challenge you to focus instead on the positive connotations of accountability. Look at accountability in terms of taking responsibility for one's actions. Look at accountability not as a final scorecard - did you succeed or fail? - but as a principle to guide everything you do. Accountability should be approached as a mindset, one that shapes our goals and the actions we take to achieve these goals. So how do we incorporate accountability into our personal and professional life? It is all about having an inner compass and following it. Morality may not be a popular word today, but it is at the heart of true accountability and the Air Force core values. While all Americans do not necessarily grow up sharing the same values and beliefs, we in the Air Force are fortunate to share three very important values that cage our inner compass--integrity, service and excellence. So how do we put this into practice? We give our Airmen what they deserve: thoughtful, deliberate and bold leadership. Every project and assignment should have clear and measurable goals. Individual and group responsibilities should be clear to all involved. Progress must be tracked. In the end, all participants need to be evaluated and ultimately, held accountable (both positively and negatively) for their contributions. Honest feedback has to occur. In the military, the consequences can be loss of life not just loss of profits. Accountability is the lowest cost, most practical and most productive form of risk management and quality assurance that can be implemented across a unit. A culture of accountability starts in the front office. It has to be transmitted to, and internalized by, the organization as a whole. It must be woven into the DNA of a unit. This requires leaders from the front office to first-line supervisors to be fair, consistent and forthcoming. Accountability in the workplace should not be seen as a way of preventing failure, but of encouraging excellence. The bottom line is accountability matters. Individuals, teams and units will be better off when a culture of accountability is adopted. Those organizations built on a foundation of accountability are going to weather the storm far better than those which are not. Don't run from accountability. Rather, embrace it as a way to manage personal and professional risk.