The New Accountability

I’ve been savoring a quote from Maya Angelou this week, “I do my best because I’m counting on you counting on me.” So often when we talk about accountability we think it means losing something. Losing part of ourselves, losing the freedom to make decisions in our work, losing the trust of people in positions of authority. When we unpack why it feels that way, we can typically point to experiences that in the name of accountability felt dehumanizing.

There is something about accountability through the lens of “counting on you to count on me” that feels more connected and more human-centered. In part, I think it’s because at the end of the day, most of us want to be people that others can count on. I would also say that very rarely does someone come to work trying to do a bad job.

So, what does it look like to work in a school where we have both psychological safety and accountability without feeling like something has been taken from us?

This isn’t going to be a perfectly packaged post where I share all of the right answers. I’m over here rumbling with it myself. I’m simply trying to start a conversation because I believe it’s important for us to get to a place where high levels of trust and high levels of accountability and high levels of honoring and leveraging the unique gifts and talents of every person exist in tandem with one another.

Too often in education, we either/or our way through the work. We weaponize methods against one another. I’m about doing what’s best for kids versus I’m about doing what’s best for staff. I’m a relationships-oriented leader versus I’m a results-oriented leader. When both can be true and at the same time. We can care deeply about taking great care of students while also caring about taking great care of staff. In fact, often when we take great care of staff, we equip them to take great care of students because it is hard to give others that which we don’t have for ourselves. If we don’t have belonging, it’s hard to create belonging for others. If we don’t have hope, it’s challenging to inspire hope it others. If we aren’t engaged in professional learning, it’s challenging to great engaging experiences for students. Same with relationships and results. Through high levels of connection and high expectations, we create a culture where, “I do my best because I’m counting on you counting on me.”

I think where things fall a part a bit is when we lose our sense of “us-ness” and “in it together.” Too often, accountability sounds like, “We need to get these test scores up” – full stop. No plan to come alongside. No plan for supports. No plan for removing barriers or developing the skills of the team. And accountability without support is malpractice. Accountability without a clear end goal and success metrics along the way is also demotivating. As Chris McChesney says, “Bowling through a curtain is no fun.” All of this can naturally lead to fear and fear does not lead to deeper learning or lasting-results. Fear leads to disengagement, low level compliance, rebellion, secrecy, burn out, and even people leaving the profession all together.

So, maybe the best place to start with accountability is holding ourselves accountable. Leading ourselves first. As I say in Legacy of Learning, “The most important work we do is the work we do on ourselves. Everything else is secondary.” Before we can truly lead others and hold them accountable, we must first lead ourselves and hold ourselves accountable.

What are your core values? A great place to start with accountability is ensuring you have alignment between your core values and your daily habits. A great way to build trust is to be about what you say you are about – in all the small and big moments every day. Our to-be list is more important than our to-do list. How we show up impacts the entire ecosystem. Daily. The work gets better when we show up better. If you aren’t sure about your core values, this is a helpful list of words from Brene Brown that might help you narrow it down.

Remember, we do our best because we are counting on others to count on us. If that’s not what this beautiful profession is all about, I don’t know what is.