The essentiality of accountability

Ken Gosnell Nov. 8, 2019

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 It is written: “‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bow before me; every tongue will acknowledge God.’” So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God. ~Romans 14:11-12

These words point to the fact that no one can escape the sovereignty of God. He is everywhere and knows all things. The truth of life is that every person at some point in their life or in the life hereafter will put God in His rightful place and acknowledge who He is and what He has done. These verses in Romans speak to the idea of accountability. 

Accountability is essential for the life of the leader because it enables the leader to lead and live at a higher level. Few people enjoy this, but everyone knows it is a key to making better choices and decisions. 

Now this is not just a review of what a person is doing wrong or what went wrong. Real accountability is the review of actions taken, decisions made and paths followed.  

In Romans 14, Paul reminds early church leaders about how they are to conduct themselves because one day, they will have to give an account of themselves to God. Paul is working diligently to address the attitude that a person should be more concerned about their own choices and behaviors than others' decisions and actions. The reality is that the only person a leader can control is themselves, and often, that person is one too many to lead effectively. In fact, the hardest person to lead is often yourself.  

The statement in Romans 14 about “giving an account” is not one of condemnation or something a person should fear. This statement can actually be one of encouragement. The awareness that one day, every leader will stand before God and review the pathways of life speaks to the love and intimacy God longs to have with each person. The idea represented here is a close connection where God will look in-depth at each person and seek to understand the choices and decisions the individual made in their life.

Paul's emphasis on self does not exclude a leader from examining and reviewing the effort and results of the people on their team. In fact, God's example of accountability is a model to follow as it reminds leaders of the importance of good stewardship for those under the leader's care. A leader would be wise to consider that if God placed a premium on a review of each person and their lifetime of choices, how much more should it be essential for every leader to encourage every team member to be accountable for all things under their care?

Many people and leaders mistakenly consider accountability to be a negative aspect of leading an organization. Some leaders avoid it at all costs because they seek to avoid confrontation with a team member. However, when it is not practiced people can’t grow and organizations become stagnant. 

Effective accountability reminds every leader and team member that every choice is important and each decision matters.    

Photo source: istock 

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Ken Gosnell is CEO and Servant Leader of CXP (CEO Experience). CXP is a premier coaching and executive roundtable business that serves Christian CEOs in Washington DC, Maryland and Florida. Ken serves leaders by helping them and their teams to have great experiences that both transform the leader and their organizations to go further faster. Learn More »

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