Think about a time when you accomplished something fabulous like completing a major project, landing a big sale, solving a challenging problem or helping someone else be successful. You probably felt great about your achievement, right? What drove the majority of that good feeling? Was it compliments from others, an incentive or reward, a commendation, or just your own sense of having done well? For most, the personal sense of accomplishment is the foundation for that good feeling and anything else is simply icing on the cake. Now I’m not saying the icing on the cake isn’t important or useful, but that deep down feeling as a result of knowing you did good just can’t be replaced. For instance, have you ever received significant kudos for something you didn’t give 100% to? It was hard to shake that feeling of being an imposter, wasn’t it?

The point… when we allow team members autonomy in doing their jobs, they are more apt to be inspired and to think creatively. As a result of the ownership they feel, they will have a greater sense of personal accountability and responsibility. The key to creating an autonomous workplace is to hire people with integrity and initiative, trust them to do their jobs without tightly defined job descriptions, believe in their abilities and demonstrate that confidence in words and actions. Finally, relinquish control.

Here are a few ideas for fostering personal accountability:

• If you discover that you have hired the wrong person for a job, don’t prolong the inevitable—release the person back into the job market so that they can find a position where they can be successful.
• Create an environment where people feel safe taking reasonable risks—this will increase creativity and the feeling of ownership.
• Check policies and procedures and eliminate those that were created because of one or two situations where people did not do the right things.
• Minimize formal incentives and rewards that encourage competition instead of cooperation among team members.
• Ask for input from team members when creating goals and objectives for the team.
• Find out what team members believe to be obstacles to their effectiveness and remove those barriers immediately.
• Remember that real accountability is linked to our personal feelings. It is important that leaders tap into, rather then destroy or stifle the workplace passions of their team members.

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