Ability Means Nothing Without Accountability

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There’s no doubt that intelligence, talent and skill top many lists of desirable human attributes.

But without accountability, they mean nothing.

Ability may take us to great heights, but only accountability allows us to stand tall with true honor and respect. Accountability has two sides: talent and knowledge (skills) which act as tools. If you don’t have a sense of responsibility in your hand, the tools cannot create any valuable output.

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1. The Fall of the Unaccountable Team

Think back on your favorite sport’s top-performing team – chances are, each member is a highly skilled player solely focused on their own success.

When things go wrong, instead of taking accountability, these athletes seek out ways to justify the situation. And whenever there comes a crucial moment in the game, all the players abandon each other because the sole idea of taking on more burden makes them run away. No wonder the entire team gets defeated just due to the absence of accountability among its members.

• So do you see any use of their talent now?
• Or did their talent prove detrimental?

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2. The Danger of Skill Without Ownership

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An engineer might be blessed with a sharp intellect and lots of knowledge. He is good with his skills but once he finds out that some bad things happened within the organization, instead of owning up and finding solutions, he starts making up stories and pointing fingers. In this case too, despite having all kinds of skills, nothing of worth will come from him for the organization.

A talented person lacking accountability creates much more havoc than an average person with integrity. Because the highly-skilled people have enough wit to make themselves look innocent by creating smart excuses, covering up the blunders and manipulating circumstances to avoid consequences.

While knowledge without accountability will always remain like an energy source left unguided – destined for destruction.

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3. Trust as the Foundation of Success

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In the end, what drives our society is people taking ownership of their lives. Those who will be the true leaders in your business, relationships, friendships – are the ones that step up when things get tough saying “this is my responsibility” and learning from their mistakes instead of making excuses.

Trust comes from accountability. Without trust there isn’t going to be long term successes and relationships.

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Final Thoughts

Being smart or skilled is important to becoming successful.

But developing a sense of personal responsibility will actually take your life in directions you have never even thought about before.

You might be smart but if there's no Accountability then all you are doing is flying around in the air with this beautiful, colourful balloon without knowing where it's going to land!