Accountability Vs. Responsibility

We’re accepting new applications to join the Daily Coach Network until July 26th. If you want to learn more about our small group of senior leaders in sports and business, register for our upcoming Member Info Session here.

During the early 1980s, NFL teams had small organizations and facilities. Inside the San Francisco 49ers’ two-floor facility in Redwood City, there was little room to handle a growing organization. 

The first floor was for the players and had meeting rooms. The second was for the coaches and had business offices. Rooms were small, and everyone shared the space, making privacy obsolete. 

Along the staircase walls to the second floor hung pictures of the recent 49er championships and achievements, of which there were plenty. Those frames needed to be perfectly aligned or head coach Bill Walsh would get upset. At his monthly meetings with the organization, Walsh used the alignment of the photos to explain the difference between accountability and responsibility. 

Walsh in every meeting emphasized that he never wanted to see a picture out of place, (to this day, when I see a photo on the wall crooked, it makes me instantly straighten, regardless of my location) or not straight.

Walsh wasn’t an interior designer or a neat freak, rather a leadership guru who used the frames to build his winning culture. Walsh didn’t want to HAVE to tell people who saw a photo slanted to THEN fix it. If Walsh told you to fix the picture, then you became accountable. 

Walsh wanted people to fix the frames on their own, without prompting. By fixing the frame without anyone saying anything, you assumed the responsibility of doing what he wanted. Walsh didn’t want accountability, he wanted responsibility. 

When teams and organizations understand the difference, a total buy-in occurs. No one assumes blame, no one is assigned blame and bad outcomes don’t lay at the feet of a one person or department.  Everyone shares in the success; everyone shares in the losses. 

Some experts argue that an overemphasis on accountability in organizations can be counterproductive. Yves Morieux of BCG suggests that focusing too much on accountability creates conditions for failure rather than success, as it encourages a blame-oriented culture. 

Instead, fostering a sense of responsibility and intrinsic motivation may lead to better outcomes. For a winning culture to exist, an organization needs to build responsibility rather than just accountability:

For any leader, teaching the difference between the two is the first step. The byproduct of making the organization understand the differences provides the following:

1. Encourages ownership of outcomes, not just tasks

2. Fosters psychological safety so people feel comfortable taking risks

3. Focus on learning and improvement rather than blame when things go wrong

4. Cultivates intrinsic motivation and a sense of shared purpose

By shifting from a narrow focus on accountability to a broader emphasis on responsibility, organizations can create an environment more conducive to success and innovation.

And all it takes for any leader is to explain the difference between the two. From that moment forward, those who straighten the pictures without a reminder are all in. 

Those who don’t are not. 

Accepting New Applications Until July 26th!

The Daily Coach Network, led by three-time Super Bowl-winning NFL executive Michael Lombardi, is a small, highly-vetted membership community of sports executives, business leaders, and coaches who inspire, teach, and support each other to build championship teams and cultures. We’re accepting new applications join our group until July 26th.

Want to learn more before you apply? We’re hosting a 30-minute info session this Thursday, July 18th where members of our community will talk about how the community works and why pro and collegiate coaches, sports executives, and business leaders make time in their busy schedules to meet each month to talk about building and leading their teams. 

Register here

New members begin August 19th.

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