The 3 Components of Accountability

A three-peat looked attainable from Steve Kerr's head coaching chair as his Golden State Warriors entered the 2019 NBA Finals.

Though the Toronto Raptors were talented and playing their best basketball of the season, Kerr and General Manager Bob Myers felt their team had the right players and mindset to defeat Toronto in the series. 

But things didn't go as planned. Golden State lost consecutive home games to start the series, then fell down three games to one. Facing elimination, the team fought back in Game 5 and demonstrated championship-level toughness in a gritty win in Toronto.

But the Warriors lost the ensuing game, their third defeat on their home court of the series, and had to watch as the Raptors celebrated in their arena. 

When Kerr walked off the court, he felt he had let his team down. And when Myers stepped toward the locker room, he felt he had let the organization down.

"I didn't handle the rotations well enough; this is on me," Kerr told Myers in the hallway.

"I didn't give you the pieces you needed to match their team," Myers said to Kerr.

Both men took responsibility and were sincere in accepting blame. Both genuinely believed they had let the other down. Had Kerr not spoken first, would the exchange have been different? No. Each man believed he was to blame — and welcomed being held accountable.  

Sincere accountability is a rare commodity in leadership. Many accept culpability, but don't believe in their hearts that they were actually at fault. For sincere accountability to take place, the person accepting responsibility must analyze his/her actions through three critical steps.  

1. Self-Reflection. Both Kerr and Myers reflected on their work, and were honest when evaluating their performances over the season.

2. Apologizing. We must understand what we did wrong before we can sincerely frame our apologies. Saying you are sorry does not mean much if you can't fully understand what you're sorry about.  

3. Repair. In the locker room when both men accepted the blame, they had moved passed the largest hurdle toward improvement. In that brief conversation, the repair element of the Warriors had already begun.  

One play doesn't determine the outcome of a game, nor does a single mistake by a front office.

To rebound from any setback, we must be willing to accept responsibility and be sincerely accountable, allowing the alignment of blame to strengthen our organization. 

With Kerr and Myers aligned after crushing the defeat, the Warriors were able to get on the road to recovery and win another title in 2022.