How To Be A Truly Accountable Leader

"Truly accountable leadership is the only way to build an organization that can survive and thrive in our increasingly complicated world," says Vince Molinaro, author of his revised and updated bestseller, The Leadership Contract.

More specifically, Molinaro believes that a new set of leadership expectations is redefining how each of us will need to lead in the future. He explains that as a leader you will need to take accountability to:

Align and engage
Take an enterprise-wide perspective
Build relationships
Master uncertainty
Develop other leaders
Model the values

And, to be a truly accountable leader, Molinaro says that you must serve the five core obligations of leadership:

Yourself
Your customers
Your organization
Your employees
Your communities

One of my favorite parts of the book are the Gut Checks for Leaders at the end of each chapter. The Gut Checks list critical questions to ask yourself, such as:

Do you lead every day with a sense of clarity regarding your obligations?
What are the major complexities and pressures of your role?
What is the hard work of leadership that you must tackle in your role? What hard work are you avoiding? Why are you avoiding it?
How will having tough conversations make you a more accountable leader?

Molinaro, PhD, is an author, speaker, and, leadership advisor to senior executives, heads of human resources, and boards. He is the Global Managing Director of Strategic Solutions with Lee Hecht Harrison.

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