In the parable of the talents, three servants were given responsibilities. As their master was leaving on a journey, he entrusted each of them with his property, according to their abilities; one of the servants was given five talents, one received two talents and the third was entrusted with a single talent. It is interesting to note that each of these had a different starting position. Some of us start with a lot and some of us don’t. That unfairness is acknowledged in this story and is an excellent metaphor for a lot of people in the work place.
The point is this; it is not what you start with, it is what you do with it! Two of the servants invested their talents and realised profit while one dug a hole and buried his talent. The successful servants in this story were not praised for being profitable. They were recognised for being faithful to what they had been given. The same is true for anyone working in any organisation. You may start with a disadvantage in terms of stereotypes or built-in obstacles, but if you invest your talents wisely, you’ll end up creating a new position.
Notice that, when the servant who hid his talent was called to account, he blamed the master. We live in a world that encourages and even rewards low accountability. Embracing accountability is empowering, but it may require a complete shift in the way you think about what accountability is.
What comes immediately to your mind when you hear “Who is accountable?” Do you think of words like responsibility or blame? I have discovered that for a lot of people, accountability is often associated with blame. Have you ever seen anyone run through the hallway in the office shouting, “Who is accountable?” when the news is good? Well, I haven’t. Normally when we go looking for ‘who’s accountable’, we are not measuring them for a medal.
In many organisations, explanations and documentation are treated like results. In other words, as long as I can explain or document my lack of results, I don’t really have to have any. The truth is “results and explanations really are different.” In their book,
The Oz Principle: Getting Results Through Personal And Organizational Accountability, authors, Hickman, Connors, and Smith observe: “Somewhere along the line, society and organizations have stimulated people to feel more responsible for explaining results than achieving them.”
The very moment you decide explanations and results are different, you distinguish yourself by moving out of the Zone of Low Accountability into the victim-free zone. It is in this place that you would be taken more seriously, build tremendous credibility, emerge with solutions instead of explanations and adopt the powerful language of accountability.
The truth is, it takes courage and resilience to be accountable. It might mean admitting you have been wrong, or it may require you to step out of a comfort zone. Accountability will eventually remind you that your skills are outdated and you need to upgrade. Accountability will cost you something, and it will pay you back in the most extraordinary ways in life.
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Read also: 9 Habits That Will Increase the Quality of Your Life
About the Writer: Eniola Adeniji is a woman after God’s own heart, a motivational Writer, Speaker, Fashion and Photography addict. She is also a Business Developer, Social Media Manager and the founder of Woman Of Value. She blogs at ennmae.wordpress.com
