Accountability, Like Charity, Begins at Home

With the national election cycle finally dragging to the finish line, we're hearing an awful lot about accountability--as in "the other guy" fails to be accountable, but never the one making the claim.Accountability is one of those things that's widely misunderstood.  Most would describe it as being responsible for something, but I don't think that is correct.  To be responsible for something is to be the one whose job it is to perform some task.  Our responsibilities at work are defined for us in the job description.  It's what we do (or are expected to do).

Accountability, on the other hand, is about ownership of the outcomes of the things we do.  This is where the train usually leaves the track.  Owning outcomes means you fully and freely acknowledge that, when something goes wrong--regardless of the circumstances--you own (or own some percentage of) the consequences.  Here's the key concept: being accountable means you stop looking for others to blame.  It's hard to see that in any of our politics today, let alone the more mundane daily things we're dealing with.

Accountability MUST be taught in the home or society will simply fill the vacuum with whatever the current conventional wisdom may be.  Victimhood seems to be the filler these days.  Do we really expect our youth to figure it out on their own?  This is not intended to be a screed.  It is my sincere hope that we can start a family and community-based conversation about accountability and how to create a generation of young adults who not only understand it, they embrace and evangelize it.