In this episode of the Chronicles from a Caribbean Cubicle Podcast, the host reads an article originally published in the Jamaica Gleaner that clarifies the distinct meanings of responsibility, authority, and accountability and explains why conflating them hampers organisational performance in Jamaican companies. Responsibility is portrayed as a personal, voluntarily‑taken commitment to outcomes, driven by intrinsic motivation; the piece warns against "fake responsibility" where employees only claim credit when things go well. Authority is described as a power granted by leaders, ideally to those with proven responsibility, but the article critiques the common practice of promoting individuals who merely shift blame. Accountability is defined as a negotiated, explicit agreement between a leader and a stakeholder to deliver a specific result under agreed conditions; the lack of such agreements leads to vague expectations and reliance on luck. The author illustrates each concept with local cultural references and real‑world examples, then argues that organisations that deliberately teach and separate these three elements create the “sinews” that enable collective achievement beyond what any individual can accomplish alone.
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Hello and welcome back to another edition of Chronicles from a Caribbean Cubicle Podcast. Here's an article I wrote for the Jamaica Gleaner. It's entitled Responsibility, Authority, and Accountability. What is the difference between responsibility, authority, and accountability? Does it matter to most Jamaican companies? One of the challenges that faces your organization is simple: how do people relate to each other to achieve goals that its individuals can't accomplish alone? A part of the answer lies in the following quote: "Responsibility is always taken, authority is given, but accountability is negotiated." Of course, this is no ordinary list. In fact, it corrects a problem staff have in most companies who use the terms interchangeably. The reality? They aren't the same, and when your employees mistakenly merge them into one, it perpetuates a confusion which blocks the path to high achievement. Here's how you can untangle them. Responsibility. The quote indicates that people who are responsible create a special relationship with particular results. Furthermore, they do so using nothing more than an inner will or conscious intention. While this requires a level of intrinsic motivation, it's also true that the trigger to initiate a new zone of responsibility may come from anywhere. Possible sources include a direct invitation from another, a catastrophic event, or an inspiring biography. Therefore, don't think that you can "hold someone responsible." The most important step is within the individual who exercises his or her free will. Some managers argue otherwise. They honestly believe they can use force to conjure up responsible subordinates. The result of their muscle? A Jamaican workplace full of "Bredda Nancy"-like fake responsibility. It's tricky to spot. At the start, it appears that someone has truly stepped up. The truth only reveals itself later when the first obstacle shows up and the blame game starts. Consequently, it becomes clear that they weren't in the responsibility game at all. They were simply taking credit while things were going well. Beyond such shenanigans, The amazing thing is that anyone can take responsibility for any outcome they wish. Our national heroes were elevated precisely because they willingly did so for a large number of people, putting themselves in harm's way to accomplish a grand shared objective. Most of us may never take responsibility at that high level. Fortunately, your organization doesn't need you to be famous or a life risko. All it asks is that you keep generating fresh zones of responsibility in service of shared goals. It's up to you to continually define these areas and act accordingly. Authority. By contrast, authority is granted by the leaders in an organization to those who play pivotal roles. Ideally, authority would only be given to employees with a long track record of responsibility. By virtue of stepping up to be responsible repeatedly, they would have already garnered a critical mass of credibility. Unfortunately, most organizations don't wait for this to happen. They promote people, even to the highest levels, whose only skill is buck-passing and complaining. According to one Caribbean CEO to his new subordinate, "I learned years ago To never sign my name to anything around here. All you get is grief. You can probably also recall a leader you've met who is that twisted. Sometimes such persons are exposed as the frauds they truly are, but it happens too rarely. More often, they are tolerated and enabled by others who are petrified by the authority they wield. Accountability. However, when authority works in daily life, It's comprised of individual accountabilities. These are defined as discrete agreements or partnerships between a leader and a stakeholder to produce a particular outcome according to specific conditions of satisfaction. For example, I may promise my manager to sell X units by September 30th at a 50% profit margin. Such agreements are the sinews of an organization. Without them, it's impossible for my manager to have a proper follow-up conversation with me on October 1st. In other words, when accountability is missing, any result will do. Once again, in an ideal world, persons promoted to positions of authority should have a firm grasp of this unique relationship. Usually, they can point to a number of accountable partnerships which help them produce results and explain the special role of this ingredient. Unfortunately, you probably also have met managers who occupy important positions but don't know how to hold people around them to account. Consequently, when good things happen, it's by sheer luck, not because they reinforce the sinews of accountability. For example, sometimes weak leaders are fortunate to hire great employees, These rare workers reverse the tables, forcing or shaming their manager into an accountable relationship by insisting on high standards. Unfortunately, such cases are few and far between. For too many staff members, their manager fails to create either accountability or responsibility. These rituals simply don't exist. Companies who separate and teach these three elements empower everyone. When they occur together but separately, they open the door to outstanding results individuals cannot produce by themselves.
