Among the most significant missing traits in the management of most federal organizations today is a sense of accountability.  Agencies struggle with demands to show accountability through a myriad of reports, inspection processes, and reviews, which are generally designed to show compliance with established rules and regulations.  While such reports are a critically important part of agency management, they are of less significance to the implementation of strategies as the accountability associated with achieving program goals and objectives.  CSM’s consulting services emphasize establishing systems of accountability so that program managers accept “personal responsibility” to see that objectives are adequately pursued and achieved during their tenure period.  Accountability is primarily a personal attribute.  While the organization as a whole is accountable for results, within the organization the issue of accountability is directly linked to a person, an individual who is charged with and accepts responsibility for the success or failure of strategies.   

CSM’s experience has been that where individual accountability dominates a federal program, where the key executive believes he or she has personal responsibility for success of an initiative, results are far greater than when accountability is generally assigned and diffused within the organization.  In planning efforts, CSM works with the agencies to identify the critical program functions that must be achieved and to assign personal responsibility to key individuals within the organization who are asked to commit themselves of the success to the initiative.   

Finally, the emphasis on accountability is not primarily to facilitate the excuse of sanctions should something go wrong.  Program accountability is successful if the organization can point to a single person or group that is accountable for effective management, explaining deviation from the norm, and acting to implement corrective action when problems arise.  The concept of accountability should not imply a “gotcha” mentality.  It emphasizes a sense of control, the ability to explain performance deviations, and the need to stop or mitigate issues that constrain performance as soon as they are understood.  Effective leadership is not possible without a strong sense of accountability.