What is Ownership Thinking? It’s a process designed “to create an organization of employees who think and act like owners toward creating wealth.” It’s also a great organizational model. As you might expect, a key component of executing Ownership Thinking is accountability.

At the conference, I spoke on the topic “A New Way to Think About Accountability.”So it was no surprise that accountability took center stage at last week’s Ownership Thinking Conference. What might interest you is the topics ranged from personal accountability from a health perspective (healthy, active employees are happier, more creative and more productive than their counterparts) to organizational accountability (what is your brand’s promise?).

My view is that, practiced effectively, accountability is less about punishment and more about a support system for winners.

Earlier this month, HRM Asia – Asia’s leading HR magazine – published anarticle I wrote on this topic entitled “A Fresh Way to Look at Accountability”.We are all looking for ways to drive performance, and sometimes finding new ways to improve comes by changing our perspective.

Here’s a quick example: One of the biggest opportunities to drive accountability is by tracking performance at the organizational, departmental and individual levels. I asked conference attendees, “Do your employees think you track their performance in order to use that data against them, or do they believe tracking performance helps them make better decisions?”

Same activity. Two distinctly different approaches.

Most attendees admitted their employees probably think tracking performance is being used more as punishment and less as tool to help guide decision-making and improve performance.

Are you practicing Ownership Thinking? What steps will you take to make accountability a support system for your organization’s winners?

About the author:

Greg Bustin is the President of Bustin & Co., a consultancy that he founded in 1994. He has dedicated a career to working with CEOs and the leadership teams of hundreds of companies in a range of industries. He helps high-performing companies successfully build and sustain a culture of purpose, trust and fulfilment. He also specializes in helping teams drive accountability and improve performance through individual coaching, workshops and facilitating strategic planning sessions. Bustin is the author of four leadership books, a sought-after speaker and a Master Chair for three C-level advisory boards for Vistage International.