Why Taking Accountability at Work is Important for Mental Health

Taking accountability of your actions at work is crucial in maintaining your mental health and wellbeing because it allows you to manage your self-development by taking ownership of the things you have control over. A study published by Harvard Business Review found that out of 5,400 business managers, 46% failed to take accountability at work.

What is accountability?

While there are some things in life that we have no control over, there are also many things that we can control. However, people often choose to direct the blame onto someone else rather than taking accountability for their own part in a situation. 

For example, we might ignore the things that we say or do and the consequences they have on others and certain situations by misplacing the blame in order to make ourselves feel better. This can have the opposite effect and can create further issues that have a knock-on-effect on our wellbeing. By taking ownership of our behaviour, we develop our self-awareness and become less controlled by circumstances or other people.

Whenever you find yourself in a difficult situation, whether it’s with work colleagues, management or clients, it’s important to understand what role you played and how your words and actions contributed. We have control over how we feel, speak and behave and by taking responsibility, we can determine more positive outcomes. Rather than going on the defensive and trying to shift the blame, try to learn from your mistakes and you’ll soon begin to develop a more positive mindset.

How does accountability affect our mental health?

When we’re accountable for our words and actions, we are able to grow as people, accept our mistakes and learn to be better. This also allows us to take more control over our lives and forge a better future for ourselves where we’re in the driving seat. By choosing how we respond to circumstances we strengthen our internal power.

How can we learn to be more accountable?

Observe all of your words and behaviours – Make a conscious effort to observe your words and behaviours and recognise each time that you shift the blame onto someone else to avoid being reprimanded. Pay attention to the outcome of the situation and ask yourself, honestly, how did that benefit you? You’ll likely find that rather than remove any blame from yourself, it actually had the opposite effect and made the situation worse. Consider how you could have done things differently and notice how much more positive the outcome is when you learn to take accountability.

Let go of the past – By playing the blame game, we’re inadvertently prolonging the situation and any negativity surrounding it and often it turns into “he says, she says”, which results in a battle that usually goes unresolved. When we accept responsibility and learn to correct our actions, we can begin to let go and move forwards, leaving feelings of resentment behind us. This not only means that we can improve our relationships at work, but it also means we can improve our own behaviours, thoughts and emotions, creating a much healthier mindset.