About eight years ago, while still living in Cincinnati, I joined a book club that read one biography of each of the U.S. Presidents, in chronological order. The book club was sponsored by the Cincinnati
Mercantile Library (if you ever get a chance to visit, it's well worth spending a couple of hours there). After moving to Chicago, I continued, at least for a while, because the in-person book club meetings moved to virtual meetings due to the shelter-in-place restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Unfortunately, once the meetings moved back in-person, I had to stop attending. The book club eventually finished, as they ran out of U.S. Presidents. However, I am still trying to catch up! I am currently on
Harry Truman, who served as the 33rd U.S. President.
If you know anything about President Truman, you probably know that he used to keep a sign on his desk that said, "The Buck Stops Here!" What you may not know (I definitely didn't know) was that the phrase, the buck stops here derives from the slang expression pass the buck, which means passing the responsibility on to someone else. The latter expression is said to have originated with the game of poker, in which a marker or counter was used to indicate the person whose turn it was to deal. Apparently in the early frontier days, a knife was used (perhaps a "buck" knife?). If the player did not wish to deal he could pass the responsibility by passing the buck, as the counter came to be called, to the next player to deal.
President Truman referred to the desk sign in public statements at least a few times during his administration. For example, in an address at the National War College on December 19, 1952, President Truman said, "You know, it's easy for the Monday morning quarterback to say what the coach should have done, after the game is over. But when the decision is up before you -- and on my desk I have a motto which says The Buck Stops Here - the decision has to be made." And later, in his farewell address to the American people in January 1953, President Truman said, "The President - whoever he is - has to decide. He can't pass the buck to anybody. No one else can do the deciding for him. That's his job."
As I reflect more, what President Truman really is talking about is personal accountability. Personal accountability means taking ownership of your actions, choices, and their outcomes - good or bad - without blaming others or making excuses. When leaders hold themselves accountable, they are in a much better position to hold their teams accountable. And a team in which all the members hold each other accountable is a team in which everyone one another to do their job and to do what's right.
I remember talking about a concept that we used in my patient safety work called
200% accountability - referring to the fact that I am responsible for holding myself accountable as well as the other members of the team.
Peter Pronovost, a critical care physician, author, speaker, and patient safety expert who currently serves as the Chief Quality and Transformation Officer at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center and Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine recently wrote an article for
Becker's Hospital Review on accountability,
"The beautiful power of accountability". Dr. Pronovost often visits hospitals and says that one of the first question he asks is, "What do you think of when you hear the word
accountability?" Most individuals respond with a certain level of discomfort, because when they think of
accountability, they think of punishment, discipline, blame, or being called out for doing something wrong.
Dr. Pronovost says that accountability shouldn't be something that we fear. He writes, "True accountability is not punishment - it is a beautiful and noble idea."
He explains further, "It means keeping promises, showing up with integrity and being trustworthy with one another. It’s the foundation of reliability, belonging and growth...When we reclaim accountability as noble, it becomes a source of pride, not pressure; learning, not blame. It transforms compliance into commitment and responsibility into connection. When accountability is weaponized, people hide. When it’s grounded in love and trust, people shine."
He goes on to write that accountability isn't about control, it's about commitment. Accountability is not about fear, but rather trust. It's not about compliance, but rather accountability is about connection. He writes, "When accountability and love walk hand in hand, teams flourish — and organizations thrive. That is the beautiful power of accountability."
Accountability is a beautiful and noble concept. And when you consider something beautiful and noble, why wouldn't you want to have more of it?
