Army Accountaability Essay

Accountability is a determinative trait that distinguishes good leaders from bad at every level of leadership in the Army. This essay is about what it means for a leader to be accountable and what accountability looks like at the direct, organizational, and strategic levels of Army leadership. Accountability as a leader goes hand-in-hand with the stewardship of the Soldiering profession, as well as mission success. Without accountability standards would not be upheld, tasks would not be completed, and originations would collapse. The Army defines accountability as “being able to explain why we did what we did. It also means taking responsibility for the outcome.”(U.S. Army, 2020) There are five key traits that a leader must demonstrate accountability

This level of leadership is called face-to-face because subordinates deal with their leadership in person. Accountable communicating leaders at the direct level would share information pasted down to them in a clear and concise way ensuring maximum understanding. An accountable leader on this level would delegate tasks and inspect the tasks were completed correctly. To be an accountable listener, leaders at this level will need to interpret orders received as well as feedback from those tasked to complete the orders. Leaders will need to take ownership of tasks they are assigned to complete the bigger mission. Investing in your people requires an accountable leader to ensure training is being conducted, support is provided, and Soldiers are being taken care of. As the levels of leadership increases, the task of an accountable leader may change but the traits remain the

Brigade to corps size elements make up the organizational level of leadership and decisions at this level affect “several hundred to several thousand people.”(University of Akron) An accountable leader at the organizational level needs to communicate accurate reports from the direct level to the strategic level, and orders from the strategic level to the direct level. Once the strategic level has made a decision, accountable leaders on this level will need to delegate which elements will be used to accomplish the assigned mission. Organizational leaders are accountable for listing to the results of their decisions from the top leaders of the direct level, to be able to see the big picture accurately. Taking ownership of either the success or failure of a direct level unit, is also the job of an accountable organizational leader. Finally, investing in your people as an accountable leader at the organizational level means deciding which direct level units receive new equipment, funding, and time off. The responsibilities of an accountable leader significantly increase between the organizational and strategic