Drinking Cup

Fairness

Let’s face it: We’ve all felt that we were being treated unfairly at some time or another. We don’t like to feel we’re being cheated out of what’s rightfully ours. In our society, we put a high value on our rights and on making sure no one takes them away. We believe there are certain things everyone deserves, and if there’s injustice somewhere, it has to be fixed.

Fairness can be tricky. It doesn’t mean that we always get what we want. In truth, no one gets their way all the time. Being fair really means balancing your personal needs with the needs of others. It means making sure one person doesn’t always win out over the other. It means not always seeking your own way at the expense of others. Fairness is a lot like respect. It means that we treat everyone the way we want to be treated, without partiality or bias. It means that we tolerate people who think, look, or act differently than we do. It means that we don’t show favoritism or give one group special privileges at the expense of another.

Accountability

Suppose you haven’t cleaned your work area, even though your supervisor’s been bugging you about it all day. What do you think will happen when s/he checks on you again and sees that you haven’t done what s/he asked? Are you going to whine and make excuses, or are you going to own up and face whatever consequence might come?

That’s what accountability is all about. It’s acknowledging and accepting whatever happens as a result of your decisions, actions, and mistakes. Blaming other people for things you did wrong is both dishonest and unkind. Don’t try to make excuses – they don’t make anything better. The more excuses you make for bad behavior, the less likely people are to trust what you say in the future. So, do what you say, and say what you did. It’s better for everyone in the long run.

Being accountable means thinking about what might happen as a result of your action and deciding if you still want to do it. You know that if you’re late for work one more time, your manager will put a written warning in your personnel file. Is it worth it?

Think about how your decisions will influence other people’s decisions. Decide if it’s worth it. Then, if it blows up in your face, accept the consequences, learn from your mistakes, and try not to make it again.

Finally, accountability means doing what you say you will do. If you tell a customer that you’ll meet with him at 3:30, meet with him at 3:30. If you say you’ll have your part of a project completed by Tuesday morning, have it done by Tuesday morning. Never make promises you don’t intend to keep. If you are someone other people can depend on, they will be more likely to keep their promises to you.