Accountability: holding people accountable for performance
they can control (Conger 1989). This makes
accountability a mechanism by which responsibility
for outcomes is given to individuals and teams
(Konczak et al. 2000). It ensures that people know
what is expected of them, which is beneficial for both
employees and the organization (Froiland et al. 1993).
It is a powerful tool to show confidence in one’s
followers; it provides boundaries within which one is
free to achieve one’s goals. Although popular literature
on servant leadership emphasizes accountability
as very relevant, it has often been neglected by
scholars and has never been incorporated in any of the
other measures of servant leadership.