CTRL-ALT-LEAD with David Hinson

Episode Title: Accountability
Date: January 31, 2025
Host: David Hinson, Campus CIO at Boldyn Networks

Episode Overview

In this episode of CTRL-ALT-LEAD, David Hinson delves into the concept of accountability—what it truly means, why it's so challenging, and how leaders can foster accountability within their teams, especially in high-stakes scenarios. Drawing from a personal experience tackling a catastrophic network outage before a hurricane, Hinson illustrates the practical realities, emotional hurdles, and transformative outcomes that emerge when leaders embrace true accountability.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Defining Accountability

00:14 David opens with a simple definition:

“Accountability is an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or to account for one’s actions. Simple enough, right?”
He reflects on the widespread discomfort with being held to account, emphasizing a general reluctance to genuinely own outcomes.

2. Accountability Analogy: The Seinfeld Reservation

01:07 Hinson uses a humorous “Seinfeld” analogy to clarify the difference between paying lip service to accountability and actually embodying it:

“You know how to take the reservation, you just don’t know how to hold the reservation. And that’s really the most important part of the reservation. Many of us have that same relationship with accountability.”
The core idea: “We can take it, but we don’t know how to hold it.” (01:27)

3. Why is Accountability So Tough?

01:40 The reluctance to embrace consequences is at the heart of the struggle.

“When things go sideways with something we are personally doing... it’s easier to blame someone else, to duck and to cover.”
Accountability, he argues, isn’t about blame—it’s about ownership and integrity.

4. Leadership and Taking Ownership

02:12 David articulates a leader’s duty:

“It’s a true telling of a genuine leader when they can bear the brunt of responsibility and ensure things are put to right without first deflecting blame to others.”
He suggests that lacking this quality disqualifies someone from leadership in good conscience.

5. Personal Crisis Example: The Hurricane Fiber Outage

02:48 Hinson describes a high-pressure incident:
- During hurricane preparations at a previous institution, the campus network went down.
- Upon investigation, it was discovered that a campus employee—working unsupervised—had intentionally cut 40% of the campus fiber network.
- With a hurricane looming, the team faced the near-impossible task of re-splicing 200+ pairs of unmarked fiber.
Emotional Response and Responsibility
- 03:48 Despite feelings of shock and anger, they focused on solving the problem, not assigning blame.
  
  “We could have just sat there and stewed in our outrage… But that was simply not an option. It was our responsibility to repair this mess that we helped to make.”
- A fiber team was brought in from two hours away, and together they worked ten hours through the night to restore the network with minutes to spare before the storm hit.

6. What Went Right: Lessons in Accountability

05:03 David reflects on their response:

“We were accountable. We were physically present, and while we were naturally upset, we focused instead on the solution at hand while owning our role in the lack of supervision which ultimately contributed to the fiber apocalypse.”
The aftermath led to better processes and emergency toolkits.

7. Building Accountable Teams: Practical Guidance

06:00 Hinson outlines three keys:
1. Transform Fear of Blame into Learning:
  
  “You must show [your team] that mistakes are opportunities for learning and not for punishment.”
  Otherwise, “you’re going to find yourself working with a group that sees little in the way of upside for putting themselves at professional risk.”
2. Create Clarity in Roles and Responsibilities:
  
  “Without clarity, accountability feels unfair. Ensure everyone understands what they’re responsible for and how their work contributes to the larger whole.”
3. Overcome Resistance to Feedback:
  - Trust and respect are crucial for teams to accept feedback and responsibility.
  “Feedback is easier to take from someone you respect and trust. Repeatedly, I see this as one of the biggest obstacles in creating teams willing to change and accept responsibility.”

8. The Leader's Presence: Gravitas in Crisis

08:00 Hinson highlights the importance of leaders being actively involved when problems arise:

“It requires being present and engaged when things are aflame, contributing to solutions, expediting and facilitating problem solving. Helping even if you're not the one turning the wrench.”

9. Can Accountability Be Learned?

08:43 He notes that while great leaders may be born with accountability, it is a teachable quality:

“Accountability can be learned, it can be modeled, and it can be passed on. But first you have to hold yourself accountable. Your team will then respond and hold themselves equally as responsible as you demonstrate yourself to be.”

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On real ownership:

“Accountability isn’t about blame. It’s about ownership. It’s about integrity, and ultimately, it’s about building teams and workplaces where people are empowered to do and offer their very best.” (02:00)
On team transformation:

“The disaster made us change to have much better processes, to have more secure procedures, and to craft better emergency toolkits for when the unthinkable became the inevitable.” (05:38)
On leadership presence:

“Knowing you are simply there has its own weight and its own gravitas.” (08:17)
On teaching accountability:

“Your team will then respond and hold themselves equally as responsible as you demonstrate yourself to be.” (09:03)

Timestamps for Key Segments

00:00 — Introduction: Defining accountability
01:07 — “Seinfeld” analogy on reservations and accountability
02:12 — The leader’s responsibility and qualities
02:48 — Hurricane/fiber outage story begins
05:03 — What the team did right during the crisis
06:00 — Building accountable teams: steps and mindset
08:00 — The importance of leaders’ presence in crises
08:43 — Accountability as a teachable, transferrable skill

Tone and Style

Hinson’s tone throughout is conversational, candid, and emphasizes practical wisdom alongside personal storytelling. He uses relatable humor (the “Seinfeld” reference), vulnerable storytelling (the hurricane incident), and actionable leadership advice, making the episode both engaging and instructive for tech leaders and managers in higher education.

Summary prepared as a standalone resource for listeners and leaders seeking to foster true accountability in themselves and their teams.

Transcript

A (0:00)

Foreign Henson and I serve as campus CIO with Bolden Networks for Higher Education. Welcome to Control Alt Lead Accountability is something we all like to talk about, so long as it isn't us being held to account. According to Merriam Webster, accountability is an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or to account for one's actions. Simple enough, right? In practice, we believe we understand what it means to be accountable until it comes time for us to face the music and actually hold ourselves responsible for anything. It's like the old Seinfeld episode where Jerry's made a car reservation, but arrives at the rental agency to find that all the cars have been rented out to other customers. When the agent indignantly informs Jerry that she understands what a reservation is, Jerry tells her, I don't think you do. You see, you know how to take the reservation. You just don't know how to hold the reservation. And that's really the most important part of the reservation. Many of us have that same relationship with accountability. We can take it, but we don't know how to hold it. And holding is the most important part. Why is it so hard to accept the responsibility of our actions? Well, in a word, consequences. It's a hard, hard thing. When we personally must take the reputational knock. When things go sideways with something we are personally doing, or more probably, something a staff or a team under our purview has or hasn't done, it's easier to blame someone else, to duck and to cover. But accountability isn't about blame. It's about ownership. It's about integrity, and ultimately, it's about building teams and workplaces where people are empowered to do and offer their very best. It's a true telling of a genuine leader when they can bear the brunt of responsibility and ensure things are put to right without first deflecting blame to others. In fact, without that intrinsic quality, one cannot in good conscience call themselves a leader. The challenge, then, is to channel reactionary inclination to blame into an opportunity for growth, learning, and positive change. Unfortunately, the hardest time to overcome this challenge is during the heat of a crisis, when it's the very last thing you wish to do. Recently, at a school I served, we were preparing for a coming hurricane that was expected to hit us overnight. Amid our preparations, our network across campus started going down. Building by building, we began tracking the source of the issue and discovered our core switches were dropping like flies. Were we under attack? Were we experiencing a localized power failure? What in the heck was happening? When we finally arrived at the IDF closet, we discovered that someone had intentionally cut roughly 40% of the fiber serving campus. Disbelief, Incredulity, Rage. As it turns out, the cuts were performed by a campus employee who was working in a secure area without proper supervision, namely proper supervision by our department. With the shock rapidly dissipating, we were forced to reckon with fixing the unthinkable because we were now looking at having to re splice 200 plus pairs of unmarked fiber with less than 24 hours to go before a hurricane was bearing down upon us. We didn't have a splicer. Our local utility didn't have any available techs to assist because they were also preparing for this regionally debilitating storm. We were on our own and by all rights could have just sat there and stewed in our outrage, casting blame and cursing the darkness rather than beginning to light a crapload of candles. But that was simply not an option. It was our responsibility to repair this mess that we helped to make a Fixing blame wasn't going to get the network back up. To make a long and stressful story marginally shorter, we were able to locate a fiber team some two hours away that was able to drive to us, set up shop, and then spend the next 10 hours splicing the hundreds of damaged pairs. I and my network support person sat with the fiber team throughout until the last pair was spliced and somehow, miraculously, we re established the light signal with literally that very last pair. Thanking the angels that were looking upon us, we were able to get home safely well ahead of the storm. What did we get right? Well, we were accountable. We were physically present, and while we were naturally upset, we we focused instead on the solution at hand while owning our role in the lack of supervision which ultimately contributed to the fiber apocalypse. The disaster made us change to have much better processes, to have more secure procedures, and to craft better emergency toolkits for when the unthinkable became the inevitable. While proving that overcoming obstacles to create accountable workplaces is daunting, it's not insurmountable, even if it's not believable at first. Teams must overcome their fear of blame. You must show them that mistakes are opportunities for learning and not for punishment. Otherwise, you're going to find yourself working with a group that sees little in the way of upside for putting themselves at professional risk. Next, you've got to create clarity in your roles and responsibilities, because without clarity, accountability feels unfair. Ensure everyone understands what they're responsible for and how their work contributes to the larger whole. You must also overcome resistance to feedback within your team. This will take some work. By approaching engagement with empathy and focusing upon building trust, feedback is easier to take from someone you respect and trust. Repeatedly, I see this as one of the biggest obstacles in creating teams willing to change and accept responsibility. Lack of trust and lack of respect for how can one lead if no one is willing to follow? It requires being present and engaged when things are aflame, contributing to solutions, expediting and facilitating problem solving. Helping even if you're not the one turning the wrench. Knowing you are simply there has its own weight and its own gravitas. The good news is that accountability is not just something that must naturally be present, though it's been my lived experience that great leaders do seem to be born with it. Intrinsically, accountability can be learned, it can be modeled, and it can be passed on. But first you have to hold yourself accountable. Your team will then respond and hold themselves equally as responsible as you demonstrate yourself to be. Thanks for listening and I'll see you soon.