What Our Clients Taught Us About Accountability

By J. Wickham Zimmerman, CEO 

Good leaders know that accountability enables trust and helps build a solid and positive company culture—and it can also be the cornerstone of a solid business.  

We once had a client who overpaid us a quarter of a million dollars; there was some confusion between the work we did directly for the client and what we had done for the general contractor on the project. I actually had to argue with the client to get them to take back the money they had already paid us. But once I knew it was a duplicative error, fixing the mistake was the only option. I learned in that case that accountability isn’t always easy or profitable, but it’s how honest reputations are made. In fact, we went on to do several other significant projects with this same client. I attribute the repeat business both to our outstanding execution and our unwavering honesty. 

Always doing the right thing, especially owning mistakes, is a value we have always held true at OTL.  

For example, a few years ago, we designed a water feature for a city project that was unlike any project we had done before. In retrospect, we should have taken more time in the research and development phase, which would have helped save us a significant amount of money and time later down the line.  

We finished the project, and the client was pleased, but we discovered after construction was complete that some of the mechanical components were wearing prematurely. Those parts would have lasted a long time, and maybe no one would have ever known the difference.  

Except our team knew, and because accountability is a part of our DNA, they didn’t struggle with bringing me the bad news. They were concerned, however, with how to tell the client that we had made a huge mistake.  

I told them all they had to do was to be honest; to explain that we had rushed when we should have taken our time, and as result, the finished product wasn’t as durable as we wanted it to be—and we were going to make it right.  

While that was a hard conversation to have with a client, and the decision to make it right came with a significant cost, it was worth every cent. The client was ecstatic that we brought the issue to them, and they appreciated our diligence and integrity. They already knew we were passionate about our work and the projects we create, but we proved it to them with our actions.  

Accountability starts at the top; when leaders hold themselves accountable, they create a positive culture that helps teams thrive. With accountability as a core value, communication, trust, and performance all improve. With that trust in place, real innovation can happen—and for us, that is the most valuable aspect of all.