A Leader's Accountability

There's a moment in Israel's history that I find deeply instructive for anyone in leadership. God used the northern kingdom of Israel to discipline the southern kingdom of Judah. Judah had wandered. Correction was needed. And God, in His sovereignty, used Israel as the instrument.

But here's the twist: Israel went too far. They acted in rage. They carried out the discipline with cruelty that exceeded anything God intended. And God held them accountable — not for the act of discipline, but for their attitude during it. While God used Israel to discipline Judah, Israel itself was guilty before the Lord.

The instrument of correction was itself corrupt.

The Attitude Problem

This principle has reshaped how I think about leadership, correction, and accountability.

When God uses me to guide someone — whether it's an employee, a church member, a team volunteer, a fellow leader — I must consider my attitude during the process. Am I correcting because I care about the person's growth? Or am I correcting because I'm frustrated, offended, or trying to assert control?

The same words delivered in rage produce completely different outcomes than the same words delivered in genuine concern. I've watched leaders destroy people with "truth" — technically accurate feedback delivered with such contempt that it crushed rather than corrected. The person didn't grow. They just broke. And the leader walked away feeling righteous.

That's Israel's sin. Right assignment, wrong heart.

When Distress Makes You Worse

The chapter also introduces King Ahaz, who responded to distress by becoming increasingly unfaithful. Under pressure, instead of turning toward wisdom and accountability, he turned away from it. He made alliance after alliance with the wrong people. He adopted the practices of the nations that had defeated him, as if imitating his enemies would somehow save him.

I recognise this pattern because I've felt its pull. When things go wrong in business — a lost client, a failed project, a cash flow crisis — the temptation is not to return to first principles but to abandon them. Cut corners. Make promises you can't keep. Partner with people whose values you don't share because they offer a short-term solution.

Ahaz's actions didn't just ruin himself. They impacted all of Israel. When a leader degrades under pressure, the damage radiates outward. The team absorbs the anxiety. The culture shifts. Standards erode. People who joined because they believed in the mission start updating their resumes.

What Accountability Actually Looks Like

I've been on both sides of this. I've delivered correction poorly — with too much heat and too little empathy. And I've received correction poorly — defensively, dismissively, with an internal narrative about why the other person was wrong to challenge me.

Both failures taught me the same lesson: accountability is not primarily about being right. It's about being safe. If people don't feel safe enough to tell you the truth, you'll never hear it until the damage is done. And if you don't deliver truth safely to others, they'll never receive it — no matter how accurate it is.

In my church, I've worked to build a culture where correction flows in every direction. I need people who will tell me when I'm wrong. Not people who flatter me. Not people who wait until I've driven off a cliff to mention they saw the edge coming. I need real-time, honest, compassionate accountability.

In my business, this means regular check-ins that aren't just performance reviews but genuine conversations. How are you doing? Where are you struggling? What am I doing that's making your job harder? Those questions cost me nothing to ask and everything to avoid.

At SEEDS, accountability means being honest about outcomes. Not every patient improves. Not every intervention works. If we inflate our results to look good on reports, we lose the ability to learn from what's not working.

The Heart Check

If I know the heart of the Lord, I will do all His will — including the uncomfortable parts. But "doing His will" includes doing it His way. With patience. With gentleness. With the kind of firm compassion that holds people to a standard while also holding them together.

Before I correct anyone, I've learned to ask myself three questions: Is this true? Is this timely? Is my heart right?

If I can't answer yes to all three, I wait. Because correction delivered from a wrong heart doesn't produce growth. It produces fear, resentment, and the kind of compliance that masks rebellion.

The goal of accountability is not control. It's restoration. And you can't restore someone while raging at them, any more than you can heal a wound by hitting it.