What is the relationship between responsibility and accountability?

• A. Responsibility is the obligation to perform tasks; accountability is answerability for the outcomes and consequences.
• B. They are the same
• C. Accountability means you never delegate
• D. Responsibility guarantees success

Answer: (A)

The main idea here is how responsibility and accountability work together in leadership. Responsibility is the obligation to perform tasks and duties as assigned. Accountability is being answerable for the results and consequences of those tasks. In practice, you can assign responsibility for parts of a project to others, but you retain accountability for the overall outcome. This means you may delegate work while still owning the final success or failure. The correct answer is best because it clearly defines each term and shows how they relate in real-world roles. The other statements miss this nuance: responsibility and accountability aren’t the same, accountability doesn’t mean you never delegate, and accountability doesn’t guarantee success.