Real accountability is one of the rarest and most valuable qualities a person can demonstrate. When something goes wrong and the person responsible steps forward, names their part in it clearly, and commits to what they will do differently: that is an act that builds trust faster than almost anything else. People remember it. It is disarming, because so few people do it. The corruption of accountability is accountability theatre: the performance of taking responsibility without the substance of it. I take full responsibility, followed immediately by a list of extenuating circumstances. I am deeply sorry, combined with behaviour that does not change. The public apology that is really a public image management exercise. These performances are often quite effective in the short term, which is why they are so common. But audiences, even without being able to say exactly why, learn to discount them. The credibility that real accountability builds, they erode. Real accountability has a few features that distinguish it from the performance. It is specific: it names exactly what the person did or did not do, not a general admission of imperfection. It does not trail off into explanation: explanation can come after the accountability is clear, but not before or instead of it. And it connects to a genuine change in behaviour, not just a change in statement. These are demanding standards. They are also what make accountability, when genuine, so genuinely powerful.