It is the acceptance of such a readiness and the expectation on the part of appropriate others that one has accepted it. It is then a readiness to have one's actions judged by others and, where appropriate, accept responsibility for errors, misjudgments and negligence and recognition for competence, conscientiousness, excellence and wisdom. It is a preparedness to change in the light of improved understanding gained from others. Accountability is not to be confused with culpability. Accountability is something all professionals must accept, indeed welcome, as an essential dimension of professionalism.
Accountability is tied up with common morality, professional ethics and law.
Here we should get clearer about the three spheres and how they relate to one another, and it is most logical to begin with common morality because this is most fundamental. We are all familiar with it even if we have never given it a name. In ordinary life people are accountable to significant others, such as parents, children, friends, neighbours, fellow citizens. This is a matter of common morality. Forgetting her birthday is, perhaps, not what Sarah expects from a sister, while it may not matter all that John, a passing acquaintance, forgot it too.