It always amazes me how themes seem to appear at different times.
The past month or so, the theme of Accountability has popped up enough times to be more than a coincidence.
As I prepared to present The 5 Pillars to Become an Effective Leader, I was reminded again and again to hold myself accountable.
One of the pillars is “Support for Success”.
If you look at all the successful leaders, sportspeople, politicians, business people, one thing they have in common is they haven’t gotten there alone.
Many have team members to help them, and the majority of them have coaches and mentors.
Why is that? It’s because a coach or mentor can do 4 things for you:
- Help you observe the blindspots and point out mistakes you’re not aware of
- Help you with strategy
- Provide you with quality questions to get you to think about things you’re not thinking about when you’re stuck, and
- Help keep you accountable.
One of my mentors recently brought up the subject of accountability as well.
I signed up for a 6 week challenge to help me get into action. To help me do the things I know I should be doing but could easily let myself off the hook.
As part of the challenge, each week we report on action taken. It’s there for all to see.
As my mentor put it, “Accountability equals Proof”.
That’s it. So simple.
Show me the proof.
If you said you were going to make 100 prospecting calls this week, show me your call record.
If you said you were going to walk 10km, show me some evidence.
It’s the act of showing our evidence that gets us to complete the task.
So this week, I invite you to reply with something you want to be held accountable for doing and then next week email the evidence.
Just knowing that someone is waiting to see the evidence can be motivation enough.
So, if you can’t keep yourself accountable, then seek some support for success.
Get yourself an Accountability Buddy, BUT it has to be someone whom you will allow to keep you accountable.
For example, I can say to Ross, “Don’t let me eat any chocolate this week.”
As he sees me heading for the chocolate, he will mention it. “You asked me to not let you eat chocolate.”
I smile, ignore him and continue opening the wrapper.
He will venture a second reminder, only to receive a glare in return.
He knows better than to offer a third time.
Why? Because we both know I haven’t really agreed for him to hold me accountable.
Interestingly though, if I engage a coach or mentor, then I’m absolutely giving them permission to hold me accountable and as such I hold myself accountable to do what I say I will.
How about you?
Are you able to hold yourself accountable or could you use an Accountability Buddy or Coach to help you achieve what you say you want?
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