Authentic Accountability
Deirdre Davison, SPHR
You have established your goals for the
coming year. You have a written plan and measurable objectives.
You know that your goals are SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant,
and timely). You have done everything to ensure your success, or
have you?
How do you guarantee your success as you
go forward? The answer is really quite simple but much easier said
than done. The answer is authentic accountability. Accountability
is a nebulous concept for many. The American Heritage Dictionary defines
accountability as “…being called to account” or “answerable.”
To whom, besides yourself, are you accountable?
With whom do you share your goals, dreams, hopes, and desires? Who
is the one person that you trust to be completely honest with you when
the truth is neither comfortable nor convenient? You have just identified
a potential accountability partner.
Whatever your goal – to lose ten pounds
over the course of the next year or to grow your business by fifteen percent,
you have to create an accountability mechanism (a friend, a colleague,
a coach, or a group to whom you are willing to be accountable) to ensure
that you first reach your objectives or milestones and then reach your
goal. Keep in mind that when your resolve wanes, without a plan and
an accountability mechanism you will probably not meet your goal.
Consider the case of Joe, the owner of
a small consulting firm. He demanded accountability from his clients,
but continually failed to be accountable for his own business direction.
He had a business plan with objectives and assigned deadlines for completion,
but over and over he failed to make his deadlines because of “distractions.”
His lack of accountability caused him to repeatedly miss his goals and
to become unmotivated and despondent. He even questioned if he should be
self-employed.
Enters the coach. As Joe’s coach,
we first explored his goals and objectives then redefined his goals and
set timelines for achieving those goals. Joe met his first goal long
before his deadline! He repeated the process a number of times with
the same successful results. While I would love to say that it was just
because he was working with a coach, in reality that was only partially
the case.
What Joe lacked was any sense of authentic
accountability. He had no one to hold him to task. As a result
he became distracted and focused his attention on the hottest immediate
need and let his identified goals fall by the wayside. Once he realized
that authentic accountability was a genuine challenge that he would continue
to face as an entrepreneur, with the support of his coach, he developed
strategies to address his lack of accountability.
Joe eventually formed a “peer accountability
group” of small business owners to help him and the other group members
become more accountable. They met weekly and took turns sharing their
weekly goals. The following week, they would evaluate the success
of the goals. The group encouraged each other and asked questions
like, “What did you do that helped you stay focused this week?” “What kept
you from making your goal?” and “What do you think that you could do differently
next week that might help you attain your goal?” The group members were
committed to building up the other members instead of tearing them down
when they hadn’t reached their goals. Through his initial work with
a coach and later work with a peer group, Joe found that the simple act
of sharing his goals with another person gave him the level of accountability
that he needed to remain focused on meeting his goals.
Have you established your goals for the
coming year? Are your goals written down and in a place of prominence
where they can be referenced on a regular basis? Have you established
objectives and milestones along the way to measure your success? Is there
someone with whom you share your goals and objectives, or like Joe, do
you allow your goals to often slip by the wayside because of distractions?
If so, what one strategy can you incorporate immediately that will compel
you to be more authentically accountable? The strategy can include
engaging a coach (who will hold you accountable), creating a peer group,
or even meeting with a trusted friend or colleague on a regular basis to
discuss your goals and the progress that you have made towards them.
Remember that it may not be appropriate to share your financial goals with
friends or peer groups, so focus on other tangible, attainable goals.
Deirdre Davison, President of Metanoia
Consortium, is a Professional Coach and Consultant and author of the Quickstart
Guide for Self-Employment and The Itty Bitty Vision Book. She can be reached
at 803-802-7773 or ddavison@metanoiaconsortium.com
