Accountability – Is More Better?
Accountability is much in the news these days, mostly as complaint. Would you agree that accountability is also much avoided? And “when you point your finger at someone, there are three fingers pointing back at you!” Let’s face it: The solopreneur has no one else to point at! As the business grows larger, accountability is distributed, but it still comes back to the top dog. How can you make yourself more accountable, more effective, more aware of your responsibilities, more active in discharging them?
It’s a challenge for all human beings, but for no-one more than the entrepreneur or small-business owner, who already has too much to do. If we go back to the beginning of your small business, you may have decided you weren’t going to work for a jerk any more, that you were going to “be the man” rather than answer to him, that you were tired of taking orders, or of being given responsibility without authority. Leaders make lots of mistakes, easily and quickly perceived by those who follow them. But, if you’re an entrepreneur, you may have discovered that there is absolutely nothing harder than making promises to yourself, and then keeping them! I don’t know about you, but I personally will give myself any sleazy excuse I can rather than admit failure, or laziness, or carelessness, or unwillingness to look ahead, or (especially) to do something I don’t want to do.
You too? If we have met the enemy, and he is us, then I invite you to consider business coaching. It can open new doors for you. It’s ironic, but after we got rid of the person who held us accountable, we discovered that something may have stopped working in our life. Many of us didn’t focus on strategy. Many of us were too much “doin’ it, doin’ it, doin’ it.” Many of us failed to commit to “CEO Time.” Frankly, it’s damn hard – we want to do the easy stuff first, and as Covey has warned us, the high-opportunity, high-profit elements in our business which are “Important But Not Urgent” are the last ones to get done. Rather, we often succumb to “The Tyranny Of The Urgent.” Consider taking on a “partner without equity,” someone who’ll help you make promises and help you keep them. He’s called an accountability partner, and you give him the power and permission to help you hold yourself to account. He could be me. No professional athlete is without a coach, and many employ multiple coaches – Tiger Woods had 4 different coaches a while ago. (He currently has some new issues and new coaches!) Big businesses regularly offer professional coaching to high-level employees. It’s considered a perk, and a serious investment in productivity. But small business owners are always “on their own.” And, while you and I try to operate at the top of our productivity at all times, it doesn’t always happen. Consider what coaching might bring you. There are 25-30 entrepreneurs who work with me every month. I’m their business coach, and many of them hold me as an accountability partner. Our common purpose: to get the best from ourselves. Curiously enough, it’s not all that hard. Help is good. Good help is even better.
Final Word On Accountability
If you can increase your accountability, you will, no-kidding, demonstrably and absolutely increase your power! Conversation? You can contact me. The conversation is free, it’s interesting, it will be about you, and no meter will be running.
