You’ve set some goals. You’ve taken a little action. Maybe you’ve delegated some of the action steps.
If you are in the top 20% you’ve also put a little bit of accountability in place.
For yourself.
For your team.
The problem with most people is they easily lose focus and chase other things, leaving their goals unfulfilled while keeping themselves very busy.
The illusion of unfocused activity leading to success.
I am fortunate enough to have a great accountability partner. We are both being coached by the same person so we can relate on multiple levels.
This is the approach we are moving towards.
Putting the Action Into Accountability
Accountabilitate (verb) is defined by Google as:
To enable accountability through action of the person holding someone accountable. To get results through holding someone accountable.
But how do you actually do that?
Whether you are a leader, manager, coach, mentor or the person wanting to be accountabilitated; the process is similar.
How It Often Looks
With Supportive Accountability!
What were your goals last period? “X and Y and Z”
How did you do? “I made a small dent in Y. Didn’t get to X and Z. I (went off tangent and) did M (Squirrel!)”.
Great job. Woohoo on M! That is awesome. (Squirrel!) Tell me about M. How can we do M as well?
What are your goals this week? “A and B and C and X,Y, Z”
How It Looks When Accountabilitating
With Active Challenger Accountability!
Active Review:
- What were your desired outcomes or results?
- How did you do?
- Celebrate the successes! We all need this.
- Were there any “unplanned” successes?
- Did they impact you accomplishing your desired outcomes or results?
- Celebrate the success and acknowledge the deviation from plan if applicable.
- Dig into the misses.
- What prevented you from getting the result?
- Did you put the time into it?
- Did you go off tangent and lose focus?
- When you went off target, was it intentional or distraction or avoidance?
- Are these outcomes still important today?
Active Outcome Setting
- What are the desired outcome or results for the next period?
- What other things do you have on your plate that might distract you?
- Were there any lessons from above that will help you focus?
- How much effort do you intend to put into them?
- Schedule them so they get done.
- Agreement that they are desired, achievable and important.
- Put them in writing and share them (critical).
The Action Part
- Keeping the outcomes off the back burner involves taking action
- Schedule and do the work
- Updating
- Active updating by the person being held accountable
- Active probing by the person doing the accountabilitating.
- Help keep the distractions from overcoming the results.
The goal here is not to beat the other person up.
The goal is to help them keep their desired outcomes and results forefront in their minds so they actually get done. The miracle parts of this are twofold:
- Intentional Living (or the Law of Attraction): if it is foremost in your mind you will find more of it and get it done; and
- Definiteness of Purpose: This ties nicely into forming the habit of focusing on your goals and avoiding distraction.
Eventually self-accountability will become a habit as well.
The Result
Keep in mind that the whole accountability meeting might only take 15 minutes once a week. The follow up updates are short.
The idea behind accoutabilitating someone is to help them achieve their goals.
The point is it needs to be an active not passive process. Put just a little more effort into the process and the results can be transformational.
Go from holding someone accountable into accountabilitating them.
Find people to accountabilitate you. Hire a good coach. Use a tool if it will help you and your team.
Then Manifast your dream business!
