Below is a great excerpt from an article one of my clients shared with me about Accountability. I think you will get value from reading this.
How Real Leaders Demonstrate Accountability
By Michael Hyatt
Everyone wants to be a leader. However, few are prepared to accept the accountability that goes with it. But you can’t have one without the other. They are two sides of the same coin.
But what does accountability look like?
First and foremost, it means that you accept responsibility for the outcomes expected of you—both good and bad. You don’t blame others. And you don’t blame the external environment. There are always things you could have done—or still can do—to change the outcome.
Until you take responsibility, you are a victim. And being a victim is the exact opposite of being a leader.
Victims are passive. They are acted upon. Leaders are active. They take initiative to influence the outcome.
When I was the CEO of Thomas Nelson, we held a meeting once a month with our divisional leaders. We required each of them to write a report, detailing what happened the previous month.
They submitted their reports to my Executive Leadership Team. Then we meet with each leader face-to-face to discuss his or her operating results.
These reports provided a summary of what happened and a review of the key metrics that drove the business. We also asked each division head to describe how their leadership succeeded or failed.
We asked, “What was it about your leadership that produced these results?” The underlying assumption was that it is all about their leadership. We did not allow them to blame anyone internally or externally.
But even great leaders, like Allen, have bad months. But when they do, they take full responsibility for it.
The 30-days on the Path to Success Program is a program specifically designed to help you quickly and easily create your key metrics that drive your business and your life. To learn more, go to /programs/30-day-self-study-course/.
