To be a person of substance, I believe you have to be accountable. No one ever minds if someone wants to be in charge, so long as the decisions are rational and clear, and the decision maker is accountable. If you are willing to accept a position of responsibility, you need to be that kind of person.
There is no one word that scares people today more than accountability. We have become a nation of people who avoid it. Everyone wants to have an equal voice. Everyone wants their opinion and decisions to carry the day. Everyone wants authority. It is only a rare few that also will accept accountability for that voice and opinion. More than ever, accountability is being shirked in the form of blame and deflection. Everyone wants the reward, but very few will accept the risks that go with it. There are more and more people than ever today who are claiming rewards while putting the risks on everyone else. When people lose confidence in their leaders, that’s the reason.
Everyone wants authority. It’s the ultimate badge of success for many to be “the person in charge.” “I’m the big cheese, the head-honcho…stroke my ego please.” Authority is an illusion. True authority comes when you have the knowledge and confidence to make a decision, and then have the courage and integrity to own that decision in the form of accountability. If you are not doing that, then you have no authority, regardless of what title may hang on your door. If you have those qualities, but no official title…you are the leader. Everyone knows it. If you have the title, and none of those qualities, then you are a figurehead. People nod up and down to you and then laugh behind your back. That is reality.
Nothing threatens the fragile ego of a hollow leader more than a knowledgeable and confident decision maker who will take complete responsibility for their decisions. Hollow leaders are easily exposed. They are the ones who say they are the authority, but the decisions belong to someone else. They are also the ones who, when faced with the responsibility for a decision they are accountable for, default to a group democracy to spread the blame. They are also the ones who put no processes in place that will expose them as the accountable party. If there is a chaotic and undisciplined decision process, it is almost always the result of leaders who want no accountability. If you can’t show who made the decision, no one is at fault. Right?
Parents, teachers, coaches, employers, politicians…everyone wants a seat at the table. Everyone wants a voice. Precious few are willing to own that voice. Lack of accountability has cheapened every opinion. A “voice” as currency is worth almost nothing. Ever heard the phrase, “That’s only their opinion, every blank has one.” That’s because it’s far too easy to express yourself and want your way without accepting the consequences.
This is a leadership dynamic that happens in any organization. But it happens at the personal level as well. Who owns your decisions? Are you accountable for you?
When I began my weight loss and fitness journey in 2008, I was amazed at the number of people that did not tell anyone how much they weighed, how much they wanted to lose, how hard they were working on this diet or, for that matter, that they were even ON a diet. Many said it was because they were afraid they would fail. I never bought that. It’s truly about accountability. Once you put it out there, you are on the hook for it. It’s bold. Bold scares people…because it takes guts. That boldness also does other things, it makes you feel accountable and demands performance. In today’s society, very few want that. If you never make you goals and work known to anyone, all you are doing is designing a massive escape hatch for your plan. An escape hatch not "in case" you fail, but for "when" you fail. Because it's coming. It’s like getting married with a pre-nup…you have designed the outcome of your potential failure.
When I blog, I am accountable. I am accountable for what I write. When I share my goals…same thing. I love my P90X group for just that reason. They don’t hold me accountable, they don’t have to. I write about what I am doing and share it with them. I am accountable just for doing that. I hold myself accountable.
Someone asked me the other day how I knew the people working with me were actually in shape and were credible. The funny part is, it doesn’t really matter. I am not trying to get them in shape. I am trying to get ME in shape. I don’t care if they are a team of the most overweight, obese, closet eating sugar junkies to ever walk the planet. The illusion is working for ME. It isn’t working because of them. It is working because I am holding myself to my plan.
I own my fitness. I am accountable for it. Because I am writing it down, I am even MORE accountable for it. I don’t just limit my writings to the private workout forum, I put it on my personal sites and make it public.
Are you owning your fitness? Are you owning everything else in your life?
That is the question of the day. Accountability.
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