Accountability — Are You Your Word?

We all need to hold ourselves accountable at some level. The question in my mind is can I hold myself accountable or do I need to play a bigger game? What I mean by that is do I need to enroll others to hold me accountable also?

In answering these questions for myself, I looked at how we’ve built accountability into our societal norms. We enroll others in our accountability every day. It happens when we make a promise or an appointment. Every time we make an agreement; every time we drop off our kids, there is a pick up time we’ve agreed to in the process. Accountability at this level is about keeping our word, doing what we say and showing up!

I then applied the premise to my clients. I even asked the questions about accountability in their businesses. I was not surprised, as many of them held accountability as one of the many things they count on me to provide. After all, it is part of the goal setting process.

So now I jumped to what I observed with people who choose not to enroll an Accountability Partner to their process. As business owners and entrepreneurs, we are the face and the voice of the business. That role can be a pressure cooker all by itself. Especially when we are disorganized, or experiencing Overwhelm.

In these situations, accountability, while still important, will sometimes be pushed to the back burner as more pressing issues are front and center. How do we acknowledge the overwhelm and take steps to move beyond it?

→ Step one: Create a Plan to get organized.

→ Step Two: Identify the Tools.

TIP: Examples for TOOLS

For data/note organization and project management include:

    • Evernote
    • One Note
    • Trello
    • Asana
    • Neat Receipt

→ Step Three: Execute the plan with the tools in place.

Granted at times that is easier said than done; however at this stage you can bring in a temporary admin to assist in the organization of the data.

→ Step Four: Hire a Professional to Organize

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The goal is to reduce overwhelm and recognize that before it gets better, it almost always looks and feels worse. With that in mind, I strongly suggest you bring in a professional who can keep you on track. They will not get lost in the emotional overwhelm.

With a professional onboard, the process becomes binary. The questions are Yes / No and Left / Right. Their job is to simplify, simplify, simplify!

The result is a reduction of overwhelm and the room to recreate Accountability as a primary focus for growing your business. It is now easier for us to keep our word in all areas, not just business.

This post is part of a series.
Top Secret Tasks to Small Business Mastery, Part 4: Accountability II
Stay tuned for more on this powerful topic.