I have the privilege of working with leaders: men and women who carry significant responsibilities in business and life.  They are high achievers and they expect a lot of themselves and the people they lead.  And, consequently, they have led their organizations to accomplish exceptional results.

We journey together because they want to keep moving forward in their leadership ability to grow both personally and professionally.  Amongst the plethora of leadership and personal growth principles these people share, is a simple desire.  Really it is more than a desire; it is an understanding of a critical principle for change:

It is a commitment to accountability.

These high performing leaders want to be accountable.  They recognize that personal growth – change – requires accountability.  This is true for anyone who wants to create change in their lives.

Is there something in your life or your leadership you want to change?  Something about you, you want to be different?  Maybe there is something you have wanted to change for a very long time and you just can’t seem to get on top of it – yes?

The question is: how badly do you want to change?  What are you willing to do to create the change?

Here is a simple real life example…

Have you ever tried to lose weight?  A while back I bumped into a man I knew many years ago – way back when he was a very large man.  When I bumped into him I almost didn’t recognize him because he had lost so much weight.  I asked him how he did it:

“I eat less and move more.”

Simple, but not easy.

I was always naturally slim.  As ‘soma-types” go I was a “meso-ectomorph” – a muscular slim guy.  However, too much travel and ‘the good life’ had turned me into an “endo-ectomorph” – a fat slim guy.  If there is such a thing.

My wife and sons had been on me to do something about my weight and to start exercising, but I just wasn’t that interested.  Sure, I knew I probably needed to do something, but I did not want to do anything about it.  At least, not until I hit 205.  I was 165 when we first got married.  I realized something needed to be done…

So, I contacted my mentor and asked him if I could be accountable to him for my eating and moving objectives.  I put together a daily spreadsheet of the extra ‘moving’ I wanted to do, my weight objective, some other KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) I wanted to stay committed to, and the timeframe within which I wanted to accomplish my objective.

This was what I would call “accountability”.  I was ‘initiating’ accountability with my mentor to help me stay on track.  Here is the key to accountability working well to create change:

It must be self-initiated, not imposed by another.

Here is what I mean by that: the accountability must be something you are initiating.  It must be something you are committing to follow through on.  It must be something you will be checking in with a trusted friend, a coach, a leader, or a mentor on.

The accountability must be your responsibility.  You are holding yourself accountable with another person.

If accountability is imposed, if it is something you are expecting someone else to provide or to take the responsibility for, it will not be the catalyst for change that self-initiated accountability is.  When we establish self-initiated accountability with those we trust it is because we want to create change, we realize we need help to create that change, and we are willing to humble ourselves to do so.

There are 3 important components to the accountability:

1. The goal (The desired change)
2. The steps necessary to accomplish the goal (Key Performance Indicators – KPIs)
3. The timeframe within which you will take the steps to accomplish the goal

Self-initiated accountability is the key to creating change.  Set your goal, outline specifically the steps you need to take to get there, then measure them regularly to ensure you are on track and on time for accomplishing your goal.

So, what do you want to change?  To whom will you be accountable?