How to Be Accountable

What do you think of when you hear “be accountable”?

When we hear that term, it’s usually in the context of a person or entity that has messed up big time and needs to “be held accountable” for their mistake.

According to Merriam Webster, the word accountable “suggests imminence of retribution for unfulfilled trust or violated obligation”.

Yikes.

Being accountable sounds like being held in contempt where people are waiting for you to mess up so they can jump down your throat.

Sadly this is how most people relate to accountability. And it’s how most people hold themselves accountable: by expecting to screw up then criticizing and shaming themselves for it.

The pressure and anxiety climbs the more others become involved in holding them accountable, and at some point this becomes incredibly demotivating.

Doing accountability the wrong way causes procrastination, avoidance and a general failure to launch.

Have you ever been afraid to tell other people about your goals and dreams? It might be because you’re afraid of being held accountable for them and disappointing people.

Accountability should never be the reason you hide your goals and dreams from others.

Accountability should never set you up for failure and punishment.

Accountability should never make you afraid to start.

So if the idea of accountability does that to you, you’re doing it wrong.

Thankfully there is a way to do it right.

And if you do it right, you’ll have at your disposal one of the most powerful tools for achieving your life’s goals.

How to do it right

Drop everything you think accountability is about. Let all that baggage go.

Accountability simply means “to be able to count”.

Accountable definition:

1: subject to giving an account

2: capable of being explained

In the context of getting stuff done, you are being accountable when you can take account of and explain what you’ve done and haven’t done.

You are accountable when you take a count of what was done and not done: tasks, activities and actions.

And you are held accountable when you allow others to count what you have or haven’t done.

That’s it.

There is no punishment. No criticism. No drama. There is simply awareness of the reality of the current state of your progress.

When you can face the reality of what you’ve done and not done without judgement, you can make clear-headed decisions about next steps.

Because let’s be honest, if you’re an overachiever you’re probably terrible at setting healthy expectations and deadlines for yourself. You will “screw up” at some point and not get all your To Dos done on time.

At that point if you start being hard on yourself, your decisions will be clouded by doubt, fear and self-criticism. It’s very difficult to create a realistic action plan in that state of mind.

Being accountable doesn’t mean you MUST complete 100% of your tasks OR ELSE.

However it does mean that you will take a close look at what happened and understand exactly why you didn’t do something.

The true power of accountability is when you start learning about all the things that help and hurt your ability to get things done. This helps you create smarter action plans and make ever more accurate predictions for how long things will take.

But that’s not all.

It also brings you face-to-face with your resistance, fear, procrastination, perfectionism and other barriers head-on. Figuring out ways to overcome those inner demons is the most important work you can do to achieve your goals now and in the future.

Here’s a simple step-by-step guide for how to be accountable to yourself:

STEP 1

Make a list of your To Dos for the next week.

STEP 2

At the end of the week count up everything you did and didn’t do.

STEP 3

For each item you didn’t do, answer these questions until you have total clarity about what happened:

  1. Why didn’t I do it?

  2. What got in the way?

  3. What was in my control and what wasn’t?

STEP 4

Decide how you’ll move forward by answering these questions:

  1. Do I still want to do it?

  2. Why? What’s important about doing it?

  3. What will I do to try to prevent those barriers and obstacles from happening this week?

And add those actions to a new To Do list and repeat.

To be accountable to others, simply let them in on your process. Let them take account alongside you.

When done right, accountability is fun and collaborative.

Once you remove the shame and judgement from accountability, being held accountable by others becomes an enjoyable problem-solving activity.

Here are some guidelines for effective accountability partnership:

  • Be radically transparent. Share your list of To Dos with each other.

  • Connect in real time on a consistent, periodic basis (i.e. weekly or monthly by phone, video or in person).

  • Acknowledge and celebrate any progress that was made, no matter how small.

  • Ask for help and ideas for how to overcome or prevent barriers and obstacles that came up for you.

There is no shortcut.

If you’re serious about achieving your life’s highest goals, you’ll quickly realize this hard truth: there is no shortcut.

There is no magic motivation pill. There is no perfect system that will give you impenetrable discipline. And there is never a guarantee.

Accountability doesn’t give you anything you don’t already have. It simply shows you exactly where you are, so you can take that next best step.

Eddie Shieh, PCC, MFA