ACCOUNTABILITY IS A GIFT
What does it mean to be accountable? That word originated as far back as ancient civilizations and referred to an individual “giving an account” of their financial records and practices. These days the term applies more broadly to responsibility in any area of life - not just money - and yet its purpose and meaning remain in many ways the same. Being accountable is about answering for the decisions you’ve made, and being held to account for the behavior you've exhibited.
One of the first and most important steps in achieving anything of significance is accepting that when it comes to our decisions and our behavior, not just anything will do. There’s a high standard of performance that winning requires each of us to meet. And while most of us are pretty good at expressing our desire to succeed, we aren’t nearly as good at developing the discipline it takes to do the important but difficult things success demands that we do. We struggle to stay on the narrow path that takes us where we say we want to go. We get distracted. We get bored. We get lazy or tired or impatient, and as a result, we start making decisions and exhibiting behavior that isn’t in alignment with our desired destination.
The fact that we so often allow ourselves to stray from that path is evidence that achieving anything of significance on our own isn’t easy to do. We need people in our lives - teammates, coaches, mentors, and leaders - who can help us get back on track and stay there. We need people who are willing to pull up the record of our choices and behaviors and hold us to account - to say to us, “This doesn’t add up. Here’s what you said you wanted to do, but here are the choices I see you making. This isn’t good enough, and I believe you can do better.”
Receiving that kind of feedback from someone in your life can feel critical and judgmental. That’s why accountability usually has a negative connotation, and why so many people become offended or defensive when it’s administered. That’s a pretty natural human response, but I hope today you can see accountability for what it is, and as a result maybe work on recalibrating your relationship with it, and the place it has in your life and your winning pursuit.
The truth is, accountability is a gift. If your desire to win is authentic, then having someone in your life who cares enough about you and your performance to hold you to a higher standard - someone willing to say, “This isn’t good enough, and I believe you can do better” - that’s a blessing, not a burden. It would undoubtedly be more comfortable and more convenient for both of you if they just left you alone and allowed you to settle for something less than your best. So their willingness to hold you accountable shouldn’t make them the enemy. In fact, I’d argue that just the opposite is true. If your desire to win is authentic, then you should see that someone willing to hold you accountable is actually something worth appreciating.
If you’re reading along here today as a teammate, a coach, a mentor, or a leader, I want to highlight for you, too, that accountability is a gift. It’s not something you do to someone; it’s something you do for someone. It's not about calling them out; it's about calling them up to the standard you know winning requires them to meet. Accountability can feel negative to receive, but sometimes it can feel negative to administer, too. It’s not that hard to justify avoiding that uncomfortable or inconvenient conversation, and instead hoping I guess that their performance magically changes on its own.
But the fact is, they need you. They can’t be their best without you. And even if the truth is hard for you to share - or hard for them to hear - if you really care about helping them reach their potential, if you really care about helping them maximize their performance, and if you really care about helping them do the really important but really difficult things winning requires them to do? Then some accountability, though awkward or uncomfortable, may very well be the only option. It’s the gift they may desperately need you to give, and one - if their desire to win is authentic - they’ll be glad you did.
