Personal Accountability

Hi Friends, here is something, each of us can benefit from being More Passionate about in anything we do!!By being Personally Accountable – what does Personal Accountability mean?

"Personal accountability" is...
                 “Being willing to answer - to be accountable - for the outcomes resulting from your  choices, behaviours, and actions”

Meaning of Personal Accountability

That simple personal accountability definition focuses on the outcomes, which are at the END of process. In reality, "personal accountability" encompasses ALL phases of the process - the before, during, and after.
Throughout the process, you must be WILLING (not forced) to PERSONALLY take ownership for...
• Understanding and accepting the task.
• Taking actions to achieve agreed-upon results.
• Answering the results obtained, regardless of the outcome.

Accountability is related to the key notion behind accounting (not the regular accounting, but..) - to give an account of:
• What resources were entrusted to you,
• What you did with them, and
• What outcomes you produced

Some favorite expressions of small children:
"It's not my fault. . . They made me do it. . . I forgot."

Some favorite expressions of adults:
"It's not my job. . . No one told me. . . It couldn't be helped."

True freedom begins and ends with personal accountability." ~ Dan Zadra

As an Everyday Leader (Each of us are Everyday “Leaders” in our own right! :) ), one of the most important things we can do in times of change is to get our team to understand how taking personal responsibility and recognizing problems as opportunities, will not only help the company, but will help them as individuals.

In other words, sell the idea of...what's in it for me/them?

Authors B.J. Gallagher and Steve Ventura wrote a great little book about achieving success through personal accountability titled: Who Are "They" Anyway?

Their list showing how each individual in the company can benefit by adopting a "personal accountability attitude":

• You have more control over your destiny
• You become an active contributor rather than a passive observer
• Others look to you for leadership
• You gain the reputation as a problem solver
• You enhance your career opportunities
• You enjoy the satisfaction that comes from getting things done...the power of positive doing
• You experience less anger, frustration and helplessness—all leading to better physical health
• You realize a positive spillover effect into your personal life at home

According to Gallagher and Ventura, the most important words of personal responsibility are as follows:

The 10 most important words:   "I won't wait for others to take the first step"

The 9 most important words:  "If it is to be, it's up to me."

The 8 most important words: "If not me, who? If not now, when?"

The 7 most important words: "Let me take a shot at it"

The 6 most important words:  "I will not pass the buck"

The 5 most important words:  "You can count on me"

The 4 most important words: "It IS my job!"

The 3 most important words:  "Just do it!"

The 2 most important words:  "I will"

The most important word:  "Me"

Advantages of Being Accountable:

You have much to gain by exhibiting personal accountability including..

1. You are trusted2. You are respected
3. You send the message that you are willing to do whatever is necessary for the success of the team
4. You are a "high performing" professional
5. You job security is likely increased
6. You improve the likelihood of being promoted
7. You can be trusted to complete challenging and meaningful job assignments

A company with thriving accountability looks quite different. Accountability enables a leader to create ownership for the company on behalf of its workers. That means developing ownership for problems, successes, goals, initiatives, people and results – a.k.a. getting things done. Accountability sets the controls in place, drives the business, and indicates what is and what isn’t on track.

Through accountability, leaders always make three important discoveries:

1) whether they’re on the right course2) whether they’ve got the right people in the right places
3) whether they’re achieving goals.

             With these findings, leaders gain insight on instituting change and setting new objectives.

Creating passion through accountability is arguably one of the most important, best-kept secrets you must know to achieve such a track-record of success.

Be more passionate about what you do – It enhances your Accountability quotient!

Frank Tyger said it best..."Your future depends on many things, but mostly yourself."
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With inputs from "Simple inspirations" and the internet!