Excuses, Excuses – Learning About Accountability
Accountability is the foundation of everything I teach. But a question came up recently that deserves a real answer: if you miss a deadline and tell your boss why, are you making an excuse? The circumstances were real. You didn’t make them up. So where is the line between an excuse and ownership?
The Window and The Mirror
The question that comes up in nearly every organization is how to make other people more accountable. The honest answer frustrates people: you can’t. You can only make yourself accountable, and trust that others model what they see. Jim Collins called it the window and the mirror — and it starts with you.
It Is What It Is”
“It is what it is” often sounds like resignation—but what if it’s misapplied? This post explores how misplacing your energy creates stress, and how using the circle of control can shift you back into clarity, action, and empowerment.
Empowering Yourself to Make Sustainable Change
Accountability often gets a bad rap—but what if it’s the key to real, lasting change? This post redefines accountability as a neutral, empowering practice that helps you own your choices, learn from results, and take purposeful action. Learn how to move from victimhood to empowerment, one decision at a time.
Secret to Success Number One! Find Your Best Friend
Secret #1 to success? Get an accountability partner. A true accountability relationship builds clarity, consistency, and courage—through truth-telling, challenge, and shared purpose.
The Power of Language
“In coaching, we are all about change and growth and getting what you say you want. In support of this is our concept of “accountability” as, “the ability to account for my choices and my results.” This means when we make a mistake, we are neutral and we look at what we have done (choices) and […]
Accountability – the Decisive Element
“I have come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element. It is my personal approach that creates the climate. It is my daily mood that makes the weather. I possess tremendous power to make life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration; I can […]
Giving Thanks for You
“You must take personal responsibility. You cannot change the circumstances, the seasons, or the wind, but you can change yourself. That is something you have charge of.” –Jim Rohn The holidays are upon us. I hear over and again that holidays are “stressful,” that they “disrupt,” that they keep us from “business as usual.” Some […]
Who Decides?
“I have come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element. It is my personal approach that creates the climate. It is my daily mood that makes the weather. I possess tremendous power to make life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration; I can […]
More on Accountability and Choice
Here is your quote for the week: “Our past experiences and our present circumstances have absolutely no power other than [what] we choose to give them.” Bob Proctor, from The ABCs of Success. It is so hard at times for people to see beyond their past experiences and their current circumstances. It is easy to […]