Overcoming Challenges to Sustaining Personal Accountability
As we’ve explored the principles of personal accountability and the practical steps to integrate them into your leadership style, the next challenge lies in turning these insights into lasting behavioral changes. The true test of personal accountability isn’t just understanding or planning, it’s in the consistent execution, the "Do It" step from The Oz Principle. This is where many leaders, despite their best intentions, find themselves struggling. It’s easy to identify areas for improvement, and it’s even exciting to brainstorm solutions. But when it comes to making real, sustained change, the road often becomes more difficult.
"Move out of your comfort zone. You can only grow if you are willing to feel awkward and uncomfortable when you try something new." — Brian Tracy
Change is never easy, especially when it requires us to step out of our comfort zones and confront long-standing habits. But it's in this discomfort that growth occurs. The final step in our journey is about making those behavioral changes stick, ensuring that personal accountability becomes a natural part of your leadership, not just an occasional practice. This means not only committing to the actions necessary for improvement but also finding ways to maintain that commitment over the long haul. In this final article, we’ll tackle the obstacles that can derail your efforts and provide strategies to help you stay on course, so that personal accountability becomes a defining feature of your leadership style.
What prevents us from owning it, solving for it, and most importantly activating and implementing the solution? What gets in our way? Why is it so hard? What can help? These are curious questions we should each ask ourselves. By the way, did you spot the one that is not at all a QBQ? “Why is it so hard” asked in the wrong context can quickly take you ‘below the line’ and turn into a pity session, versus facing the real challenge that sits in front of us each day.
It always comes back to being brutally honest with yourself and the facts. That can be related to your own habits, routines, and fears. Or about those around you that you try to protect or support. We all have barriers we place around us for protection. They can get in the way of breaking through into new growth areas. The quote above from Brian Tracy says it all, unless we are willing to feel uncomfortable, we are not going to grow. Awkward, uneasy, or nervous feelings can all be signs of personal growth and development. They do not have to ‘bad’ feelings. Remind yourself of that as you begin to tackle new routines that will push you towards better, more personally accountable actions.
Putting your learning to work
Personal accountability is….personal. Perhaps the greatest obstacle you will face when reviewing all this material is the desire to share with others. That immediately feels like you are saying, ‘here you go, this is for you.’ That obviously defeats the purpose of taking the steps YOU need to take for your personal accountability. So, a word of caution before you share with others would be to have your point of view well-defined, and have stories and examples of changes you have made. If you discuss this with your team, they will expect to see changes in your behaviors as much as anything else. If this seems like something you expect of them, but not of yourself, you will do far more damage than benefit.
Other options for helping to build new behaviors for yourself might include maintaining a journal each day, specifically for tracking what you did differently to create personal ownership. Or write about where you struggled to stay above the line. Having a record of both the good things and the steps back are helpful to know how to repeat or address those behaviors in the future.
I mentioned in the previous article that we all find ourselves asking bad questions or visiting below the line thinking from time to time. That is normal, and it will happen. The critical step is identifying that, and having plans for how to quickly get back above the line and shifting to a personally accountable, actionable mindset. It is the point at which you ‘see it’ and get frustrated, and move to ‘SEE IT’, and ‘OWN IT’. We all come across situations where we can see the problem, and may even feel like it is absolutely someone else’s fault and problem to solve. That just will not move the situation forward.
Taking partners
As with most new activities, having someone to share the journey with and help you through is important. Find someone that can call you out when you slip back to old, less productive behaviors. They can be sounding boards for your moments of distress, and be your champion both when you need a lift and when you are finding success. Having someone you can talk to about the changes you are making and someone that can hold you accountable to holding yourself accountable (yes, I know that sounds a little weird), can be very beneficial.
As we wrap up this short series on personal accountability, there are some final reminders that can assist any of us in this journey. This is personal, you have to want this and make it happen for you. We’re all going to make mistakes and fall below the line or ask bad questions. We will find ourselves wallowing in self-pity at some point. The critical step is not allowing yourself to stay there. Rather, acknowledge it, understand it, learn from it, then get going in the right direction again. Practice will make better. Perfect is not our destination. You will be amazed at the distance and impact that continual improvement in this key area of leadership will take you. Ask each day, “what can I do to make a difference for myself and others today?”
How will you internalize and act on your learnings about personal accountability? What are your next steps?
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