Accountability matters.
It’s not enough to ask somebody to do something, and expect them to do it. Each of us is overwhelmed with endless tasks and requests and none of us can get through them all. So holding people accountable has tangible value.
When I was Chief of Staff, my VP Jerry Dischler was excellent at this. When I first started working with him, there would be times when I didn’t get to something I had said I would do, and I would just not provide an update in the hopes he wouldn’t notice. He called me out and asked “What’s happening with X?” When I said “I didn’t get to it” in shame, he said “That’s not great, but I need to hear that update. I’d rather know that it’s not done than wonder if you forgot about it, or if you need help that I can provide. I need updates every week until it’s done.” Being held accountable without being shamed was invigorating – I made sure I always had an update for him, and knowing that he was going to check meant that he no longer had to hold me accountable, because I now held myself to that higher standard.
Another example: when I published my book, several readers asked me “I would benefit from doing the exercises in the book, but I know I won’t do them. Can you hold me accountable?” I offered a “class” where I hosted a weekly call and asked people what they learned from doing the exercises of the chapter of the week. I charged $99 for this class to “make” people read a book they had already purchased, and people were willing to pay for that accountability.
One last example: I know how to exercise. And yet last year, I signed up for a gym with trainer-led classes, because I was not consistently exercising. I am paying for the trainers to hold me accountable.
And yet, many of us don’t hold people around us accountable. We let things go. We don’t want to make a scene. And then those other people learn to not take our asks seriously, because they won’t be held accountable.
What would be different if you held yourself accountable and consistently followed through on your commitments to others and to yourself? What about if you held others accountable to their commitments? How can you act as a leader that others will hold themselves accountable to, as I did with my VP?