Great Leaders Really Do Abound. Here’s the Lynch Pin to Their Success
There are many great leaders in our past. And great leaders exist today; they are in our midst, whether renown worldwide, within your community, or even within your very close circles and interactions, such as in your neighborhood or family.
Thinking about these individuals—and perhaps yourself—what’s at the heart of leadership greatness?
How much money they earn? Probably not.
The number of “friends” who follow them on social or look to them for ideas and guidance? Unlikely.
How many books they’ve published or how often they’re quoted in the media? Nope.
Great leaders, quite simply, are people who fundamentally hold high standards of accountability and, in particular, personal accountability. This means they fully believe they are responsible for their actions and take consistent action, both proactively and reactively, around that responsibility.
Breaking that down, when you fully believe you’re responsible for your actions, you take ownership in what you think, say and do. In short, there’s no victim mindset going on. Quite the opposite, personal accountability is vital to every aspect of your leadership.
Here’s what it takes:
You commit. Before you make any strides or effort to impact your team or organization, hold up the mirror and peer honestly and deliberately at what you see and how you’ve led or are leading yourself. How accountable are you to your own goals, growth and results? Be honest; not being so gets you nowhere fast.
Get out of your own way. No one is perfect. No leader is perfect. But what’s getting in the way of improving your personal accountability? Do you fail to delegate more so you can focus on self-improvement? Maybe you struggle with maintaining a healthy work-life balance or personal habits that undermine self-discipline and success. Explore what’s happening here—and be truthful, recognizing and owning mistakes and opportunities to grow as well as the wins and what’s working. This truthfulness is a value to which you’ll return time and time again for guidance and decision-making because personal accountability is a process. Leaders work on it every day, owning it as the process it is.
Ask for help. Personal accountability, like other types of accountability, works best when you have resources, tools, systems and people in place who can help you define it, create goals and controls around it, guide you when you need to course correct, and celebrate successes.
Ready to take your leadership to the next level? Turn to MAP Consulting for proven personal accountability strategies that deliver proven, breakthrough results. Contact Us today!
