Accountability is my jam. Through the years I’ve realized that the trick is knowing what phase someone is in. There are 3.
1. I want to change but don’t know where to start.
2. I know where to start but not ready to commit to the effort and discomfort of change.
3. I am ready to commit and nervous/excited about the outcome.
A lot of people are in the 2nd category. That used to make me really irritated. Why? No good reason really, except that I was tired of hearing about the change they want to make and frustrated that they wouldn’t just do it already. That’s not really a good reason to be mad at someone. But I’m Irish, and being feisty is a little bit in my DNA 😉
Then I realized that the “talking about it” is actually PART of the “doing it”. Most of our reality is a manifestation of the stories we tell ourselves. We change that story slowly. By talking about it. By trying it on. By receiving feedback. By talking some more. It’s an iterative process.
So accountability is my jam because I’ve learned to push people to see if they are ready to move from Phase 2 to Phase 3. And then to pick up on the nuances that indicate that shift is coming and press the point.
Once people are in Phase 3, accountability is just cheerleading and caring about their journey.
Most leaders are really good at doing and incredibly frustrated by inaction. They assume that words mean action will soon follow.
If you want to be good at helping people hit their goals, you have to pick up on the whether they are ready to be in Phase 3 and if not - what goal CAN they tackle that will move them closer on the continuum?
