Posts Tagged ‘follow through’

The Accountability Power-Up

Sunday, July 13th, 2014

A study by the American Society for Training and Development shows how important accountability is for success. If you hear a good idea, there’s a 10 percent probability that you’ll actually do it. Deciding to do it moves the likelihood to 25 percent. Commit to someone else, and the likelihood rises to 65 percent.

But make a specific accountability appointment with that person, complete with deadline and deliverables, and the likelihood of actually doing it shoots up to 95 percent.

That’s what accountability does for success.

Of course we can always find a lame excuse to avoid accountability. “I was too busy.” “There isn’t enough time in the day.” “I tried my best.” “The supplier is a jerk.” “I sent an email!”

If having an excuse is the goal, we will never fail. All you need is a little imagination. But your career will be short and stressful if you don’t understand that “results rule”—and excuses shouldn’t ever be uttered IF you want any respect from your boss or team. To rock your job, build accountability systems for yourself and for those around you. That’s where REAL success happens.