Personal Perspective #6: Be Accountable
Gary Keller curated a list of The 6 Personal Perspectives needed to excel in any area of life. Dive into the meaning & significance of each, and how they can transform your personal & professional pursuits from the inside out.
The sixth & final perspective is the engine that drives all the others: Be Accountable.
Accountability is easy to talk about, and rather challenging to put into practice.
Consider the role of a coach; one of their primary responsibilities is to hold clients accountable. This means reflecting their actions against their commitments, ensuring that what they say aligns with what they do. Coaching, after all, is a paid relationship where clients expect to be held to their promises. However, when it comes time for the coach to enforce this accountability, the dynamic can shift dramatically. The coach might face resistance or even hostility. It takes a seasoned individual to manage this delicate balance without letting the relationship deteriorate.
The reality is, many people who seek out accountability can become defensive when faced with it. They might have initially sought out a coach to keep them on track but react negatively when that coach does precisely what they were hired to do. This resistance can lead to disintegration, and instead of a constructive partnership, you end up with an arrangement that resembles a friendship rather than a professional coaching relationship.
It takes incredible maturity and heavy dose of humility to truly be accountable.
Being accountable means owning the final result, not just the specific actions taken to achieve it. There is a significant distinction here: responsibility pertains to specific tasks, while accountability encompasses the overall outcome. For instance, if something goes wrong with a project, blaming individual tasks or team members doesn't absolve you. The client’s expectation is that you own the outcome, regardless of the specific issues that arose.
To be genuinely accountable, you must understand the areas where you are responsible. For instance, if you’re managing a team, you’re accountable for ensuring that the right people are in place, that they have the right mindset, possess the necessary skills, and are sufficiently trained. Even if you aren’t directly responsible for every individual task, you must ensure that the team’s collective efforts lead to the desired outcome.
Ultimately, embracing accountability means taking full ownership of the results, understanding where you stand in relation to the outcomes, and being prepared to manage the complexities that come with it. By mastering this perspective, you’ll not only foster more effective relationships but also pave the way for a more fulfilling and successful life.
The concept of accountability is more than just a buzzword - it’s a powerful mindset that can transform your life. The more you realize that "I own my life" - the more empowered you become. This attitude is essential for achieving success and making meaningful changes.
Of course, there are scenarios where this principle might not fully apply, such as when someone is genuinely a victim of another’s actions. These situations are often clear-cut, and we don’t need to delve into them deeply here. Similarly, there are developmental stages, particularly with children, where accountability is still a growing concept. It’s about understanding when someone is capable of making choices and owning their outcomes.
For the majority of life’s situations, even when external messages suggest otherwise, it’s essential to adopt the mindset of “I own what I’m experiencing.” This includes recognizing your feelings, actions, daily routines, and overall mindset. By doing so, you take full responsibility for your growth as a person and a professional.
When you start shifting responsibility or accountability to others, you risk disempowering yourself. It’s easy to point fingers or blame circumstances, but doing so only weakens your ability to control and improve your situation.
Another crucial aspect of accountability is recognizing that you are accountable to others. This means understanding that your actions and decisions impact those around you, whether it’s clients, colleagues, or anyone else you interact with.
Being a person who can be trusted to own the outcome, whether for yourself or on behalf of others, is a highly valued trait. It’s rare to find individuals who excel in both areas of accountability - most struggle with personal responsibility, let alone managing outcomes for others.
I’m going to wrap up this perspective with a focus on practical application. Below is a framework to help you grasp what effective accountability looks like and how to translate it into tangible results. Remember, merely understanding accountability is not enough, taking actionable steps to affect outcomes is key.
The Phases of Accountability
Phase 1: Seeking Reality
The first and most crucial phase of accountability is seeking reality. A lot of people in business often live in a state of delusion - especially when things go wrong. They avoid facing the facts, hoping that things will magically turn around. However, accountability starts with getting real about the situation, no matter how uncomfortable it may be.
For example, in the mortgage industry, many companies saw success during the boom cycles of 2019 through 2021, only to lose most of their earnings in 2022 and 2023. While it might seem like they only lost a few years, the reality is they lost decades of hard work and investment. Acknowledging this, instead of pretending the losses are minor setbacks, is the first step in being accountable.
I’ve experienced this personally. Back in 2008, I held over 3,000 development lots from the D.C. Metro area to Raleigh, North Carolina. It took me 18 months to face the reality that the market wasn’t going to turn around anytime soon. I kept writing checks, believing I was acting with integrity; but in truth, it was ego driving my decisions. I wasn't seeking reality. By the time I recognized the situation for what it was - a minimum five-year downturn - it was too late.
During times of market downturns, being accountable means making the necessary adjustments to align with reality. Gary Keller talks about this in his book, Shift. He writes, “Get real and get right.”
When the market shifts, you need to do the same. It’s not enough to just hold on and hope for the best, because that’s not accountability. True accountability means making the tough decisions based on the current reality, not wishful thinking.
One of the most impactful questions I’ve learned to ask myself comes from a mentor of mine, who used to work as an executive coach. Whenever I’d present a thought or assumption, she’d ask, “Who told you that?”This simple question opened up a world of reflection for me. It forced me to pause and reconsider the beliefs and assumptions I was operating under.
This question has roots in the story of Adam and Eve in the book of Genesis. After eating the forbidden fruit, they hide from God. When God asks why, Adam replies, “I’m hiding because I’m naked.” God responds with, “Who told you that?” The idea here is that Adam wasn’t ashamed until he was told to be. Similarly, in life, we often carry false beliefs that were introduced to us, whether by others or our own misinterpretations.
When you ask yourself, “Who told you that?” you can start peeling back the layers of false beliefs and assumptions that cloud your judgment. This is crucial for seeking reality, because without questioning your own perceptions, you risk making decisions based on things that aren’t even true.
Accountability isn't about being a victim of your circumstances. A victim doesn't seek reality; they act out of ignorance, refusing to ask tough questions. They cling to what they feel is true, even when it’s not. An accountable person, on the other hand, understands that within every reality - no matter how dire - there is an opportunity.
At the heart of accountability is the ability to seek reality. Whether it’s in business or life, the accountable person constantly asks themselves: “What’s the actual situation here? Who told me this? What’s the opportunity of the moment?” They question their beliefs and assumptions, making sure they align with the truth.
It’s easy to stay stuck in ignorance or cling to false perceptions, but doing so will keep you from finding the real opportunities that exist in your current reality. So take the time to seek reality, because only then can you move forward in a way that’s truly accountable - and ultimately, successful.
Phase 2: Own it
This is where you start to bring your own self-power and will to something.
First ask yourself: What do I want? What am I being called to do here? It’s then up to you to make that a reality. It’s your responsibility to take action. You own the outcome here. This takes openness and humility. Oftentimes, a victim mentality blames and projects. An accountable person on the other hand, takes responsibility for their current situation, makes realistic goals about how to direct their energy and focus towards their goals, and owns the outcome of their efforts regardless of circumstance.
Phase 3: Find Solutions
An accountable person looks for possibilities: “What are my options here? Maybe the thing I think is good can actually be let go of. Maybe the thing I’m afraid to accept is the missing piece I’ve been waiting for.”
When you're examining possibilities, you've got to look beyond your usual box. What could be happening now that you may never have the chance to experience again? What can you do to grow from this present moment, exactly as it is? What can you do to appreciate something in this moment that won’t ever return?
A lot of life passes us by because we’re stuck in resistance. Stop resisting. The solutions are there.
It’s easy to make excuses that sound like, "That’s not my job.” “I did my part.” “I didn’t get a chance.” “It didn’t work.” “I tried everything." Those are deflections. Solutions sound like, “What can I do?"
That’s a whole different mindset.
Phase 4: Get Into Action
The fourth and final stage of being accountable: you get on with it. It’s one thing to go through all the stages and learn, but you’ve got to do something with it. Often, people get faced with the truth, see it, and then do nothing - or they revert to their old habits.
You either decide: "I own this. I choose to do this now, for this reason, so I’m going to stop complaining and resisting." Or you decide: "I choose not to do this now, so I’m going to stop complaining about not doing it."
You can see how someone can go through all four steps - acknowledging reality, owning it, finding solutions - and then shift into resignation, hoping things will happen by themselves. It's that mindset of, "If it’s meant to be, it’ll happen." But that’s not how accountability works.
To be truly accountable, you seek and acknowledge reality, you own it, you explore the full range of possibilities, and then you get into action. That’s accountability. It’s not just saying, "I’m sorry" or "I own it" - true accountability is getting the closest possible grip on reality, owning the outcome, considering all possibilities, and taking action.
Think about how many times in life you go through this cycle: resisting what you don’t want, holding onto what you do want, and just resisting, resisting, resisting. But if you could go through that cycle without resistance, life would feel different. Imagine being able to get real about the situation, own it, explore all the possibilities, and act - without being held back by resistance.
How different might your experience of life be?
- Joe
Joe Arroyo is the expert on recruiting, selecting, training, and retaining world-class talent. As CEO of Vision Architect and Convert, him & his team have been "building business by building people” since 2001.
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