Accountability done right.

I facilitate accountability groups. 

I started them as a way to help entrepreneurs get through a difficult time (Pandemic).

I continued them because they work.  

When I set out to create my accountability group, I didn’t have it exactly right out of the gate.  

But today, I’m happy with what I’ve created.  

Each member has free access to our goal planning workshop.  It’s not a requirement, but it’s a great way to set your goals for the quarter.  Goals that the group can help you achieve.  

Then each week, we have a working session.  A few hours where you can get some work done on those goals.  These are working sessions, but you are not working alone.  Other people are working on their projects alongside you (ok, on zoom).  There is something about working as a group that keeps you motivated and focused.  

Then we get together to celebrate wins, check-in on the things we want to be held accountable for, share some of our challenges and get advice, support, or even encouragement. 

The three pieces fit together to create a complete picture that can help keep you moving forward and help you get over bumps in the road.  

Today, in our accountability group meeting, one of our members shared an idea.  A dream.  They shared this dream, thinking they would be laughed at.  I guess maybe unconsciously hoping that we would tell them it was a silly dream.  

That is not what happened.  Instead, we encouraged give advice, guidance, next steps.  We essentially encouraged them to take the next steps to pursue their dream. 

I then suggested that the things to be held accountable for at our next meeting be related to this dream.  

At the end of the meeting, they did set goals to move their dream forward.  I just took their goals and pushed them a little more.  They agreed to the additional steps.  

They then admitted that sometimes they wanted to skip our meeting when they missed their goals. 

I understood their concern.  This is a sign of a high achiever—someone who strives for success, for perfection.  

What they didn’t understand, is that it is the goals we don’t hit, that are often the ones we can learn the most from.  It’s the goals that we avoid, procrastinate or feel uncomfortable with that we need to look at the closest.  What is it that is stopping us from achieving the goal?  What is getting in our way?  

It is that goal that they need support for.  It is that goal that they need to bring to the group.  Together, the group can provide support, guidance, and experience to help them get through it. 

It’s those missed goals that we have the most opportunity to grow from.  

If everyone hit their goals 100% of the time, I guess I could brag about that. However, I would also worry that members were setting goals that didn’t push or challenge them.  I’d worry that they could accomplish more if they pushed themselves more.  This would not be brag-worthy. 

Instead, goals that we struggle with are the goals that create real growth.  Those are the goals that feel amazing about when we get to the other side.  Goals that we high five (or high ten) when you achieve them.  Those are the goals that dreams are made from.  

Accountability, when done right, is about providing the tools and systems to succeed. 

Accountability done right is also about providing the support and guidance to help you through the goals that make you uncomfortable. 

Accountability done right is holding space for the member even when everything seems to go wrong.  

When I see a member launch a course that they kept overthinking and holding themselves back from launching or make a conscious decision to stop something or to go after a new line of business, these are the moments I know I’m making a difference.  

Come to the group to be held accountable and to succeed.  Stay because you realize that real growth happens when you miss your goals but are willing to look at why.  When you ask why and then ask for help; growth can be exponential. 

What do you think? 

Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes.

Oscar Wilde