Personal Accountability

First, let me say that I executed my game plan to perfection last week. I got everything done that I needed to get done, had a wonderful meeting with a new client, picked up a new piece of business with a former client, and shot a 74 on the golf course. Can't get much better than that.

When I do profiles on prospective candidates for jobs at my clients, one factor that I always look at in the results is personal accountability. This seems to be common characteristic that superior performers possess in almost any type of job or situation. Personal accountability is the capacity to take responsibility for your own actions and not to blame others.

I once had the opportunity to work with a former prison psychologist ( not as an inmate ) and he said one of the things he figured out very quickly was that we needed to have twice as many prisons. The reason that he said this was that every prisoner he talked to blamed someone else for being incarcerated.

Sometimes it's easy to blame a loss of a deal on a prospect who just doesn't understand what it is that you can do for them, or the economy, or a unethical competitor or timing, or any one of a bunch of excuses. What I have to come to realize is that the only reason I don't close a deal is me.

Here are ways to develop personal accountability:

1. Set your own goals.
2. Work towards your goals every day.
3. Keep commitments. Don't make promises you can't keep.
4. Admit your mistakes - first to yourself, then others.
5. Don't blame others if something doesn't work out.

Golf Lesson

Individual sports are humbling. There is no better place to develop personal accountability than on the golf course. Yes, sometimes we hit a good shot and get a bad result. A bad bounce turns a good shot into a bad one. Or someone put a tree right where our ball landed. Or put a sand trap right in the path of our ball.

For several years, my club hosted a Nike Tour (later Buy.com, Nationwide) event. This tour is made up of a combination of young players trying to develop their game to make it on the PGA tour and former PGA tour players who had lost their playing privileges and were looking to regain the magic that they once had. I had the opportunity to work as a walking scorer during these events, and so was "inside the ropes". I got to see and hear the players first hand. Some of the younger players have gone on to star on the PGA tour.

While this may be an unfair generalization, I saw the younger players generally have a much better attitude than the older players. They seem to accept their position on the minor tour. They were thankful to be there. They didn't complain about the set up of the course or the conditions. they just went out and tried to play as best they could.

The former PGA tour players generally had a negative outlook. The traps weren't raked perfectly, the rough was too high, the greens too slow or too fast, and so on. Their poor performance was caused by factors outside their control according to their belief. In the years that the minor tour has been around, I can't remember one player who has successfully come back to the PGA tour.

If you are a golfer, try playing one round by taking responsibility for every shot you hit. It might make a difference in your outlook and game.