As Real Estate professionals, accountability comes into play in two important ways in our work. The first is; like all professionals, we are called on to justify our professional actions. We are accountable to our code of ethics,our code of conduct and our legal responsibilities.
The second way, and our topic for todays Blog:
Accountability is accepting the consequences for what we do….or more often, what we don’t do.
You are only accountable to you. Not to a coach, not to a manager or broker, not to a partner. In fact, you cannnot be accountable to anyone but yourself when it comes to performance.
We have responsibilities to the people in our lives and it is our desire to fulfill these responsibilities that creates our motivation and drives our accountability.
You’ve likely heard alot about accountability coaching. Most real estate coaching companies are based in a philosophy of teaching you their system and then holding you accountable each week to the execution of the system. Many of these systems will work if you are able to execute them. However, most people fail to execute. A coach or a partner nagging you each week to do what you are unwilling or unable to do, simply will not work.
If there is no execution, there will be no results.
When we accept that only we can be accountable to ourselves, we step into a place of choice.
“While we are free to choose an action, we are not free to choose the consequences of that action”
Creating accountability structures on the other hand, acknowledges that we are only accountable to ourselves and it creates a way in which we can stay aware and in touch with what we want to be responsible for: A good accountability structure is any system that you design that helps you hold yourself responsible for what you commmit to do:
A few examples:
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A set daily time to record your actions of your day
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A measurement tool that you complete daily/weekly/monthly
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An agreement with a partner or friend to check in and confirm that you have completed the desired task
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A coach
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An accountability or mastermind group that meets either in person or virtually once per week to check on each others progress
What each of these structures share is that we are using another person or a tool for our own personal reflection on what we have done or what we have not done and what the consequences for that are.
Look in the mirror and be honest about what you see.
This weeks exercise to move you towards your success:
Step one:
Review your work from the last three blog posts. What do you choose to be responsible for, what is the reality that you want to create for yourself and what action steps/learning agenda do you commit to. Write this out….AGAIN!
Step Two:
Design your accountability structure. What can you do each day/each week that will enable you to look at what you have and have not done. This needs to be precise. We are accounting for , or taking account of, our actions. Does this accountability structure allow you to reflect on and accept the condequences of your actions?
Step Three:
Create it! Talk you your partner and set it up, download or create a measurement tool, form a group or hire a coach. Make it fun and keep it real!