Like any self-respecting author, I do a little consulting here and there on my expertises-of-choice. Not a ton, and it's not how I make my living, but I do enjoy it and my clients seem to be happy enough.
But one service I don't offer is accountability. As in, helping an agent create a game plan and then hounding him every week to stick to it. Oh, I considered adding some accountability monitoring to my offerings, but just couldn't get excited about it, even though I've probably lost potential clients because I refuse to "hold them accountable."
Wanna know why I refuse?
Let me explain with a little anecdote from my past.
When I was in college, my roommate and I joined Weight Watchers. I hated the weekly meetings, but went anyway and paid my $10. And, lo and behold, lost some weight. Why did I lose weight? Because every week I had to weigh in, and by golly, I was determined to hold up my end of the bargain and drop a pound or two. They held me accountable and it worked. I did what I didn't want to do (that is, stick to a diet) in order to please my Weight Watchers leader.
Uh, Jennifer, aren't you making an argument for the other side? No. Read on.
Today, my weight stays steady, right where I want it. Because I learned willpower 20+ years ago at Weight Watchers? Uh, no. In fact, after I quit WW, I gained back the weight I'd lost and then some. No, I stay relatively thin because I've found a way of eating my body likes and is satisfied with. "Dieting" isn't something I've done in years because I've discovered the RIGHT way to eat for ME. And I do it naturally, without much thought.
Do you see where I'm going with this?
Thoughts? I'll share more of mine next time...
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OK now this is rare but...I'm going to disagree with you! But only to a certain extent...
I think accountability is one part of the puzzle, but it can be key. In the Weight Watchers example, accountability got you motivated to do what was expected -- to eat well, go to your weigh-in every week, follow the plan. If accountability is done right, it can lead to buy-in and to the formation of new habits and lifestyle choices. In other words, the accountability keeps you going, and while you're "going", we hope you go long enough for you to buy-in to the new lifestyle choices being made while following the program so that you can form new habits to carry forward when your're no longer officially part of the program and the accountability has been removed. In your case it didn't work, but I think it does in some. Just my two cents'... -- Tanya in Montreal
No worries - you are allowed one disagreement per quarter. I'll elaborate more tomorrow, but my feeling about accountability is that it's an unnatural motivation; one that the person being held accountable might start to resent or rebel against, very much like an uncomfortable diet. When I was doing the Weight Watchers thing - I would immediately go have a big dinner right after weigh-in, knowing I had another week to diet it off. I've tried to set up my own accountability process for my own goals and found myself resenting MYSELF - and trying to rationalize NOT doing whatever it is I was trying to motivate myself to do...
I think I understand where you are going with this. In my mind you found a way to be accountable to yourself by finding something you liked to do. When one is forced to do something that they don't want to do, then the action is hard to make into a habit. Most will fight to Not do what they don't want to do.
However, I agree with Tanya above. Adding in the accountability can lead to lifestyle and behavior changes, but ultimately the person is going to make choices on what they want to do.
I, myself, could probably use some accountability :o).
I caught exactly where you went with this. You don't do accountability because you don't agree with it. It doesn't always work. Because, really, people are only going to do what they are told to please 'The Boss'. Instead, you help them find their way to what 'works' for them. How'd I do?
No one likes those meetings, and when you really dislike doing something, accountability or not, you will ultimately sabotage your own efforts.
You know, I've been held accountable by "the boss" and it works pretty well at first, but then "the boss" and I fall by the way side and so does the plan. I feel now that I'm more accountable to myself and continuing to build on what works for me and my business and letting other things go that don't - even if everyone else is doing them and they work for them.
Lee & Carol - Me, too. Even when I'm The Boss! And you make a good point - once you recognize what works for you, it's much easier to stick to it.
Suzanne - Exactly.
Terri - YES!!!!!!!
Brenda - It's probably a fine line - I'm sure there are accountability coaches or programs or whatever who walk that line well, but from what I've seen, it's more of a paid bullying process, that the agent eventually gets annoyed with.
Well of course I agree with you. Precisely why I didn't like the "coaching" program I was forced to attend each week as a new agent. I felt I was now an adult and if I didn't do the work I wouldn't make any money. I didn't need a "coach" (that was my BIC) holding me accountable to how many cold calls I made every day.
Now I'm accountable to myself- and get the work done every morning without attending any meetings with the "boss".
How easy is it to hold our children accountable and get them to do what they really don't want to do? Motivation and self-discipline have to come from within, but there are techniques to encourage people to do what's right even if they really don't enjoy it.
When I coached Little League many years ago we had hitting, running and fielding drills during practice. The kids were bored at first, not understanding what I was trying to accomplish. So I simulated game situations, calling out the number of outs and where the baserunners were before hitting the ball to a fielder. I encouraged them to think about where they should throw the ball if it was hit to them. That was their responsibility and they were accountable to their teammates.
Before long, the players were enjoying the practices and didn't want to leave. Not coincidentally, we won the league championship that year. Years later I would meet some of those ballplayers around town and they would reminisce about those practices and the fun baseball season.
In the end accountability has to come from within, but by keeping the end goal uppermost in mind and using motivational techniques a friend or coach can be a support system rather than a nag. I'm looking forward to reading your next post tomorrow!
I do think Accountability has it's place, but you are not a coach. That would be a coaches job. If you are truly trying to change your ways it never hurts to have a peer to share a business plan with so that you have some one to kick you in the shorts
But you are right. Business and weight are part of a long term life style, and there does come a point in time that you have to hold yourself accountable. Look In the Mirror!!!
I am probably more interested in your post from the diet perspective. I post every week on my diet and that is my accountability. I needed to stick my neck out in public and now it is a matter of pride for me, even when I feel like quitting. But the same thing carries over into my business and personal life. I do what I say I am going to do.
Gene - I am actually fascinated by the diet connection. I'll share a little more here, since you asked.
I've never been overweight, but for most of my life (until the last 5 or 6 years), I've wished I could lose 20 pounds or so. Like most people, I tried this diet and that diet, but the results were temporary and I was never able to "do it" (whatever "it" was) enough to get to a weight I was comfortable at.
Except for a period in the mid-90's - I tried Atkins for the first time and was stunned at how quickly the weight dropped off and how easy it was to keep it off. And how freakin' GOOD I felt! Unfortunately, a year or two later, I discovered Atkins protein bars, which it turned out later I was allergic to - and gained the weight back due to my body's sensitivity to the soy protein.
But I didn't realize it was the protein bars that were causing the problem; I blamed the Atkins diet, and went back to experimenting with all sorts of other diets.
To cut the chase, after much trial and error, I know that my body likes a clean, "pure" low-carb diet. Whether or not that's the right diet for anyone else isn't my point; my point is that once I discovered the right lifestyle diet for me, I don't have to diet anymore. I don't get uncontrollable munchies, I'm not tempted by "forbidden" foods, but I eat as much as I want of the foods my body likes. And I stay at my perfect weight, without ANY effort.
As with sales prospecting, there's so much propaganda out there as to what is the RIGHT approach to being healthy, and people try so hard to follow someone else's path - a path that might not be at all right for them. But when you find YOUR path, whether that's a diet or a business model, you don't need willpower or diligence or even an accountability coach! It's pretty much a no-brainer!
Because there's no "one size fits all" when it comes to this topic, some people will respond better to "accountability" while others may not, they're the ones that fall right into what you're suggesting (superficial efforts).
Jennifer. My real estate plan has always been the same......"Get up every day and go to work". Has that for accountability?
Chris, Maria, I agree no "one size fits all", but just as people's learning styles differ or personality strengths differ, people will response differently to "accountability".
I think that if you do the right things, the accountability takes care of itself. Rather than spending a ton of time creating accountability I choose to spend it on my listings and buyers as well as marketing. Sounds like a plan.
To lose weight I've tried just about everything ... but diet and exercise.
I had a rather bizarre method of "semi-hands off" management in another life. The basis was to motivate through "ownership" of your job. When your charges are self-motivated, I think you get a better end result.
Motivation through guidance, fairness, and example, rather than "I'm the boss" always seemed to work. (Not that an occasional attitude adjustment wasn't necessary). If you are self motivated, you rely upon yourself, rather than a coach. I'm sure coaches will disagree with this :)
Jennifer - your thoughts make perfect sense to me. I can see the positives of both views - for some having to be accountable will create the right environment for them to succeed - while others need to rely on their own internal motivation to get the results they're looking for. It's important for each of us to understand what we need to be successful by relying on either external or internal motivators. Best wishes to you for a prosperous 2010.
If you can't be accountable to yourself, but need a 'baby-sitter' to make sure you behave, you are not all 'growed up'! Didn't your mom or gandma tell you there were concequences to bad behavior? What's all the whining about?
btw: I got control of my nourishment and lost 50 pounds and stopped taking 3 medications! Eating 'healty' is not dieting---we're such freaks for short-cuts and 'miracles'!
-Steve
I think you are absolutely correct ! All goals must not only be "yours", they have to set on a "WANT TO" basis not a "have to'(do something) basis. No sense trying to coerce yourself into doing something you really don't want or have any passion for !!!
Hi, Jennifer. Good post and GREAT analogy!
Once you find your niche in your market, you have to be accountable to yourself, because you are self motivated. It also helps to have a broker that you respect and admire, who motivates you to do your best by example and not because she holds you "accountable."
I like what you said about not doing the accountability thing because you could not get excited about it. I believe in following your highest excitement, and then you are living the life you were meant to live. Good call on your part.
Several years ago I saw my weight going up and up and up and up. I realized I needed to do something. I looked within and the answer came from many different angles, but it all pointed to a healthy diet, with raw organic fruits and veggies and no processed junk. I got down to my desired weight and stay at that weight by living exactly the way I want to and never suffer at all. And my health has improved so much. Green smoothie for me please!
I personally, am more accountable to positive pleasure (rewards) than I am pain or punishment. I love to see the results & it gets me more pumped! Interesting comments!
Jen, you are a Goddess! I wasn't sure if I agreed with you at first, but then I thought about it. I absolutely hate those accountability meetings. They seem good at first, but then yuck! Then I make up any excuse not to go.
If I want accountability, I will make a business plan and look at it every day or week or whatever. I only have myself to blame if I let others take over.