If you’re striving to reach a goal, you can bet that something will go wrong. You’ll be under pressure to finish something and the next thing you know, a deadline was missed or a project won’t turn out well.
In the fallout of things going wrong, you could end up losing money, spending too much time trying to unsnarl what happened and maybe you’ll lose clients over what happened if you’re running a business.
When things like this occur, it can be frustrating, especially if whatever happens halts your momentum. At this point, when everything is weighing on you, it’s easy for emotions to boil over because you’re upset and because problems in general cause a lot of stress.
But it’s important for those who lead not to assign blame to someone else. That doesn’t necessarily mean that someone isn’t to blame for whatever went wrong. The problem is that it can become a knee-jerk reaction to let the responsibility for whatever happened land at someone else’s feet.
The reason people don’t like taking responsibility is because whenever you do something that ends badly, it can be embarrassing or make you feel guilty – especially if it’s your fault and other people are impacted by the situation.
But instead of feeling bad about things or finding someone to blame, ask yourself what steps you need to take in order to find a solution. By not placing blame and instead accepting accountability, you open yourself up to be making progress toward your success.
To keep yourself accountable, you want to journal so that you’re checking in with yourself. This will enable you to track to see if you’re accepting the blame for whatever has happened.
When you have a setback or your goal is delayed because of whatever has happened, you don’t want to waste more time by trying to find who or what to blame. Instead, you just want to assign the responsibility to yourself so that you don’t get sidetracked.
You also don’t want to get sidetracked by the emotions that come with trying to figure out who or what’s to blame. It’s a waste of time and energy to let anger or irritation or anxiety wash over you when something goes wrong.
It’s better to have the mindset that something you didn’t plan or want happened and now you need to move on. By accepting accountability, it sets you free from a situation that could hold you back.
But it also sets you free from a situation that could cause issues with those that you might be responsible for leading. A successful leader doesn’t look for someone to blame. He looks for solutions. Track your accountability and you’ll be a better leader.
