How Accountability Leads to Success

Are you holding yourself accountable, just not responsible for the future and growth of your business?

Being accountable is more than just being responsible for something – it’s ultimately being answerable for your actions. 

To hold yourself accountable, you must find the motivation and self-discipline to do difficult things and to make tough decisions that will propel your business forward.    

As a professional online business and operations manager, I have partnered with women CEOs and business owners who are running multiple 6 & 7 figure service-based online companies since 2008.    

For nearly 30 years before that, I carried out company goals in highly accountable roles and answered to CEOs and managers of small to medium-sized businesses as well as corporate companies. 

When I entered the role of a business owner for my own online company, there were brand-new levels of accountability to be carried out as the only one who is totally accountable and responsible for accomplishing my company’s goals and growth. 

Challenges I faced as a CEO were these:  

• ​Where do I turn for help?
• ​Who will advise me? 
• ​Who will review my performance, so I know whether I’m doing well?

According to the Stanford Graduate School of Business, “Nearly two-thirds of CEOs do not receive outside leadership advice, but nearly all want it.”

Another big realization I had as a CEO is that I am not the best at doing everything in my business.

Sure, I am capable of performing many types of lower-end tasks in my business. ​

After all, it was only me in the beginning stages of business growth. 

I can even save a few bucks by doing those tasks myself – saving on hiring some else.

But I’ve ​learned​ to ask myself the question.

At what cost to my business and freedom?

When I hang onto tasks that can be delegated to someone else, my business is losing revenue, not generating it. 

My time (like my clients) needs to stay laser-focused on generating revenue and increasing visibility and reach to accomplish the company’s future growth goals.

My job is to find others who are better than me in certain areas of the business and build the best team that I can – and hold them accountable for their role in supporting my strategies and plans.

Hanging onto tasks and areas of my business that someone else can do faster and even better than me, decreases time and momentum for growth is me not being accountable to the needs of the business. 

One of the biggest challenges I’ve experienced ​(as most women ​business owners) is figuring out how to hold myself accountable when I have no one standing over me.   

There are specific challenges for business owners to hold themselves accountable in building, running and growing any business, especially a virtually based company.

The following are ​eight methods I use to hold myself accountable as a small business owner and will support your journey as well. 

These are ​methods I coach my clients to give them the encouragement they need to stay disciplined in accountability ​to accomplish their BIG goals.  

1. Review Vision, Mission, and Core-Values

If you have not identified AND documented the Vision, Mission and Core Values of your business – now is the time.  Do it today!    

We often get so caught up in the minutiae of the day-to-day of running the business that we can lose track of our “Why” and what we value. 

 When I feel like I’m beginning to spin it’s time to pull out my “why” and perform a tune-up on my mindset and thinking around why I started my business in the first place.

Getting clear on your “Why” makes a world of difference in how you lead and manage the business as it clears the pathways in our brain to stay on track with ​planned ​goals. 

Schedule time regularly to review the reasons behind your business to realign your thinking and keep accountability on track.  

2. Don’t Let Fear Get in the Way of ​Accountability

There are many reasons why business owners become discouraged from being accountable when it comes to setting goals. 

Fear of failure is the most common of them all.

Embrace your failures.  Learn from them.  There is no way around not making mistakes in growing a successful business. 

I love to read the biographies of successful business owners who’ve failed over and over until they finally learned how to lead and grow a successful company. 

I am convinced that the road to success is paved with a trail of failures that prepare us for the abundance of success just up ahead.

The secret is not to give up and stay the course. 

​3. ​Prioritize and Focus on ​Highest-Level Actions and Goals

As the CEO and leader of your business, you alone are accountable for your company’s growth and success.

You want to make the best possible use of your time focused on those high-level tasks, actions and decisions ONLY you can do in order to grow your business to higher levels of profit, reach and freedom. 

Everything else must be DELEGATED or dropped completely.

4. ​​Collaborate with a Coach or Mentor 

One of the best returns on investment women business owners should make to increase your chances of business success is to hire a business coach or mentor. 

Your coach or mentor is someone who has traveled the journey of growing and running a successful business before you. 

You’ll find them just up ahead on the well-traveled path.

They can help you navigate the sometimes turbulent waters of business growth and accountability. 

My clients who run businesses from their home office and/or laptops especially need the support of a business coach and/or mentor. 

These entrepreneurial business owners don’t ​have the same level of support for their growing roles as CEOs and leaders as the brick and mortar companies provide. 

It can feel like we are out here on our own trying to make decisions that will grow our companies.  

5. Have an Accountability Buddy

An accountability partner can help you make giant leaps in accomplishing your goals and building your accountability muscles.     

Making a commitment to another person whom you are responsible for sharing your progress or excuses every week makes a huge difference in moving your business goals forward. 

I actually have two accountability partners.  

Julia and I have been accountability partners since 2015 and we meet for 30 minutes every Wednesday morning.  

Cindy and I have been “master-mind” and “accountability” partners since 2010.  We meet every Friday morning for 1 hour. 

My business and mindset would be in a very different place if not for these lovely and committed ladies.  And, the results are the same for them by having me as their weekly accountability buddy.  

Knowing that I made a commitment to accomplish a goal, task or to make a decision for the week and I will need to report my progress sometimes makes the difference of whether I do it or not.  

6. Delegate

If you are serious about growing a business that gives you wealth, freedom and ongoing success, you simply must learn to delegate.  

Great things in business are never done by one person. 

I know this can be especially scary for business owners who fear losing control.  

When it’s time to grow, sometimes you must let go.

No one knows the brand or vision better than the CEO and founder of a company.

But, here’s the thing…

Growing companies demand different skill sets to move the business forward.

Companies can’t grow with just one person’s skill set alone. 

The business needs capable team members to come alongside the CEO and support her accountability to the company.

The accountability of the CEO is to lead the growth of the company. 

Visionary entrepreneurs have special gifts they bring to the business.  They need to operate within their strengths and hire for their weaknesses.  

7. Seek Feedback

Are you seeking feedback from your team, associates, clients, customers, networking, advisors, coach or others? 

The importance of feedback is hard to overestimate. 

How can we know what to improve in communications and workflow unless there are honest communication and feedback?  

Feedback supports accountability and leadership as it creates a clear picture and increases transparency.  

8. Hold Yourself Accountable 

You owe it to yourself and your business to hold yourself accountable and crack the whip on yourself when things go slack.​

​Put our best foot forward every day, do your best work, own up to your mistakes when you make them, and fix them right away.

You’re being called to the future through your business!  

Don’t let anything stop you from accomplishing your goals! ​

​​How Do You Manage Yourself? 

As the CEO and leader of your company, staying on top of your work can be difficult without a manager over your shoulder. 

So how, exactly do you manage yourself?

Share in the comments below at least 3 things you do every day to hold yourself accountable for your company’s future and growth.

I can’t wait to read your comments.  ?

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