Once you take full accountability for yourself as well as each person on your team, you are now able to empower others to be fully accountable for themselves.

One reader emailed in a question asking for some further clarity around the bigger reward from becoming fully accountable for everything in our lives as well as for the people on our team or who we manage.

If you can’t take full ownership over what you are responsible for anyway and for the most part, what your paycheck is judged by, then think about the lethal environment that you are breeding within your team. Remember, avalanches roll down hill and you are modeling the behavior you expect to see in them.

Looking at your team today, they are in essence, the result of your attitude and the choices you have made in the past. Your team tomorrow will be the result of your attitude and the choices you make today. Make the choice today to be the change catalyst you can be. Choose to make a measurable difference and become the leader who you know you’re capable of being.

Therein lies the ultimate source of power, for when you take ownership of full accountability, you get to be at full choice around what you are holding yourself accountable for as well; and it will be your choice to utilize your personal power, your talents, your vision, your values and your integrity in a way to move you and your team forward. If you stop for a moment and think about it, this isn’t your practice career or team. Nor is it our abilities which show the world who we truly are. Instead, it will always be our choices that define us.

Photo Credit: Victor1558