What I Learned as a Child Makes a Culture of Accountability Easy

January 28, 2014

What I learned as a child makes a culture of accountability easy. My family taught me everything I needed to know to create a culture of accountability. Growing up, a set of values and rules governed our lives. These tenets fit well into the six items that exists within a culture of accountability.

Vision / Mission

Mom’s favorite encouragement was a simple statement – ‘You can do anything you set your mind to do.’ Having such a positive support system just made everything go well. The core belief that anything is attainable if only you set your mind is a powerful motivator. The necessary step, of course, is to choose and clarify what you have set your mind to do.

People

My grandmother always thought I needed to choose wisely when it came to my friends. She would say ‘Only hoodlums stay out after 11:00.’ Of course, she never thought it could be me leading the pack to do anything wrong. One thing that is clear to me, working with great people always pulls the best out of me. And now, I always get tired before 11:00 anyway.

Process

My Dad would always tease and joke about how much faster you put something together if you actually follow the directions. His favorite sting was to remind me to read the directions if I wanted to finish with something that works. If we expect our team to work in a system, we better have directions on how the process should work.

Goals / KPI’s

Whenever there was a question about what I could achieve or how much I needed to do, my Mom never hesitated – ‘Just do your best’. Using this guideline always helps to set the target.

Teamwork

ALWAYS tell the truth. Dad made it clear, ‘If you do not have your Word, you do not have anything.’ Teamwork requires trust. No questions on this one – not always easy but always simple.

Tracking

When basketball provided setbacks with my shooting, my Mom had a simple fix – ‘Just get out there and shoot 10 baskets every day’. I argued that it was not enough to make any difference. She never changed her advice – just try it and see what happens. Turns out, if you do something consistently for a few days a habit is formed – it was not even that hard. The extra shots could easily be added, but it was critical to do something every day to build a pattern for success. I had my best season ever the following year.

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