AccountabilityPartners
MENTORS,MASTERMINDSANDACCOUNTABILITYPARTNERS:YOURSECRETSAUCESHARONVORNHOLT
AccountabilityPartners
Ihavehadanaccountabilitypartnerforabout18monthsnow,andithasbeenoneofthebestthingsIhaveeverdone,bothpersonallyandalsoformybusiness.Sohowdoyoufindone?Thesamewayyoufindamentor;youjustasksomeone.Youcanalsoputthisquestionouttheretopeopleyouknow;“Doyouknowsomeonethatwouldbeagreataccountabilitypartnerforme”?
Thispersonisalittledifferentthanamentorandtheywillhaveadifferentrole.Youraccountabilitypartnershouldbeinthesameorasimilarbusinesssothattheywillunderstandyourchallenges.However,theyshouldnotbeidenticaltoyouinyourskillset,orevennecessarilyemploythesameidenticalbusinessstrategy.Youshouldeachhavesomethingalittledifferenttobringtothetable.MyaccountabilitypartnerandImeeteveryTuesdaythefirstthinginthemorningforabout45minutestoanhourbyphone.Wecommonlyexchangeacoupleofemailseachweekandmayevenhaveanotherquickphonecall(ortwo)duringthissametimeperiod.Hereisonedistinction;anyadditionalcallswillgenerallycomeaftergettingatextthatsays,“Doyouhaveafewminutestotalk”?Theanswerwilltypicallyeitherbe“yesorhowaboutthisafternoonafterthistime?”
Onceagain,youhavetorespecttheotherperson’stime.Youraccountabilitypartnershouldbetheretohelpyousolveproblems,tobounceideasoffof,andmostofalltokeepyoumotivatedandontrack.Thinkofsomeonewhoisthereto“holdyourfeettothefire”.MyaccountabilitypartnerandIaregreatfriendsnow,butwealsohavetheability(andduty)toholdtheotherpersonaccountableforwhattheysaytheyaregoingtodo.It’sjustthatsimple.Ifyouarelookingforsomeonetohelpyouholdontoyourexcuses,thatisnotwhatthisrelationshipisabout.ItisforthatreasonthatIdon’tthinkclosefriendsandrelativesaregoodchoicesforaccountabilitypartners.