🧭 How to Hold Yourself and Your Team To Higher Standards

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Here’s Where We Are Headed Today:

• John Maxwell on Accountability

• How to Master Accountability

• Favorite Posts I Found This Week

• Free Mental Fitness Links 👇

How to Master Accountability

What is accountability: It’s the commitment to take ownership of actions, decisions, and outcomes. It means holding yourself or others responsible for their contributions. It’s the habit that fosters trust and reliability within teams, organizations, and yourself.

Why accountability matters: Accountability ensures you, your team, and organization consistently align with the values and goals that matters. When you’re accountable, you’re more engaged, perform at a higher level, and create an environment for growth.

The 3 types of accountability:

1. Personal Accountability - It means holding yourself responsible for your actions, decisions, and outcomes. It’s the honesty you keep with yourself. Embracing personal accountability strengthens your integrity and drives personal growth, empowering you. It matters because at the end of the day, you can lie to everyone, but you can’t lie to yourself

2. Mutual Accountability - It’s the shared responsibility you have with your team members. It’s when you support each other’s performance, building a culture where everyone is held to a high standard. When everyone is accountable to each other, the whole team becomes stronger and more resilient.

3. Organizational Accountability - Organizational accountability is the responsibility your leaders - coaches, managers, and executives - take to create a culture that encourages accountability at every level. This includes setting up structures, policies, and values that keep everyone aligned with the mission. Why is this important? When an organization prioritizes accountability, it builds a foundation of trust, clarity, and consistency. This allows you and your team to perform at your best while staying true to shared values.

So what habits does it depend on? Accountability in general depends on honesty, mindfulness, consistency, communication, and courage.

• Honesty because it enables you to see yourself clearly, acknowledge both strengths and areas for improvement, build trust, and accept.

• Mindfulness because you have to be self-aware, present, and conscious of your actions and values.

• Consistency because it turns accountability into a habit, making it a reliable and integral part of your daily actions and commitments.

• Communication because it allows you to set expectations, confront and accept situations as they are and then navigate adjustments.

• Courage because it empowers you to face challenges, admit mistakes, and take action even when it’s difficult or risky, upholding accountability under pressure.

Sunday story time on accountability: I am currently reading Coach K’s biography and this story of him, LeBron James, and Kobe Bryant at the Olympics was an amazing read that shows the power of accountability.

Bryant, for one, enjoyed how Krzyzewski coached him. A lot of players were surprised that Kobe accepted the invitation to play for Team USA, given his standing around the league as a lone wolf. In that first team meeting in Las Vegas, Bryant sat at a table by himself, removed from his teammates, right behind the coaching staff. "It looked kind of weird," says McMillan.

Over time, Kobe felt reinvigorated by the unique challenge before him. He had been a pro for 10 years and appreciated the fact that Coach K was motivating him in a way that had nothing to do with money. But standards are standards, and suddenly on the night of Aug. 5, 2008, Bryant wasn't meeting Team USA's. He took a few loose shots in the second half against Australia—enough to draw the attention of his teammates. The U.S. won 87–76 but looked exceedingly beatable in doing so. The Americans were eager to get on with the Olympic tournament, and Kobe, apparently bored, seemed to be increasing the degree of difficulty on some attempts.

"Everyone knew it," says one Team USA staffer. "They know when another player is being selfish. Players can police themselves, but in this instance, as LeBron was coming out of the game, he said to Mike, 'Yo, Coach, you'd better fix that motherf-----,' as he walks by. He was talking about Kobe."

The Redeem Team was supposed to be all about accountability, and this was James holding Coach K and Bryant accountable. Krzyzewski told LeBron that he would talk to Kobe and asked that he trust him. The coaching staff met through the night. This time they talked only about how to handle Kobe.

The next morning, before leaving Shanghai, Krzyzewski asked Bryant, a three-time NBA champion with the Lakers, for a private meeting. "Coach was nervous," says one of his staffers. "He knew he had to do it."

Coach K pulled out a laptop and sat with Bryant in a room. He showed Kobe a few examples of questionable shots and pointed out his teammates standing around and watching him on some drives to the basket. Krzyzewski told Bryant to his face that these were "bulls--- shots." Coach K added: "There has to be more movement." And then he held his breath.

According to a team source, Bryant looked at Krzyzewski and said, "I got it, Coach. I got it. Don't worry about it. Sorry about that."

Krzyzewski told James that he'd followed up and confronted Bryant, and that Kobe was back on board with the program. Against the odds, the college coach had reached an accord with the NBA's biggest stars. "Kobe, LeBron and Coach K all did what they had to do," says one Team USA staffer. "It made going to Beijing a lot easier."

What can we take from this story?

1. Coach K had to hold himself accountable - Coach K recognized that to maintain the trust of his team, he needed to act on his commitment and address Kobe’s performance directly. By holding himself accountable to his promise, he modeled the integrity and consistency that are critical in high-stakes leadership.

2. LeBron was making Coach K hold both his teammates accountable and him accountable to his word as well - LeBron’s call for action reminded Coach K of his responsibility to ensure that every team member, no matter their stature, adhered to the same standards. This moment showed how mutual accountability strengthens team culture by reinforcing that no one is exempt from the team’s values.

3. Accountability isn’t easy and it involves tough conversations - Coach K’s conversation with Kobe required honesty in calling out mistakes, acceptance in recognizing improvement areas, mindfulness in addressing issues promptly, consistency in upholding standards, and courage to confront one of the NBA’s biggest stars. These habits are essential for any leader who seeks to inspire respect and drive accountability within a team.

So how can we make accountability a habit?

1. Ask yourself the hard questions - Regularly questioning yourself on your actions and results helps you stay honest and aware of areas for improvement. By confronting difficult truths, you build a habit of self-assessment that strengthens personal accountability.

2. Set aside time to assess how you are doing - Dedicating time each week to review your progress keeps you aligned with your goals and values. This reflective practice fosters consistent growth and accountability by highlighting what’s working and what needs adjustment.

3. Find an accountability partner - Having someone to check in with provides motivation and keeps you on track, especially when facing challenges. A partner who supports your goals helps reinforce accountability and builds mutual encouragement.

4. Establish clear expectations - Defining specific roles and standards ensures everyone knows what they are responsible for, creating a foundation of shared accountability. When expectations are transparent, team members are more likely to hold themselves and each other accountable.

5. Encourage check-in times and consistency - Scheduling regular team meetings to discuss progress and challenges builds accountability into the team’s routine. These check-ins foster open communication, allowing team members to address issues and celebrate successes together.

6. Create a culture of feedback - Encouraging constructive feedback within the team helps everyone stay aligned with shared goals and responsibilities. When feedback is part of the culture, team members feel empowered to support one another’s growth, reinforcing accountability across the group.

Favorite Posts I Found This Week

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