How Do You Know If You’re Accountable? Avoiding the Blame Game

By Darren Finkelstein
By Darren Finkelstein

The Accountability Guy®

Home » Accountability tips » How Do You Know If You’re Accountable? Avoiding the Blame Game
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Accountability is taking ownership of your tasks and responsibility. It is getting things done that you promised you would do and getting your team to do it. So, when you have created your goals, planned an action, prioritized, shared them, and have an accountability partner or coach, you are 95% closer to achieving your goals and accountability.

When you are truly accountable and avoid the blame game, you start properly implementing and executing your plans. You put into action your plans and perform your assigned tasks to remain truly accountable.

In this blog, let’s explore what it means to be truly accountable and ensure you avoid the blame game.

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Being Truly Accountable

You might wonder how you can achieve true accountability, isn’t it? You achieve true accountability when you do the following actions.

Identify Your Goals

The first step to achieving genuine accountability is setting goals. You need to set short-term, medium-term, and long-term goals. Plus, you need to set specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound goals. You might also need to set some Big Hairy Audacious Goals that are big picture goals.

Decide You Will Act on the Goals

Then you need to decide that the goals are important and that you will act on them. You need to trust your heart, gut, and head. Plus, you need to trust your decisions and know that you are doing what is required to achieve your organizational dreams and aspirations

Plan Your Actions

Once you decide to act on your goals, you need to plan your action. Here you will schedule your tasks and write down every thought that comes to your mind regarding your goals. You plan how to achieve each of your goals by thinking about the tasks and evaluating your progress.

Set Priorities

Once you know your plan of action, you need to prioritize your tasks. Some tasks that are urgent and important, you act on them immediately. Urgent and unimportant tasks you delegate to your team based on their skillset. You decide to act on the important and unurgent task later by giving it the required time, and you delete the unimportant and unurgent task from your list.

Tell the World

It is crucial to tell the world your plans and goals to ensure true accountability. Only when you share your goals with your family, friends, accountability partner, buddy, or coach will the goal feel more real. You will be held accountable, and the people around you will ensure you stay on course to achieve your goals.

Hire an Accountability Coach

To stay on the path of accountability, you might hire an accountability coach. They will help you create SMART goals and ensure you stay on the path. Plus, they are people with experience and can advise you regarding your actions to ensure your success.

Have Accountability Check-In Sessions

When you have an accountability coach that is supportive, they will ensure you have accountable check-in sessions to ensure you’re on the path of achieving your goals. You can have monthly one-on-one sessions, weekly check-ins, and session reports and action items.

These ensure you don’t overlook anything, and you discuss everything with your coach to ensure you set and achieve your organizational dreams and aspirations. You and your accountability coach can also use cloud-based measurement and ensure you are both on the same page, and your accountability coach can help you monitor your progress. They will be able to tell you when it is time for you to celebrate your laurels.

Avoiding the Blame Game

Another critical aspect of achieving true accountability is to avoid the blame game. In case of failures or missteps, you need to avoid blaming anyone or making excuses. You need to take ownership of your actions and focus on taking responsibility.

Here are some tips on avoiding the blame game and taking responsibility:

  • Add value to any task you are doing. If you are unable to add value, delegate or delay.
  • Focus on what you can control
  • Set and maintain the highest standards and try to exceed expectations every time
  • Hold yourself accountable and engage an accountability coach to help you avoid playing the blame game
  • Ensure you are authentic and take responsibility
  • Think positively and put in your 100% effort

Avoiding the blame game is easy. You merely need to start taking ownership of your actions and ensure you hold yourself accountable.

 

Endnotes

Being truly accountable means implementing and executing all your goals. You know you are accountable when you have SMART goals, decide to act on them, create plans, prioritize and more importantly, share them. Plus, you’ll know you are accountable when you have accountability sessions to check in your progress.

Further, you achieve true accountability when you avoid playing the blame game and making excuses. You merely take ownership of your actions. You are conscientious and focus on taking responsibility by adding value and thinking of what you can control.

Suppose you are perplexed about whether you are truly accountable and need tips to avoid the blame game. Consult TickThoseBoxes. You will get invaluable tips and an accountability coach at your beck and call.