Accountability and Fatal Flaws

During Mid-Year conversations, there are always one or two questions about accountability and fatal flaws, so this week I thought I would address them here.

Accountability is the choice to take responsibility for your actions and your situation. Interesting Foster, Hicks & Associates describes Accountability this way: 

“Accountability is the choice to take responsibility for your actions and your situation without blaming others or feeling like a victim of circumstance.  The focus is on taking ownership by acting on what you can control and recognizing what you cannot.  It is also about being truly proactive, rather than waiting for others to act, or hiding behind your defense mechanisms.”

Accountability is good for the soul.  😊   

Foster & Hicks say this:  “The alternative to accountability is blame and with blame, one gives away all their power.  It is virtually impossible to feel invigorated, competent, or happy and be stuck in resentment.  Studies show that when we are accountable and believe we have some control over our lives, we live longer, manage stress more effectively, and have higher levels of perceived quality of life and emotional capability.”

This is important because high performers are those who take ownership to make things better.  As such, they are viewed as reliable and trustworthy.  

When you are accountable, you go beyond responsibility (just doing the tasks assigned to you) and look for ways to make contributions above and beyond.  In Mid-Year conversations, when the topic has been your accountability use the above to reset expectations and to rethink what accountability means to you.

The other question that comes around frequently is about “fatal flaws”.

Fatal Flaw is a term used to describe a limitation that a person puts on themselves and if not addressed can lead to problems that affect that person's actions or abilities and their reputation.  Think of it as a weak spot, but one that can really hurt your career.  When we talk about fatal flaws at work, it is complex because humans are complex.  However, understanding what fatal flaws are and recognizing if you have them is step one. 

Some examples of fatal flaws include:

• Perfectionism
• Lack of openness to new or different ideas
• Lack of accountability
• Procrastination
• Time Management
• Inability to learn from mistakes

As I have resolved my own issues with perfectionism I have recognized that really it is just a pattern of inactivity.  Not that I am doing too much, but rather I am not moving the item forward because it isn’t good enough, and if I just had more time.  Truthfully, when I do recite “perfection is the enemy of good enough” and submit whatever I am working on the majority of times it is just what was needed. 

It is important to know your strengths and it is equally important to know where you have areas that need focus.  I challenge you to reflect on areas where you need to focus and determine why you do them, and how you are going to focus on them so that you can address and get better.

With that, I am out.  Hope you all stay cool (it's raining where I am going) and I will see you all on August 9. 

Happy Thursday!

-srt