Want some accountability?

"Ok great! So I want to send out 3 appreciation messages per day, read one new book a month, and take a coding class. Will you hold me accountable?"

"No, Jesse. I will not."

It was my second month of coaching and Dave looked at me with a loving but firm smile.

I started to feel irritated…isn't this the point of a coach?

He continued… "No one can HOLD anyone else accountable.  We all have free will.  This is a false paradigm.

“If you don't believe me, try forcing your kids to do something.  Everyone chooses to do what they do."

I looked confused but I knew he was right.

I was a pretty defiant kid.  I knew no one could get me to do anything I didn't want to do.

I know I can't force my kids or employees to do anything they don’t choose to do.

But I'm a pretty determined guy, so I said: "Ok coach, so how can you help me?"

"I can help you HOLD YOURSELF accountable."

I looked curious.

"I can remind you of something, ask about it next time we talk, or ask your assistant to book it for you."

Lightning struck.  I had been doing it all wrong!

For years, I’ve tried every project management software.  I had tried to keep rigorous to-do lists.  I beat myself up.

I thought to myself: "Maybe I'm not cut out to be a CEO."

I read self-help books.  EVERYTHING to learn organization and accountability…

None of that shit worked.  It's not how my brain works.  I'm a non-linear thinker.

I can never commit to a system.

So I had to capitulate to being disorganized and just flowing all the time.

Which wasn't the end of the world, but also left me stressed.

Now, Dave was saying he could do things that would allow me to hold myself accountable.

I still had to do them. BUT there were systems or people who could play that role. I didn't have to be my own judge, jury, and executioner.

Fast forward to 6 years later. These are the 6 different accountability systems I now use:

This isn't a system per se, but an absolutely critical starting point for the swashbuckling founder!

Yes, yes, I know.

Systems are constraining.  People telling you what to do is annoying.  You started your own company so you can do whatever the F you want. I get it.

But if you don't value accountability, neither will your organization.

They will just work on the "idea" of the week and you'll soon find yourself scrambling to make ends meet.

I may not be great at organization and accountability but I HIGHLY value it.

What does that look like?

You can value and let the system/accountability tools work without being behind the cockpit.

If you are a major follower/avid reader of mine, you'll know I love this system.  If I see everything, I won't miss anything.

It means I commit to (almost) every day, seeing every email in my inbox. Now, I may snooze 30% of them to come back in later, but I see them all.

This means I don't miss deadlines, follow-ups, or other things that need to get done.

A few years ago, I decided that I truly didn't have any "async" time.

In other words, I'm either in a meeting, with my family, or exercising.

There isn't much "deep work" time in my role.

I think this is true for most CEOs.  Big blocks of time often get wasted for me too.

So instead, I ask team members or my EA, if they want me to read something, create something, etc, to BLOCK IT OFF on my calendar to ensure there is actually time for it!

It forces me to confront the reality of my time and prioritize accordingly.

This prevents me from saying yes to 10 people and then becoming a bottleneck.  Time HAS to be accounted for.

This also goes for the Gym, kids' events, etc.

If I get it on my calendar, it's real and will get respected.

If you watched the first 5-10 minutes of ANY meeting with me, I will likely ask for numbers.

"How many leads?"

"How much did we spend?"

"How many new hires?"

The beauty of numbers is they don't usually lie.

Results are results (and people will spin them) but at the end of the day, they show reality.

Look at how decisive an election can be.  Results have a way of bringing truth that causes reflection and "reckoning."

I try to make that regular in all internal conversations.

Whether it's a small initiative or a quarterly financial review, numbers should probably be present in every meeting you have (with well-done comparisons to plans/previous periods).

I will do a whole email on goals/goal setting soon, but my philosophy is a bit unique here.

I don't set goals to go and beat them (although I love beating a goal). I also don't set goals to just be aggressive.

I set goals to create some sort of "stake in the ground", or a way to evaluate performance which ultimately drives accountability.

For example, if I wanted to start running, I'd say "Ok my goal is to run an 8-minute mile."  I have no clue if I run a 9-minute or 12-minute right now (probably right in the middle).

I used to use goals to beat myself into performance.  But today, I just go… ok I'm at 10 minutes, what do I need to do to get better next time?

Pacing?  Ok, now I'm at 9:30…now 9:00, and so on.

For me, goals provide a motivational structure that I can use to maintain accountability without shaming myself.

You've probably read about my Sunday system.

I've found that if I regularly reelect my top priorities of the week and THEN communicate them to my team, it accomplishes a few things:

A) It makes me somewhat publicly accountable for what I said

B) Others conspire to help me with my priorities

C) It makes it easy for me to say no/defer certain things

It's a little bit of intentionality that goes a long way.

Accountability is a struggle for most entrepreneurs I know.

Hit reply and tell me your top hack and I'll publish the best ones on Twitter and LinkedIn.

-jesse

PS I want to meet you in person. Use this to tell me where you are and see when I’m coming to your area.