Do you know the difference between being reliable and being accountable?

In this episode of "The Business You Really Want," hosts Gwen Bortner and Tonya Kubo break down the concept of true accountability and why it’s crucial for achieving sustainable success in business. Learn the key differences between tracking, reliability, and accountability, and how fostering a culture of non-judgmental accountability can transform your business operations and outcomes.

Here’s what you can expect in this episode:

• 2:38 - Understanding what true accountability is (and isn't)
• 6:02 - Accountability is about more than acknowledgement
• 8:36 - When does accountability become micro-management?
• 12:35 - The weekly course of action
• 15:28 - Creating feedback loops to make sure things get done
• 19:13 - Common accountability mistakes that many business owners make
• 25:21 - How to foster a culture of accountability without micromanaging
• 28:40 - Important questions to consider for effective accountability

Key Takeaways:

• Accountability vs. Reliability: Being reliable is about completing tasks, while true accountability involves a relationship where someone else is invested in your results.
• Non-Judgmental Accountability: Create a culture where feedback is given without judgment, encouraging open communication and continuous improvement.
• Avoid Micromanagement: True accountability isn’t about checking every step but understanding the results and reflecting on the process to improve.
• Ask the Right Questions: Effective accountability involves asking questions that encourage reflection, such as "What did we learn?" and "What can we do differently?"
• The Power of Feedback: Regular check-ins and constructive feedback can help keep everyone aligned and motivated.

Ready to build a culture of true accountability in your business? Try this:

1. Differentiate between tracking, reliability, and accountability: Understand the unique role each plays in your business.
2. Encourage open communication: Foster an environment where feedback is welcome, and judgment is minimized.
3. Focus on results, not just tasks: Regularly review what’s been achieved and what could be improved, rather than just ticking boxes.
4. Get a partner in accountability: Find a mentor, peer, or coach who can provide objective feedback and support.

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

The Everyday Effectiveness team practices true accountability internally and in partnership with their clients. If you’d like to experience the Weekly Course of Action for yourself, join the waitlist here: https://forms.gle/eqSzk6oktYdoCUaM9

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review!

Also, be sure to check out Episode 10, where we discuss building a resilient business strategy that can adapt to any challenge.

Gwen Episode 9: Accountability is saying.

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Did you get the result that

you were wanting to get?

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If you didn't, why not?

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And is that a problem or

is that not a problem?

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EPISODE 7 TONYA: Are you feeling

overwhelmed, stuck, or uncertain about

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how to grow your business without

sacrificing what really matters most?

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Welcome to The Business You Really

Want, the show for women ready to build

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a sustainable, fully aligned business.

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Aligned with what, you ask?

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You.

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Your values.

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Your life.

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Seriously.

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It is possible.

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I'm Tonya Kubo, and along with

business advisor extraordinaire Gwynn

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Bortner, we're here to show you how.

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Tonya Episode 9: Tanya here with

none other than my co hostess

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but the mostest, Gwen Bortner.

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Gwen, if you're just catching the

show for the very first time, is

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an expert in business operations.

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She is the CEO of Everyday Effectiveness.

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And she is probably Hands down

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the best person I have ever met

when it comes to accountability.

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And so today what I want Gwen to do

is I want Gwen to educate all of us,

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including me on What true accountability

is and how it fuels sustainable success

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because I'm not gonna lie I'm one of

those people who did not go into business

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for myself to be told what to do by

other people So I'm resistant to this

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But I know you well enough Gwyn to trust

you that when you tell me it's good

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for me I will take the bad medicine.

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So tell me what is true

accountability and why should I care?

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All

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Gwen Episode 9: So,

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the first thing that people get

wrong is they think being reliable

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and accountability are the

same thing, which they are not.

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Um, so, you can be completely reliable

and not accountable, and you can be

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completely unreliable and accountable.

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Tonya Episode 9: explain that to

me because I just heard You Okay.

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Gwen Episode 9: here's the thing,

accountability takes two people.

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Reliability is about an individual.

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Okay.

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Tonya Episode 9: Okay.

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Gwen Episode 9: and so, but people

will conflate the two, thinking that if

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I'm doing the stuff that I'm supposed

to be doing, then I am accountable.

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Well, or they'll say I'm

accountable to myself.

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Well, no, that actually is not.

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If you look up an actual definition

of accountability in like a Webster's

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Dictionary, it will say, Reporting.

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to and you can't report to yourself.

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I mean, you can think about it,

but it's, not the same as reporting

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to And so it takes two minimums

to can, you can use more, but

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Tonya Episode 9: Mm hmm.

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Gwen Episode 9: two to

have true accountability.

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Now, part of the true accountability where

it really makes the difference is it's

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not just reporting, but that the person

that you're reporting to or people, but

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the person that you're reporting to.

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actually is, cares about your

result and that they're also

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owning part of this relationship.

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It's not just like, well, um,

you know, send, send me the

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information and, you know, I'll,

I'll, I'll keep track of it for you.

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Well, that's not actually

true accountability.

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Saying, Hey, I noticed

that you haven't sent it.

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And or saying, I saw this happen.

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Let me give you some feedback.

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Where, where I'm really paying

attention to the details of what.

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the back and forth is of whatever

we're being accountable about.

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That's where true accountability happens.

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So it's not just, you know,

checking it off like a task list.

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That, that, that is not

true accountability.

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That's tracking.

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And that's Data, and that's

information, and you know how I

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feel about data and information.

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I love that stuff,

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Tonya Episode 9: Right.

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Gwen Episode 9: but that

is not real accountability.

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Real accountability takes both people

caring about the result of the person

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who's being held accountable, and it

does take at least two people, and it

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does take a back and forth interaction,

not just a one way interaction.

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Tonya Episode 9: Okay.

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So, and you've taught me

three things just now.

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So you've taught me, um, tracking,

which is like done or not done, right?

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It's my list of things.

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I did it or I didn't do it.

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Then there's reliability, which is, I

said I was going to do it, so I did.

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Or I trust that that person's going to do

the thing that they said they would do.

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And then accountability is related,

but it's this whole other thing

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that, isn't just independent.

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You said that's key, right?

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It has to involve at least one

other person and there has to

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be some back and forth with it.

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And the reason I'm making the face

I'm making is because mentally and

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you know, I do this all the time.

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Like I run everything through a

use case in my brain and it always

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looks like I'm rolling my eyes at

people when really I'm just thinking.

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I, you know, I think of all the

accountability groups out there and

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all the ones I've been in, right?

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I've been in an accountability group

where my job was, you know, at the

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beginning of every week, I was supposed

to write out my task list for the week.

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Like, these are the things that

before my head hits the pillow on

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Friday, I'm going to do these things.

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And I've had ones where it was the end of

the week where I was supposed to report

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on everything I did this past week.

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And In some cases, somebody was looking.

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Um, in many of those cases, you know,

really the bounds of the program was

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simply, it would be checked off, right?

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My name got a check mark because

I did the thing, but nobody really

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circled back with me on any of it.

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And in other cases, they'd circle back,

but it was really like, good job, good

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job doing the thing you said you would do.

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But, Nothing else, right?

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And, and definitely not an inquiry in

maybe like what came up that I wasn't

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expecting or any sort of examination.

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And when you're talking about the

two way conversation, it sounds

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to me like part of accountability

is also not just, did you do it?

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But that exploration

about what else came up.

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Is that accurate?

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Gwen Episode 9: I will say

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it's accurate for my definition.

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Um, you know, this is where probably

other people would argue with me and

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say, no, no, no, that's not needed.

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But

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Tonya Episode 9: Yeah.

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Gwen Episode 9: for for me,

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true accountability says, not only

are we making sure that the thing

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that we're doing is getting done,

but we're also examining, and I like

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that word that you used, examining is

really a great word for it, that we're

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examining what was done and saying,

Was that actually the best thing to do?

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Um, it, did we learn anything from it?

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Are, are there, you know, and sometimes

sometimes we don't learn anything from it.

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That's okay, and maybe

there's not a lot to examine.

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That can be true.

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That, but for me, part of the

accountability is, is is doing that

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examination on an ongoing basis.

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And, you know, sometimes it is about,

woohoo, nice job, you got something done.

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You know, I mean, it doesn't

always, everything doesn't have to

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have this deep, important meaning,

because that's not the way life is.

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But there are things that do, and not

paying attention to that means that you

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aren't really being held accountable.

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And, and, and to me, we often can't see

the things that have meaning, um, for

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ourselves, unless either someone has

asked us to really think about it, because

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we're, you know, we're entrepreneurs,

we're busy, we're doing things.

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Um, or, um, We just can't see it

for ourselves because sometimes,

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you know, it, it is hard to

do true, true self reflection.

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I don't care what anyone says.

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It's, you know, it's,

it's why therapists exist.

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It's hard to do.

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It's hard to do true self reflection.

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And so that, that to me, that's

part of what the accountability is.

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Someone saying, huh,

this seems interesting.

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You might want to pay attention to that.

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Tonya Episode 9: Okay.

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So

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like, I hear you.

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And I believe you.

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And yet, I can also imagine, okay fine,

pull from my own recollection, examples

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of business owners who would resist that

because they would feel micromanaged.

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So help me understand, how is what

you're describing not micromanagement?

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Or how is it, like, maybe you could say,

well, it would be micromanagement if we

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did this, but it's not when we do that.

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very much.

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Mm hmm.

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Gwen Episode 9: me, micromanagement

has a couple Key elements that I don't

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necessarily see in accountability.

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Okay, one of them is It must be

done a specific way or it is wrong

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Okay, that to me is micromanagement.

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It's not just where you know,

we're starting here and this is

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the result we need It's you've

got to do this step this step.

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That's it That's micromanagement Okay,

that, that to me is one of the first

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and key definitions of micromanagement.

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The other is that we're

checking in also at every step.

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To me that also is micromanagement.

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That we're, we're saying, did you do it?

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Did you do it?

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Did you do it?

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Did you do it?

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Which

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Tonya Episode 9: about now?

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Did you do it yet?

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Gwen Episode 9: yeah, how about now?

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Yeah, to me all of that

is, is micromanagement.

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Accountability is saying.

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Did you get the result that

you were wanting to get?

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If you didn't, why not?

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And is that a problem or

is that not a problem?

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Um,

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because micromanagement would pretty

much always say that's a problem.

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Because I'm expecting this result.

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Uh, where for me accountability is

like, you know, I didn't actually

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do the thing that I was going to do.

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And, and to be able to say, So is that

a problem or is that not a problem?

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I say, no, it's actually not a problem.

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I realized that I was doing this

because someone told me I should, and

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it's not actually going to move my

business the way I want to move it.

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Okay, great.

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That's actually outstanding

accountability, but it has nothing

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to do with, with micromanagement.

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Does

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Tonya Episode 9: Okay.

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And

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Gwen Episode 9: that make enough

of a distinction for you or do

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Tonya Episode 9: It does.

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No, no, no.

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That is, but it, just a quick follow up

question is, do you think the motivations

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behind each are different or do you think

the micromanager actually Like thinks

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they're holding the person accountable.

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Gwen Episode 9: Oh, I think often

a micromanager feels like that's

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how you hold someone accountable.

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Uh, and, and, and there's a whole giant

conversation that we can talk about

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why that may be and all the rest of it.

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We don't need to do that today.

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But, um, but I do think people feel

like that's accountability where

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part of my definition is we're

looking at what was the result.

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And what do we, what did we learn

about that particular result?

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And is that, whether it was the result

we expected or not, and you know, based

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on that, what do we need to, what do

we need to know going forward with it?

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That to me is very

different accountability.

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I can,

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Tonya Episode 9: Got it.

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Okay.

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So, okay.

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So now I understand how micromanagement

and accountability are different.

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I also understand the difference between

tracking Reliability and Accountability.

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I want to ask, this is going

to sound very trite, right?

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I want to ask, so what's the big deal?

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Like, why does this even matter?

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Um, but rather than ask that, I'm

going to actually be much more

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specific with you and ask, can you

give me an example of where your

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definition of true accountability,

where putting that in action actually

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made a difference in a business?

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Gwen Episode 9: I can give a great,

great example without revealing

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actually very many details, quite

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Tonya Episode 9: Mm hmm,

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Gwen Episode 9: Um, I mean, we

work together so you know that I

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have been using an accountability

process with my clients called

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the Weekly Course of Action,

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Tonya Episode 9: mm hmm, mm hmm,

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Gwen Episode 9: for years now.

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For years and years and years.

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And, um, One of the things that was

interesting is the first thing I noticed,

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because at first it was completely

voluntary and I wasn't really, you know,

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strongly encouraging it and whatnot.

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I just thought it was a good idea.

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But what I, the first thing I noticed

was the clients that went through the

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process regularly, which isn't this

giant, giant, giant process, but they

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were actually every week going through

the weekly course of action process, um,

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were actually making progress faster.

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than similar clients who weren't.

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And, and what I realized in that process

was this taking a little bit of time every

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week for the self reflection aspect that

we have in the accountability was allowing

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them to make better decisions faster

than continuing to do the same thing

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that wasn't necessarily really providing

the results that they were looking for.

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So, so that's the,

that's the very generic.

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But I will say, uh, it was, I don't

know, a year or two ago, we had someone

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come in who was only doing the, the

accountability aspect, um, uh, with us.

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They were not getting any one

on one coaching or, you know,

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any of these other things.

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And, um, they said at the first

quarter review period, I got more

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done in this quarter that actually

is moving the needle on my business

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than I have in the last two years.

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And, and she said specifically because

I knew someone else was going to look

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at my report and give me feedback.

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So it wasn't because I didn't know

how to do any of these things.

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She said, because I, I've not needed

help in that kind of capacity, but just

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knowing that someone else actually cared,

helped her do the things she needed to do.

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And she said, and I knew if

I did it, she'd get stuck.

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That there was someone who was actually

going to give me some good advice on

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options or things to consider or a

resource or, or, or something else.

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So it wasn't that I would just

be stuck and there I would be.

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That there were, there was

someone who was on my side.

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Tonya Episode 9: Okay, so your sort of

real life example then is taking that

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business owner who, like all things

being equal, they weren't actually doing

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things any differently than they were

doing before except for reporting their

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activity or their goals and then having

somebody mirror that back to them.

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You know, read it,

respond, reflect with them.

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And so what I'm hearing there is

there's just, I think there's a piece

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of us that if we think we can hide or

we think nobody will find out, we're

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just not as motivated to do the things.

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And I don't even want to say the things

that aren't fun, cause there's a lot of

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aspects of business that aren't fun, that

people go about doing all the time, right?

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But there's certain things

that are just easier not to do.

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If nobody's watching.

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Or, can you think of specific aspects

of business that that's true for?

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Gwen Episode 9: Um, I

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do think it's for a lot of the

operations of the business, because

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very few people, except for a

few weirdos like myself, find the

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operations actually fun and interesting.

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They, they find the, the

customer interesting.

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They find the product interesting.

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They find the service interesting.

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They may even find the marketing

and the sales process interesting.

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Even often when they say they don't

like it, they still find it interesting.

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Um, because it's, It's, it's creative

and it's innovative and it's, and, and,

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and they get to use all of the skills

and a lot of times the operations

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is a little more, um, mundane,

repetitive, um, not as exciting.

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No one's giving you kudos, um, when.

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You've cleaned up your books because

no one actually knows that you

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cleaned up your books other than

you and possibly your accountant.

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Um, and so, you know, there's a lot

of stuff on the back end that, that

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doesn't get the same, um, feedback loop.

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Tonya Episode 9: Mm hmm.

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Right.

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Gwen Episode 9: so I really think a

lot of those things are the things

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that people know need to be done, but

they don't do, not because they aren't

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capable, not because they don't know

it's important, not, not for any of the

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reasons, but they're not getting that.

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Feedback loop that's actually helping

them move forward with their process.

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Tonya Episode 9: And I can see that.

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I'm, again, just thinking through

all the things, going, Yeah, well,

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I wouldn't want to clean those up if

nobody was going to pay attention.

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Because, you know what?

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Those things are not fun.

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And I want gold stars

when I do not fun things.

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So if nobody's going to notice

that I didn't do it They're not

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going to give me my gold stars.

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Gwen Episode 9: Right.

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But we notice the process,

the course of action.

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We notice and we, we actually, when

you're doing, if you're reviewing it,

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you definitely give them gold stars

because you are the emoji queen.

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But I've started even giving emojis of,

you know, the little, you know, party hats

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and, you know, the champagne bottles and

the thumbs up and all because, because we

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did, we all are kindergartners at heart.

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We all want gold stars.

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Tonya Episode 9: Yeah, well, and I'm

a big fan of the heart eyes and the

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star eyes in addition to the party hat,

because I feel like, like, when was

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the last time any of us got a sticker?

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Emojis are my version

of stickers these days.

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Gwen Episode 9: Yeah,

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Tonya Episode 9: So, okay,

um, so one more question.

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It may take us a while to go

through, but I think it's important.

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Do you like how I preface that?

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Just like, it's okay if you have

to talk long when I know that

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before I'm asking the question.

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Gwen Episode 9: it is helpful.

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Tonya Episode 9: When it comes to

establishing accountability, I just

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See that it could be possible for

somebody to start out on this path

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and just do a lot of things wrong.

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And I think we've already addressed

one of the primary mistakes, right?

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Which is confusing or conflating

accountability with micromanagement.

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Okay, do not decide tomorrow you're

going to hold your staff accountable and

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in holding them accountable you start

to ask them what their process is for

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processing through their email each day.

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You're not going to win

any friends if you do that.

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Do not.

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Let them just do their

email however they choose.

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Okay, all that matters is, did they

respond in an appropriate time?

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But, aside from that, right,

where one mistake being starting

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to micromanage versus actually

practicing true accountability, what

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do you think are some other mistakes

that business owners would make?

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Gwen Episode 9: The first one that

popped into my head, and I'm sure

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there are others which hopefully will

come into my head also as we, as I,

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because as an extrovert I'm processing

as my mouth is moving, so there's

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a good chance more will come to me.

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But the first one is actually the other

end of the extreme of micromanaging,

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which is just saying, Did you do it?

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Okay, good.

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Tonya Episode 9: Mm hmm.

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Gwen Episode 9: Which, which for

me is fundamentally the opposite

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and is the checkbox of just

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Tonya Episode 9: Mm hmm.

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Gwen Episode 9: okay, great, you

know, still no processing of it.

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Now, not everything in life

constantly needs to be processed.

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Let's, let's

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Tonya Episode 9: Mm hmm.

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Gwen Episode 9: know,

serious about that as well.

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Um,

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we don't need to process

everything all the time, but

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looking at the accountability.

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in, in just the yes or no is, is

not true accountability either.

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It really is about saying what, you

know, what did we learn from this?

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What do we know about this?

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What, what are, what are

some pieces of information?

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And like I said, not on everything,

every time, all the time, but things

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that are really, Feeling core at the

moment, this, this is the important

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part is at the moment to the business.

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Certain things are core of the business

today that won't be core to the business,

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um, in four weeks because they're

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Tonya Episode 9: hmm.

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Mm

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Gwen Episode 9: running

super, super smoothly.

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And, and so the kind of the checkbox, did

we do it is, is all, all that we need.

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But when things are feeling, Not

quite right for whatever reason.

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Either, should it take more time?

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Should it take less time?

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Are our customers happy?

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Are they not as happy as they should be?

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Any, any of those things that

we think is touching that, to me

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that's where that reflection piece

of the accountability comes in.

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Not only did we do it, But could

we think about it differently?

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Could we try something different?

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Do we actually need to be

doing all of these things?

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Or

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Tonya Episode 9: Mm hmm.

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Gwen Episode 9: eliminate some things?

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Should we be doing more things?

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You know, it, it, it's, it's all, all

of those, those pieces and being open to

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that That thought process all the time.

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That, to me, is the real piece of

the accountability, and I think,

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like I said, the opposite extreme

is making it so performative

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Tonya Episode 9: Mm hmm.

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Gwen Episode 9: we don't ever get there.

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Tonya Episode 9: Right.

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Gwen Episode 9: It really

just becomes the task list.

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Tonya Episode 9: Yeah, well,

403

that sounds to me like part of, This

practice of, of accountability and

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establishing accountability is okay.

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You have to recognize that.

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Did you do it or did you not do it?

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Right.

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That that's not, that's a starting point,

but that's not the only part of it.

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But also just doing it isn't

always automatically the win.

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Sometimes it is right.

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Sometimes, you know, you're supposed

to make, you're supposed to make 10

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calls on outstanding invoices and

you don't want to do it because These

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are uncomfortable conversations.

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On one hand, just making the calls is a

win, but how you have those conversations

415

and I would imagine the relationship

you have with the other person on

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the other end of the conversation is

also an important piece to document

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in this accountability process.

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Gwen Episode 9: Well, and so

419

let's just use that as a,

as a great, great example.

420

Luckily, this is not a problem that

we actually deal with very often

421

within, within my own business.

422

But, but let's, but let's, let's pretend

because I think it's a great example.

423

So, um, you know, someone needs to

make 10 calls about past due invoices.

424

Great.

425

So did we do it?

426

Yes.

427

But did we hear anything consistent?

428

Right?

429

So, for instance, they're not actually

receiving the invoice at a place

430

where they're paying attention.

431

They don't realize that they

haven't paid the invoice.

432

Okay?

433

Well, that's actually a really good

accountability piece of not just

434

making the call, but saying, hey,

what I'm hearing is out of ten, you

435

know, eight of the ten people don't

even remember receiving the invoice.

436

That means we've got a

different, you know, Issue there.

437

We've got a root cause problem

that we need to, to address.

438

Um, because my guess is at least half

of them probably would've paid the

439

invoice if they would've gotten it

440

Tonya Episode 9: Right.

441

Gwen Episode 9: Right?

442

And, and so paying attention

not only to just doing the

443

thing, but saying, is there any.

444

And this to me is what the

accountability process is.

445

Is there anything I learned from that?

446

Um, and, and the answer

may have been no, right?

447

If, if we're processing a thousand

invoices, you know, a month and 10 of

448

them didn't get paid, they're just the

random 10 that didn't get paid this

449

time, you know, for whatever reason.

450

Okay.

451

So just making the calls was

the thing that we needed to do.

452

Um, but it also could be something

that in three weeks, you notice that

453

All of them were paid, except for

one, within a week of that call.

454

And it's like, oh, making these

calls actually is important, right?

455

Tonya Episode 9: Right.

456

Gwen Episode 9: And so, so

it's, it's about bringing things

457

forward into our consciousness

458

Tonya Episode 9: Okay.

459

Gwen Episode 9: that we may not know

that we need until further down the road.

460

Tonya Episode 9: Yeah.

461

Well,

462

and I think that's important too,

right, is that what's important

463

now, or what seems important now,

may not seem important later.

464

but that true accountability

function helps you figure that out.

465

Gwen Episode 9: does.

466

Tonya Episode 9: so this is really good.

467

Um, anything else that you

think a listener should know

468

about true accountability?

469

Cause I do feel like you talk about

it differently than other people.

470

So

471

Gwen Episode 9: Um.

472

First, I will say, I never realized it

until you and I started working together.

473

Tonya Episode 9: I was like,

wait, you're a unicorn.

474

I never hear this.

475

Gwen Episode 9: helpful because

it was like, what is different?

476

And I will say, the first is, I or someone

on my team is going to read every weekly

477

course of action document every week.

478

Um,

479

And they know that.

480

And, you know, if I'm out

on vacation for three weeks,

481

then usually, Tanya, it's you.

482

But, but also, Andrea, who is technically

the person doing the, I'm just checking

483

the box piece to make sure that you

did it, um, I'm thinking a couple

484

weeks ago, she, as she was checking,

checking the box, noticed a comment

485

and said, hey, let me reach out to

you, I've got some resources on this.

486

So not her job.

487

Tonya Episode 9: Right.

488

Gwen Episode 9: At all, um, I mean,

truly, that is not her job, but because

489

we use this accountability within our,

within our own team, she's used to

490

looking at it, she's used to thinking

about it, she's used to responding, and

491

when she saw that she could, she could

help, she just immediately did that.

492

Tonya Episode 9: Mm hmm.

493

Gwen Episode 9: Which is

back to, it creates this

494

ongoing behavior for everyone.

495

Tonya Episode 9: Right.

496

Well,

497

and it also, I mean, Like, it

just opens the door for people

498

to help each other out, right?

499

Because you're not so siloed.

500

Gwen Episode 9: And, and you're

not seeing it as a criticism.

501

It's

502

Tonya Episode 9: Mm hmm.

503

Gwen Episode 9: oh,

well you didn't do this.

504

Shame on you.

505

It's, so that didn't happen.

506

Is there a reason?

507

Do we need to fix it?

508

Is something broken?

509

Do we need to be doing it at all?

510

It changes the conversation.

511

One of my very, very early on customers

who was doing the Weekly Course of

512

Action exclusively, um, described

it as non judgmental accountability.

513

And so I think, I think that's actually,

you know, you said what else is important?

514

Okay, that's the thing that's important,

is that we don't, we don't approach it

515

as, Well, what you did was wrong, right?

516

Or you have failed, or

517

Tonya Episode 9: You get

518

Gwen Episode 9: you get an F as

opposed to getting your gold star.

519

We only give gold stars,

we don't give Fs, right?

520

Um, and so instead of approaching it

with that, um, right or wrong, yes or

521

no, good or bad, you know, those kind of

things, which I think often people assume

522

accountability is, If I didn't do the

thing, then I'm bad, I'm wrong, I failed.

523

It's, to me, accountability, and this

maybe is part of the thing that makes

524

what I do different than for some

accountability, is to say, So why?

525

Why did I not do the thing?

526

What's preventing you?

527

Was it actually important?

528

What, you know, we're asking

other questions, not saying,

529

Well, obviously you failed.

530

Tonya Episode 9: Right.

531

Gwen Episode 9: Right?

532

Because, you know, we, we've had folks

on their accountability process have

533

something that they were going to do

this week, and next week, and the week

534

after that, and the week after that.

535

And, you know, for a few

weeks, you know, life happens.

536

I don't get too excited if someone

doesn't get something done in a few weeks.

537

But at some point it's like,

so I notice this is continuing

538

to get pushed to the next week.

539

Do you know why that is?

540

Is it because you're actually

stuck and you need some help?

541

Is it because you don't actually So,

if you don't know how to do it, is

542

it because you realize that maybe

it's not actually that important?

543

Do you need to even

keep it on here at all?

544

Tonya Episode 9: Mm

545

Gwen Episode 9: You know, we're

asking, we're asking questions without

546

saying, well, obviously you suck

because you pushed this particular item

547

Tonya Episode 9: Right.

548

You promised

549

you would do it this

month and you have not.

550

Gwen Episode 9: Yeah.

551

Tonya Episode 9: Okay,

let me recap really quick.

552

Um, but thank you for this one because

this is, I, I say this, I know at least

553

every third episode but I feel like this

one could be the most valuable one to

554

date because You know, if you've been

listening all the way through, you now

555

know the difference between tracking,

between accountability, and also between

556

Good golly, what was the third thing?

557

See, I've already forgotten

when there's tracking.

558

There's accountability.

559

Reliability.

560

We also understand now the

difference between accountability and

561

micromanagement and where we landed

that I think is so important because

562

we went through a few different

mistakes that a lot of people make,

563

but the big one is the judgment piece.

564

I think Gwen is not only do you need

somebody else to work with you on your

565

accountability because it has to be a

two way street, but that person has to

566

to either be non judgmental or they need

to be able to communicate their questions

567

in a way where you don't feel judgment.

568

Uh, and I think that is an

important one to land on.

569

And so what I would love is

for you to email me, right?

570

Cause we are all about the conversations

around here, both me and Gwen.

571

Email Tanya.

572

That's T O N Y A at EverydayEffectiveness.

573

com, and I would love to know your

experiences with accountability.

574

Have you had this true sort of two

way reciprocal relationship that we've

575

been talking about in this episode?

576

Has it looked different?

577

And kind of, what do you think about that?

578

Right?

579

No judgment, no blame, no shame, but just

very interested to have that conversation.

580

And thank you again, Gwen,

and we will see you next time.