Recently we talked about the importance of peer-to-peer accountability and the willingness to call out your peers when their actions and behaviors are hurting the team. Before you can even get to that level of trust with your co-workers, you must first be accountable to yourself.
Mr. Webster says this about accountability: to be answerable.
Let me please share with you a great poem titled ”The Man in the Glass.” It does a wonderful job of stressing the importance of being answerable to just one person in your life—that one person who’s staring back at you in the mirror.
The Man in the Glass
When you get what you want in your struggle for life,
And the world makes you king for the day,
Just go to the mirror and see what that man has to say.
For it isn’t your father or mother or wife whose judgment you must pass.
The fellow whose verdict counts most in your life,
Is the one staring back from the glass.
You may be like Jack Horner and chisel a plum,
And think you’re a wonderful guy.
But the man in the glass says you’re only a bum,
If you can’t look him straight in the eye.
He’s the fellow to please—never mind all the rest,
For he’s with you clear to the end.
And you’ve passed your most dangerous,
Difficult test if the man in the glass is your friend.
You may fool the whole world down the pathway of years,
And get pats on the back as you pass,
But your final reward will be heartache and tears,
If you’ve cheated the man in the glass.
-Anonymous
So, before you concern yourself with other people’s actions and behaviors, first make sure that the person you’ll be with from the beginning, to the end, is accountable to himself.
Listen to Greg & Dan talk about accountability on the Closer Look at Business radio show: Personal Accountability
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