ACCOUNTABILITY. RESPONSIBILITY. FOCUS.

"Life is of course about more than following your dreams, finding your dream job and developing yourself." - Hans Smeets

A big chunk of who you are and who you will become, both personal and career-wise, is about so-called core values. These core values come partially from your own character but are also values you have been given by your parents, your tutors and of course society itself.

Three important values, which will make you a well-rounded person, both personally and professionally, are: Accountability, Responsibility and Focus.

Let us look at the first two “ accountability & Responsibility” They sound like one and the same don’t they, but are they? The answer is of course no, but they do belong together as close friends or as ice and snow, or water and wet.
Ambrose Bierce, wrote in The Devil’s Dictionary, 1911: “Responsibility: A detachable burden easily shifted to the shoulders of God, Fate, Fortune, Luck or one’s neighbour.
As for accountability August Wilson wrote: “You are responsible for the world that you live in. It is not the government’s responsibility. It is not your school’s or your social club’s or your church’s or your neighbour’s or your fellow citizen’s. It is yours, utterly and singularly yours.
But what does it actually mean? It means Responsibility is something that can me shared, but you and only you are accountable for your actions.

Let’s explain it with an example. You and your friends decide to throw a party together. You and your friends are all responsible creating the party, inviting people, serving drinks etc. After the party you decided to drive home and you get stopped by the police….and of course are over the limit. A lot of people with say it was “ only a little bit over the limit” or “I always get pulled over because of the car I drive” or “Or I get singled out because of the area I live in, the fact I have a bright orange and yellow mohawk etc etc etc” This is of course not true, it is not the police’s fault you had a drink to many, nor is it their fault you stopped you. You and only you decided to get into your car and drive, and the police (the law) is holding you accountable, no matter what you say or do, you can never defer that accountability. In this same analogy, the police are responsible for upholding the law, and they are accountable for doing that in a correct manner. In short Responsibility you can defer or share, accountability you cannot.

In a professional environment these terms are used to describe leadership, an example there could be: Your boss gives you an assignment, you decided to delegate the task, making your team-member responsibility. But if the task is not completed satisfactorily, the boss will hold you and only you accountable. He or she asked you after all to do the task not your team-member. As a (future) leader you must never lose sight of this subtle but painful difference. It of course doesn’t mean you should never delegate tasks, it means you will have to realise that delegation is not a fire and forget missile.

Last but not least “ Focus” , this one is easier. We have already seen it when we spoke about “overcoming obstacles”, “ creating a plan, “ why I am here” .
Focus means you keep your eye on your one most important goal. Don’t try to focus on too many things at the same time, because at best your will end up doing them mediocre, at worst you will end up doing none of them.

So, pick one goal, plan it and go for it, but don’t forget to adjust your plan (aim) if necessary to achieve that goal (Ready, Fire, Aim)… As for creating goals the right way, there are ways to help you do that as well, I will get into that in a later article.