Holding Yourself Accountable

At the close of coaching sessions, I ask clients what they would like to be held accountable for in the coming week. In response, they list those actions they commit to taking before we meet again that will advance them towards their end goal. They set the deadline and they reconfirm that they would like me to hold them accountable.  Though I play an active role in this process, the decisions about accountabiity ultimately rest with the client. This element of coaching–called accountability–is one of the most powerful aspects of the coaching process.

Some clients elect to take on significant responsibility and others less, but each client takes responsibility for doing something before we meet again.  Some clients outline what they will allow me to hold them accountable for out of a sense of obligation to the process and me. Afterall, they’ve signed a coaching agreement which states that they will make a good faith effort to continually work towards the achievement of their goals. Others ask me to hold them accountable because they wish, as Mirriam-Webster puts it “to accept responsibility for [their] actions.” Individuals who begin by acting out of a sense of obligation often transition to acting for themselves–not for me, or out of guilt or duty–after they begin to see the results from their own work.

I sometimes compare the accountability element of coaching to WeightWatchers meetings.  People around the world attend weekly WeightWatchers meetings at which they “weigh in.” These institutionalized check-ins enable people to accomplish goals–both small and life-changing–they haven’t been able to accomplish on their own. Though competition in the weight loss industry is fierce and changes have been plentiful, WeightWatchers continues to offer these weekly meetings. The formula and company have been an overwhelming success for 46 years.

When clients say to me that they will do something, they know that I expect them to do it or to be able to explain the obstacles they encountered in trying to do so. They know that I will support them with resources and, as appropriate, check in on them during the week. I’ll make myself available for a brief “power call” to get them through a tough spot and moving forwards to action. But in the end, I can’t and won’t do the work that is theirs to do. To do so would undermine the entire coaching process.

More often than not, the element of accountability creates action where there was inaction. Like the process of the WeightWatchers “weigh in,” accountability works in coaching because it provides individuals with an opportunity not only to make progress, but also to show it off. In sharing the week’s progress with me, their coach, clients get immediate feedback about their work. This sharing enhances the clients’ ability to see and feel the genuine progress they’re making and more progress that is possible; this makes visible what was invisible and, in doing so, brings forth transformation.