Motivate Your Team! Cheer Up A Friend! Inspire Yourself!
Motivate Your Team! Cheer Up A Friend! Inspire Yourself!
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| Wooden's Wisdom - Volume 13 | Issue 733 |
| Craig Impelman Speaking | Championship Coaches | Champion's Leadership Library Login | |
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"ACCOUNTABILITY IS A TWO-WAY STREET (PART TWO: THE PERSON WHO ACCEPTS THE WORK)" Once an assignment is clearly given, accountability shifts. It shifts properly when the person accepting the work does so with honesty, clarity, and intention. That responsibility begins before the work starts.
1. Be Clear About Your Own CapabilitiesOne of the reasons John Wooden was so trusted is that he never pretended to be more than he was.
When Lew Alcindor (Kareem Abdul Jabbar) came out of high school (at 7’2’) as the most sought-after player in the country, many coaches promised championships, records, and stardom. Coach Wooden did something very different. He told Alcindor that he had never coached a player as tall as him before. He explained that while he lacked experience in that area, he believed that through study, preparation, and hard work, he could do a good job.
Coach Wooden accepted the responsibility of coaching Alcindor only after being transparent about both his limitations and his willingness to grow.
2. Do Not Pretend You Understand What You Don’tOne of the most common accountability failures happens when people pretend to understand something they don’t.
Professionals assume they should know a term or concept, so they don’t ask. Salespeople guess instead of verifying. If you don’t know whether something can be done, say so. If you’re unsure, commit to finding out. Accountability collapses the moment honesty is replaced with pretense.
3. Be Honest About What Is RealisticPeople who accept work sometimes fall into one of two traps:
Over-promising and under-delivering out of fear of losing the opportunity.
Or intentionally under-promising so they can later "over-deliver."
Neither builds trust.
The responsible approach is clarity. Share what you know, what you don’t know, and what you believe is possible. If possible, describe best-case and worst-case scenarios based on your current understanding.
4. Clarify Process ExpectationsBefore accepting the work, ask one key question: Do you care how I get there, or only that I get there? Some leaders want a specific process followed. Others, like Netflix, judge almost entirely on outcomes and leave the process up to the individual.
Either approach can work — but only if it is clear in advance.
5. Clarify Communication ExpectationsYou are also responsible for knowing:
How often updates are expected.
What qualifies as "worth reporting."
What to do if you fall behind.
Different leaders want different things. It is your responsibility to find out what they want.
The most important thing for both the person assigning the work and the person accepting the work is that they are crystal clear—and in agreement—about what the goal and result is supposed to be, and why the work is being done.
Yours in Coaching, Craig Impelman
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The Temple - What Makes It Of Worth You may delve down to rock for your foundation piers, Edgar Albert Guest (1881-1959)
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