Accountability is what makes coaching…coaching
Without accountability, a coaching session is just a conversation
ac·count·a·bil·i·ty: from the Latin computare, “to count”…
I take up accountability as my first newsletter topic because personal accountability is central to professional and personal coaching. For a coaching session to be a coaching session, there must be a defined set of actions and a commitment by the person being coached to be held accountable for the completion of those actions. Otherwise, it is just a conversation. That can be great, but it’s not coaching.
In the context of coaching, my definition of accountability is a person taking responsibility for a set of actions and a willingness to give an accounting of his or her follow-through to someone else with moral authority to reward the coachee. It is the acceptance of responsibility for the actions one has committed to.
Whenever I think about accountability, I am reminded of an extreme example from my college athletic career. I rowed lightweight crew for four years in college, as I mentioned in my introductory newsletter. It was an intense, and intensely meaningful, experience. One of the reasons that lightweight programs create particularly close bonds among the oarsmen1 is that there is an extra mutual accountability that all lightweight rowers have to each other, which does not exist for most other team sports programs: the weigh-in. To participate on race day, lightweight crews are required to complete a pre-race weigh in (usually the evening before) to verify that the boat averages 155 lbs or less per oarsman, and that no oarsman exceeds 160 lbs. These are the primary parameters that define lightweight rowing. This creates a unique obligation among all crewmates to be at or below their designated weight; otherwise, the boat is not permitted to race.
I was keenly aware of this requirement as an undergraduate: even though I was super lean, I usually weighed about 167 during training; to make weight, every week I had to lose 8 lbs by Friday late afternoon for a Saturday race. But that meant a lot of sacrifice during racing season. I was not alone: virtually everyone in all the competing lightweight crews went through considerable effort to make weight. None of us wanted to be responsible for other teammates not being able to race after months of intense training. For me, the commitment was incredibly clear (get under 160 at 5 PM Friday afternoon); the authority to which I was accountable was first and foremost my boatmates, and then my coach; and the reward was clear (get to race!), as was the penalty for failure (being ostracized by my teammates). I never blew a weigh-in. This repeated fulfilled accountability created an incredible bond among the crew and taught us many valuable life lessons.
Accountability has two components. First, there needs to be a defined expectation or obligation. And second, there needs to be an evaluator who discerns whether the expectation or obligation has been met and can create consequences for completion or the lack thereof. It’s so present in coaching because coaching is about growth and learning. There is no growth without forward action, and no forward action without deepening the learning from taking action. So, at the end of virtually every coaching session, my clients can expect some version of this conversation: “so, what action are you committing to take based on our discussion, and by when?”, and “how do you want to be held accountable for that?” or “how will I know?”
It's important to note that in Co-Active Coaching (the “school” of coaching for which I am formally trained), clients give me an account of their committed action and their learning. As a coach, I don’t judge, scold or blame clients when they give their accounting of actions taken or not taken. Instead, I ask them what they learned from taking (or not taking action), what worked for them and what didn’t, and how they might want to act in the future. I ask this with full and open curiosity, not formulaically. The discussion around accountability isn’t designed to be task-oriented; it is there to empower clients to create the changes in their lives that they aspire to make. There is learning in doing; there is learning in not doing.
Designing useful accountability methods can confound people, especially if they are not in the habit of holding themselves fully accountable for their commitments. I ask the question about accountability to allow clients to craft the accountability mechanism they believe will work most effectively for them, rather than having me impose a construct on them. Here are four methods of accountability that have come up in recent coaching sessions.
1. Use the coach as an accountability partner. This is often a default mechanism but I prefer to explore other ways to be accountable as well - using me for all accountability can sometimes change the equilibrium on the coach/client relationship, with the client becoming overly dependent on me to keep them honest with themselves. When it is the agreed-upon setup, it can be as simple as “email me a status report on Friday, along with notes about what you are learning”, or a check-in on accountabilities at the beginning of the next coaching session.
2. Use a colleague or family member as an accountability partner. This can be a great way to socialize one’s desire for personal and professional growth with supportive people. Asking for this kind of accountability support can build and deepen trust among working colleagues and among family members or friends. Growth and a movement toward more fulfillment does not have to be a solo sport.
3. Self-accountability. For many people, a self-commitment to get something done, often accompanied by some reminder or talisman, is an effective way to hold accountability. This can be a to-do list (as long as you have established some defined consequence for imcompletion), a sticky note on a computer monitor, or even wearing something that reminds you of your obligation (for me, my father’s 1963 Omega wristwatch is a powerful reminder for me to show up a certain way).
4. Third-party accountability. An intriguing website established by Dean Karlan, a professor of behavioral economics at Yale University, and veteran economist and lawyer Ian Ayers (also a professor at Yale Law School and the Yale School of Management, called Stickk (www.stickk.com) uses the principles of behavioral economics to empower personal change. On the site, users can create a Commitment Contract with themselves – they define a goal, acknowledge what it will take to accomplish it, and put money on the line to turn their goal into a reality. The contract encourages the identification of a referee (accountability partner); their research shows that having this role defined increases chances of successfully meeting one’s goal by up to 2x.
During my collegiate rowing days, my crewmates were de facto my accountability partners. I love them for it to this day. I’d love to hear from you about your experience and beliefs about accountability, and any mechanisms you have found effective in driving greater personal
accomplishment. I’d also love to hear what you may have learned when you don’t meet commitments you have made to yourself or to others.
Until next time!
Josh
I use this term to encompass both male and female rowers.