We had a great start to a new year of Leadership Roundtable the last two weeks. Leaders in 4 communities in Central MN kicked off their 1^st Year of Leadership Roundtable. It is always inspiring for me to work with these leaders who have an unending passion of personal development and who want to look to Jesus’ guidance on the subject of leadership.

I always share with leaders the key to getting the most out of Leadership Roundtable is to develop a system of accountability to insure they truly enhance their leadership competence. Servant leaders build their character by being accountable and competent!

The fact that leaders are attending Leadership Roundtable is a testament to their desire for competency around servant leadership. But you don’t become competent by just showing up and listening. You must be accountable to your development by documenting those areas that you want to specifically improve upon and write goals for making it happen.

These goals should be both short term and long term.

• What are you going to do differently today based on your learning?
• What are your plans to improve over the next week?
• What is your long-term plan to implement what you have learned?

Documenting these things is the start. Then developing an accountability system is the next step. If you truly want accountability you have to take on the responsibility for yourself. Others can pour into you, teach you, model for you, and share resources with you, but the execution is up to you. Most high performing individuals I know have coaches or accountability partners to help them ensure the execution of their goals. 

I feel blessed to have the opportunity to coach many high-performing leaders who want to be held accountable to develop their capabilities and achieve their objectives. You don’t necessarily have to hire someone for this role; I believe there are people within your life that are willing to step into this role for you. In Leadership Roundtable, participants step into this role for each other.

6 Keys to building your character through an accountability partner or coach

1. Ask for it. If you don’t ask someone to come along side you for coaching and accountability purposes, nobody will respond.
2. Help define what the relationship will look like. Don’t just assume that if you ask someone they will know what you need. Be very clear on your expectations of them and define what success in the relationship will look like.
3. Be vulnerable and share the full story. The path to success is full disclosure, and an understanding of where they can help.
4. Remember accountability is a two-way street. This is not a cure-all solution. You always need to insure that you are looking in the mirror, and asking yourself what you personally can do to develop and work on your shortcomings.
5. Continuously work on the relationship. Don’t expect that one conversation or periodic interaction will get you where you want. Commit to being personally accountable to your commitments as well as building the accountability (coaching) relationship.
6. Ask for grace. As mentioned an accountability partnership is not a cure-all. You will still fail at times, and come up short on some commitments. Don’t allow this to deteriorate the relationship. Fall back on grace, and continue to move your progress forward.

When leaders commit to their own personal development it not only helps them achieve their potential, but it also sets a great example and model for the people that work for them on the importance of development.

I encourage you to not only get yourself into environments that will enhance your leadership competency, but also develop accountability relationships to accelerate your progress. This activity will most definitely help you build your personal character as a servant leader!

Mark

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Hebrews 10:24