206: Accountability Myths That Are Holding You Back in Business

Welcome to the She Thinks Big! Podcast. Get ready to level up your thinking and expand your horizons. I’m your host, Andrea Liebross, your guide on this journey of big ideas and bold moves. I am the best-selling author of She Thinks Big: The Entrepreneurial Woman's Guide to Moving Past the Messy Middle and Into the Extraordinary.

I support women like you with the insights and mindset you need to think bigger and the strategies and systems you need to turn that thinking into action and make it all a reality. Are you ready to stop thinking small and start thinking big? Let’s dive in.

Hello, my friends, and welcome back to the She Thinks Big! Podcast. Can you believe we are at the start of another new year? Time really does fly. Time flies. Today, what I wanted to do is to talk about why more accountability really means more freedom, not less. I am batching these episodes, I will admit, I am recording this well ahead of time, and I'm coming right off of my fall mastermind retreat.

This topic kind of came up while we were at the retreat because what these women brought up was the fact that by being in the mastermind, and by talking about their goals and what they're working on out loud and having a coach be part of the process of turning their vision into some actions and then ultimately leading to their success, there is that added layer of accountability.

Some of them in the beginning were worried if they were going to be able to “keep up,” or if it would be a huge workload by being in something like this. They all knew that there was this level of accountability that was going to come with it, which was part of the reason why I think they decided to engage in coaching. But they found that this layer of accountability actually gives them more freedom, like more freedom of time and money and space in their business than less.

So today we are going to dive into this concept that often really gets misunderstood because many people do think that accountability is about restriction and rules, but in reality, again, I'm going to say it gives you more freedom, freedom to focus, freedom to reach your goals, and ultimately freedom to live the life you want. If you have ever thought that being held accountable might limit your freedom, I want you to keep listening.

This episode is really going to change, hopefully, how you see accountability. It might just change the way you approach the year and approach your goals. All right, so here we go. Are you ready? First, let's address the elephant in the room. Many of you out there, you are all high-achieving entrepreneurs and leaders. Many of you feel that being held accountable will restrict your freedom. But here is the truth. Accountability is not about adding constraints, it's about breaking free from the self-imposed limitations that really come from lack of clarity and direction.

Let me say that again. Accountability is not about adding constraints, it's about breaking free from your own imposed limitations that really come from not having clarity or a clear direction. In fact, research shows that accountability significantly increases the chances of achieving goals.

You know how I am all into finding out the facts and the research? Well, I found that there is a study done by the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD). That study showed that people have a 65% chance of completing a goal if they commit to someone. If they have a specific accountability appointment, we'll call it, with that person, the likelihood of success increases to 95%.

Imagine that. By simply making a commitment and setting a regular accountability check-in, you're almost guaranteed to reach your goals. I say that that's freedom. That's the power of accountability. No wonder the women inside my coaching programs, specifically, and that's really inside the mastermind, are reaching their goals because they've got that layer of accountability.

Now, I want to remind you of one of my clients that I do mention inside She Thinks Big, the book. Lindsey really did discover how liberating accountability can be. Let me tell you a little story. Lindsey owns a furniture boutique. The boutique is going well, nothing's wrong. Nothing's broken, it's actually thriving, but she kind of felt stuck. She was juggling roles as her business's administrator, marketer, inventory manager, all while trying to be a mom and a wife at home.

Lindsey first came to me saying, "I thought being my own boss would give me freedom, but I feel more trapped than ever. I thought being my own boss would give me more freedom, but I feel more trapped than ever." Does this resonate with you, my friends? Is this something you've thought or felt?

When I started working with Lindsey, we implemented some accountability structures where a couple of times a month, Lindsey and I would hop on a Zoom and clearly define her goals, not just for the business, but for her personal life too. She identified the tasks that really mattered most and learned to delete the rest. We took her vision, we turned it into some action steps, we clearly defined some goals, and we decided that we were going to really only focus on what mattered most, the priorities.

Month after month, Lindsey's mindset really began to shift and she saw that this accountability that we had set up wasn't restricting her, it was really freeing her. By focusing only on what mattered most, only on her priorities, she found that she had time to pick up her kids from school, take midday walks, something she hadn't done in years.

Let's bring in some expert perspectives here on why accountability works so powerfully. Charles Duhigg was the author of that book called "The Power of Habit." You might have seen it out there. It's actually in a lot of airport bookstores—I've been in a lot of airport bookstores recently—and that book emphasizes that accountability helps us, as he says, change our behaviors by creating real, visible results. Accountability is a habit that makes us more intentional.

When you have some human to check in with, it forces you to consciously choose where you're investing your energy. We see this in the corporate world as well. Harvard Business Review showed that managers who set structured accountable goals with their teams reported significantly higher productivity.

The effect is really not just limited to teams, my friends. It can work on an individual level too. In She Thinks Big, I talk about my client, Carrie, who was a property manager and wanted to start her own consulting business, but she really was struggling to make that vision a reality.

She was fine with what she was doing. But yet she felt that pull towards something bigger. When we started working together, that really introduced some accountability and she had the push she needed to step out of her comfort zone and really launch that consulting business.

Month after month, she started making, I call it, “What's the next best step?” So she started taking those next best steps. Really within months, she had built this thriving business, consulting business. There's another example. Can you say I'm giving you lots of examples of what happens?

Alright, now you might be asking, “Andrea, why does this accountability thing work so well?” Well, when you're accountable, you're more focused and you're less likely to get caught up in distractions. I want you to think about it using our GPS analogy. If you're driving across the country with no GPS and no map, you're probably going to get lost.

Accountability is your map. It keeps you on track, so you even waste less time going down the paths that don't serve you. This past weekend at the retreat, people were accountable. They were there for two full days, and it really gave them so many things, but one of the things it gave them was the ability to stay on track because there were no distractions.

At the end, I asked them, “What was most valuable about being here?” Everybody mentioned no distractions. They got to focus on what they wanted to focus on and they made huge strides. Accountability also, my friends, reduces overwhelm. It helps you make decisions faster.

Instead of being paralyzed by choices, you really do gain the clarity to act, which is liberating. Accountability kind of helps you make those decisions a lot faster and eliminates all the choices. Every decision becomes simpler when it is serving you, when it's in service to your goals that you've clearly laid out.

For high achievers, having a framework can be game-changing. Accountability helps you set a framework. It helps you make decisions faster. It helps reduce overwhelm. It helps you stay on track. All of those things. Okay, so if you've been listening to this and thinking, "I need that clarity. I need that direction. This year, I need more freedom in my business," then it might be time to make some changes.

It might be time to work with a coach who I think is really the ultimate accountability partner because a coach knows the right questions to ask and really has walked this path before. It makes all the difference. This is different than getting together with some other business owners over coffee once a month.

Because when you do that, no one's really in charge, my friends. No one's there to really lead the discussion. No one's there to ask the questions. I actually just did a consult call with someone who said, "I've been in groups. I've been in groups with other business owners before that we've just self-formed but I feel like sometimes it's a little waste of time because yes, we can all commiserate, but no one's really asking the hard questions.”

Within Andrea Liebross's coaching, I work with clients just like Lindsey and Carrie, helping them move past what I call the “messy middle” and more into the extraordinary. We put systems in place, we set big goals and we implement accountability that drives results.

If you're ready this year to stop feeling stuck and to start making meaningful progress with the help of an accountability partner, a coach, I really encourage you to schedule a call with me. We can chat about what it might look like. You can head over to andrealiebross.com or andreasslinks.com and click “Schedule a Call” because this year, what if you did invest in a coach? Investing in a coach is investing in your freedom. It's your opportunity to break through what I like to call the “self-imposed limitations” that you might not even realize are there.

It's your ticket to reaching the level that you know you're capable of. Don't let the idea of accountability scare you, my friends. Let you set it free. Okay, I'll see you next week, back here. This is really your year to think big. Let's level up. Let's do this. I'm with you. Let's just flip the script.

It's not about restriction. It's about giving you the freedom to be a leader, a business owner, a person you want to be. It's about freedom from overwhelm, from scattered thinking, and from really endless task lists that never end. I want to join you on this journey to think big. See you next time.

Thanks for tuning into the She Thinks Big! Podcast. If you're ready to learn the secret to unleashing your full potential, don't forget to grab a copy of my book, She Thinks Big: The Entrepreneurial Woman's Guide to Moving Past the Messy Middle and Into the Extraordinary. It's available on Amazon and at your favorite bookstore.

And while you're there, grab a copy for a friend. Inside, you'll both find actionable strategies and empowering insights to help you navigate the complexities of entrepreneurship and life, and step confidently into your extraordinary future.

If you found value in today's episode, please consider leaving us a review on your favorite podcast platform. And if you're ready to take this learning a step further and apply it to your own business and life, head to andreaslinks.com and click the button to schedule a discovery call. Until next time, keep thinking big.