In a recent conversation of mine, the word aws accounts sell was used frequently. While referring to beginning a new task, it was verbalized that holding one another accountable is going to be the key to seeing the task through to its completion.

Throughout the conversation, accountability was never associated with not doing something, nor was it indicative of micro-managing someone to the point that they can’t act on their own. The intention is never to harm, however it is to help others in their journey towards reaching a challenging goal.

It’s important to remember that accountability tends to work best when facing a difficult task. For example, if you have not worked out in over a year, then accountability is having someone agree to meet you at the gym every morning to break a sweat with you. Without someone holding you accountable, it can be easy to hit the snooze and return to sleep, because it requires much less effort than driving to the gym at 5:00AM.

Now, think of another scenario – one that requires almost no accountability. Imagine, as an adult, that you needed someone to hold you accountable for using the restroom every day. It simply isn’t an activity or task that requires you to answer to someone else.

At the end of the day, everyone could use someone else to hold them accountable for beginning, continuing, and completing their most challenging and difficult goals. The realm in which these objectives are worked towards, pervades all environments – physical transformation, professional development, organizational change, education and learning, relationships with family, and even pursuit of your dreams.

How Does Accountability Work?

When approached with the right mindset, accountability works flawlessly (with a little effort). Let’s be honest, anything productive requires effort, and accountability is a productive action.

I like to think of accountability as a function of checks and balances. By definition, checks and balances is the counterbalancing influences by which an organization is regulated, typically those ensuring that political power is not concentrated in the hands of individuals or groups.

To take this definition out of governmental context, let’s look at it from the perspective of someone or something (organization, school, corporation, etc.) needing accountability:

The counterbalancing people by which a challenging task is regulated, typically those ensuring that personal will power is not concentrated in the hands of a single individual or group.

In looking at accountability in this manner, it is recognizable that it places responsibility on two people, or two parties, in order that one reaches a goal, while the other experiences beneficial gains for also having gone through the process.