How to Select an Accountability Partner

In a recent article I talked about how working with an Accountability Partner can by transformational for your career: "Achieve Career Success With an Accountability Partner."  An Accountability Partner can definitely be instrumental in helping you achieve your business and life goals.

Today's article offers some guidelines and suggestions for how to select an Accountability Partner with whom you can have a sustainable and valuable relationship.

Guidelines for Finding an Accountability Partner
Do You Have One?
Serving as an accountability partner is definitely a big commitment -- a commitment of time, a commitment of physical energy and a commitment of mental energy. Choosing an accountability partner should accordingly be done with care and in a very deliberate manner. We highly recommend giving careful consideration to the following guidelines as part of your selection process:

Recommended Selection Guidelines:

• Mutuality of Interest. You definitely want to find someone who is as committed to his or her own success as you are to yours. The idea is to serve jointly as each other's accountability partner. Commitment is absolutely key; without it, the relationship will lose it's value and it's "stickability."

• Clarity of Role Definition. Ensure that accountability partner roles and responsibilities are in writing and clearly understood. Reference to the guidelines included herein will generally suffice for purposes of establishing clarity.

• Personality "Fit" and "Chemistry." Give careful consideration to pairing up with the kind of person that you naturally tend to connect best with. You're going to be spending a good bit of time with this individual; you want someone that you "connect" with and with whom you are comfortable.

• Track Record of Achievement. Your accountability partner's track record of achievement (or lack there of) is a good barometer to measure likely commitment to the process and desire to achieve more in their career and life going forward.

• Alignment of Schedules. Carefully consider the travel demands of your partner, congruency in best time available to talk, and other factors that might signal any misalignment that might cause session scheduling issues. Consistency in time zones is also helpful, whenever possible.

• Career Stage Similarity. Although absolutely necessary, being similarly situated in terms of career stage makes for a mutually rewarding experience.

• Commitment to a Proven Process and Framework. Both of you should be completely committed to a proven process and framework -- a structured process tends to be much more effective.  In an upcoming article, we talk more about an effective framework for setting up and implementing an Accountability Partner relationship.

Make it a goal for yourself to choose an Accountability Partner THIS MONTH who can help hold you accountable to the important and help facilitate your achievement of your wildest dreams!

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Andy Robinson, Executive Career Coach
Co-host, Career Success Radio Show
A leading authority on career success; 15-year executive coaching veteran
Contact: Andy@CRGLeaders.com, 239-285-5575

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Comments

[meg]

Thanks for this article. I'm looking for an accountability partner, if anyone's interested, using the guidelines above for weekly check-ins.

Thanks,
Meg
megsue7(at)yahoo