“Accountability breeds response-ability.”
– Stephen R. Covey (1932 – 2012), American author, educator and business philosopher
Today, we’ll likely encounter a couple dozen outcomes. Some will affect us directly, others, not at all, or so it might seem.
The difference maker owns the outcome as opposed to experiencing an outcome.
Leaders own negative outcomes and deflect credit for wins by their team.
Thinking in absolute terms can be a slippery slope, yet when it comes to outcomes, I like the idea of owning them as a means of taking control of whatever we do next.
Covey “got it” on so many levels, and in this case, the simplicity of his point is 2×4-to-the-noggin beautiful. Especially from a clients’ perspective. “Hi, Pat, I’m calling today to respond… ” To that thing that happened. To that thing that was supposed to happen but didn’t. To that thing that might have happened. To your request to have proactive contact when anything seemed a little out of the ordinary.
When we own the outcomes, we dictate how response-ive we can be. (Yes, I took Covey-like liberties with the laws of punctuation, spelling and word-creation there…).
Difference makers are in the moment responding and leading, not on the outside, watching and wondering what just happened.
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