In today’s episode of The Small Business Show, we discuss the use of humor in leadership development and the importance of balancing professionalism with employee engagement. Our special guest for the episode is Kathy Klotz-Guest, Founder of Keeping It Human, Author, Improv comedian, and Keynote Speaker.

As a former leader at Silicon Valley Tech with a background in stand-up and improv comedy, Klotz-Guest believes the two fields can complement each other more often than people would think. 

Key Takeaways

1. Klotz-Guest affirms that it’s crucial to incorporate humor and personal development because sometimes leaders take themselves too seriously, making it difficult for others to take them seriously. “So the key essentially is to continue being your authentic self, be relaxed, a little vulnerable, and really connect with your team,” she says. 

2. If entrepreneurs are worried they might offend someone by mixing humor and leadership, Klotz-Guest suggests asking two questions: Am I laughing with or at them? The difference between the two is significant. As long as you uplift others, make them laugh, be inclusive, and avoid discussing inappropriate topics at work, the possibility of being offensive is low.

3. To attract and retain the younger generation of workers, leaders must create a transformational space and, overall, a great place to work. Your team cares not so much about the bean bags or cool pool tables but rather about leaders showing up with the capacity to create a space for positive laughter. 

4. “The biggest, yet most important factor of storytelling is change,” which means you don’t have to be perfect. Be honest or transparent because that is what your team is seeking. “And if you’re willing to do that, the message you’re sending out sets the tone for your organization.”

5. Employees should have fun during their workday, which includes laughing and avoiding uptight leadership. In other words, work shouldn’t always feel serious and stressful. It’s important for employees to be able to enjoy what they do and have a positive outlook on their work. By encouraging a fun and relaxed work environment, employees are more likely to be satisfied and motivated in their jobs, which can lead to increased productivity and success for the company.

"Part of why people don't innovate at work today is due to fear."

Empathy is more than an emotion shared by multiple individuals; it is a critical communication tool that can achieve a positive outcome from almost any negative situation. But in the business world where blunt, or even curt, speaking styles have been prioritized for decades, the utility of compassion and skillful oratorship has long since been forgotten.

On this episode of The Small Business Show, host Jim Fitzpatrick is joined by Chris Voss, CEO of The Black Swan Group, keynote speaker, and bestselling author of “Never Split the Difference: Negotiate as if your life depends on it.” Voss was once the lead international hostage and kidnapping negotiator for the FBI, a career that made him keenly aware of the roles communication and emotion play when navigating difficult situations. Realizing his insights into leveraging human behaviors could help others lead more successful and productive lives, he has since focused his efforts on educating professionals in the art of conversation. Now, he shares his secrets to being a successful negotiator and the importance of what he calls “tactical empathy.”

Key Takeaways

1. Tactical empathy refers to the application of emotional intelligence and social acumen during a negotiation. Voss explains that communication strategies based on prior knowledge of psychology are often more successful and efficient than those that refuse to acknowledge the role feelings play in human interaction.

2. Emotional intelligence takes practice to develop. Voss recommends trying to guess what a person is feeling in a given moment from an unbiased point of view, without the influence of personal worldviews or interpretations.

3. Vocal inflection is key to conveying compassion and applying emotional intelligence. Downward and upward shifts in tone not only convey a variety of feelings but can also alter a conversation partner’s mental state. For example, a harsh tone can put someone on the defensive while a calm voice can convince someone to lower their guard. To leverage tactical empathy, speakers must first master their use of speech patterns.

4. Successful communicators are able to achieve a positive outcome in any situation, even one in which a speaking partner says “No.” In fact, Voss encourages entrepreneurs to welcome disagreement. This is because humans feel more at ease after declining an offer since they have been conditioned to associate refusal with safety. Once that feeling of protection is felt, they often gain more clarity and listen more closely.

5. Tactical empathy requires associating negotiation with collaboration. By focusing on mutual benefits, speakers can set a more positive mindset for themselves, allowing them to avoid appearing confrontational while seeming more trustworthy.

"Part of why people don't innovate at work today is due to fear."

In today’s business world, executives and leaders seek ways to improve employee satisfaction. On the latest episode of The Small Business Show, we are joined by Liz Wiseman, CEO of the Wiseman Group, author, and executive advisor. Wiseman will discuss the multiplier framework and how it can benefit leaders and entrepreneurs.

Liz Wiseman is a New York Times bestselling author who has contributed to various business journals such as Harvard Business Review and Fortune. With her extensive research background, Wiseman teaches effective leadership techniques that enable people to utilize their full intelligence at work. Having previously worked as a corporate executive at Oracle for 17 years, Wiseman’s practical experience has significantly impacted her academic studies.

Key Takeaways 

1. The multiplier framework is the idea that some talented, innovative, and capable leaders use their talents and intelligence to amplify the intelligence and capability of the people around them. On the other hand, the “diminisher” leaders are intelligent, capable, and talented, too, but the orientation of their capability diminishes those around them. 

2. Wiseman found these diminishing leaders are helping people but getting less than half of their capabilities, which causes an enormous amount of waste inside the organization. 

3. When people explain working with these multipliers, they explain it as this fulfilling and exhilarating experience. Moreover, leaders can identify their leadership styles based on Wiseman’s research based on these five fundamental questions:

1. Are you placing people in jobs or utilizing their natural talents?
2. Is the work environment tense or intense?
3. Do you tell people what to do or ask questions to help people find what’s possible?
4. Do you play the role of the decision-maker or the debate-maker?
5. Are you micromanaging and getting things done, or are you enabling/insisting others do it for you?

4. Over two-thirds of diminishing in the workplace comes from “Accidental diminishers,” which comes as leaders underplaying their roles. Moreover, being a multiplier leader isn’t about playing small so others can be big; it’s about playing at your best to ensure others can also play at their best. 

5. The best leaders know how to dispense their own capabilities but in small doses. 

"Part of why people don't innovate at work today is due to fear."

That’s when Bezos dropped the bombshell of wisdom that follows. He said that the kind of entrepreneurs he/Amazon looks to work with, the very best kind, have one thing in common about their approach.

"Part of why people don't innovate at work today is due to fear."

It’s one thing to be laser-focused, task oriented, brutal when necessary or even cold and calculating, especially towards competition, when required. This mercenary, take no prisoners, win for the shareholders mentality has certainly made many a founder rich.

But it’s another thing altogether when an entrepreneur is on a mission, one that’s bigger than him/her, one that isn’t all about profits, and one that encapsulates a powerful vision to be more and contribute more to the industry, employees, and society.

It’s what makes the best entrepreneurs. I realize best is subjective. I define best as those entrepreneurs that can accomplish all the business wins of a more mercenary approach, while still being higher-order mission-driven.

In the announcement of Amazon’s investment, Scaringer said Rivian’s mission is to bring “sustainable mobility” to the world and to “reset expectations of what’s possible”, including eliminating compromises electric cars make on performance, capability, and efficiency, while setting a new bar in innovating the total customer experience.

Missionary over mercenary.

This point is worth another example.

In his TED talk, Chobani CEO Hamdi Ulukaya shares his “anti-CEO” approach to running the yogurt company. He describes the fateful day visiting an 85-year old yogurt plant that was closing (and that was for sale for parts). He met the hard working, proud, yet stoically saddened workers that were losing their jobs, duty bound to shutter the site while their CEO was nowhere to be found. It was then that Ulukaya knew that he had to run a company that put people, not profits, first.

He went on to describe an incredible mission versus mercenary driven approach:

Corporate America says it’s about profits. Mainstream business says it’s about money. The CEO playbook says it’s about shareholders. And so much is sacrificed for it — it’s factories, communities, jobs. But not by CEOs. CEOs have their employees suffer for them. But yet, the CEOs’s pay goes up and up and up. And so many people are left behind. We need a new playbook that sees people again. That sees above and beyond profits. The new way of business — it’s your employees you take care of first. Not the profits. 

The Chobani CEO backs his mission with actions, giving shares to all 2,000 employees, building a little league field with the company’s first profits, taking a stand for immigrants and providing them with jobs, even busing them to his facilities. His mission includes consumer delight and he considers himself as reporting to the consumer versus the corporate board. His personal number in the beginning years of Chobani was the 1-800 number on the cup.

Missionary over mercenary, as Bezos says.

Now back to that word “best”. The best entrepreneurs follow a mission because of its higher-order nature and because they realize it will also get them all the business wins any other more cutthroat approach might bring. For my money, that makes it the best kind of entrepreneur.

Case in point, says Ulukaya (edited for brevity): “You see, if you’re right with your people, community, and product, you’ll be more profitable, innovative, and you’ll have more passionate people working for you and a community that supports you.”

If you started a local business, but didn’t need the income to live on, why would you start it? It would be to create jobs for the people in that community. To bring enrichment to that community. To create a platform to fight injustices. To build a company to serve the people, not to corral people to serve a company.

Maybe it’s idealistic. Maybe Wall St. would crap on that. Maybe it’s why I was destined to leave the corporate life for that of an entrepreneur.

I know for certain, though, that Bezos is right. I’ll take mission-driven over no-mercy driven any day of the week.

I bet you would too — so why not role model it?

See the biggest myth about uncertainty, the biggest lie we tell ourselves that uncertainty will end or that it is going away. Uncertainty is not only here to stay, but the chances are that the pace and impact of it are going to increase.

And you need to be asking yourself as a leader, are you ready, are you prepared? 

Now, before you put this article down because you are getting depressed, just hold on. The truth about uncertainty is that it is far more complex, and contains far more opportunity than you give it credit it for, and the deeper you understand uncertainty the more you can make uncertainty work for you. 

Why You Don’t Like Uncertainty

Just writing the word in this article, and I can feel you as the reader pulling back. And I get it, there are so many reasons you don’t like uncertainty.

1. Lack of Control – not knowing makes you feel out of control, fearing what is going to happen, when it is going to happen and what impact it is going to have. 
2. Threatened – uncertainty takes away predictability, and as humans you are wired to desire security. Pretty much uncertainty is the opposite of security – and when something you want is taken away you naturally feel threatened.  
3. Stress – and as if a lack of control and the feeling of being threatened does not cause enough stress, add in loss of routine, mental overload and self-doubt. Uncertainty produces a stress machine. 
4. Avoidance – now I think the biggest reason you do not like uncertainty is because you avoid it. Rather than face what is uncomfortable, you choose to ignore it and not deal with it. Your avoidance though is like a nagging voice in the back of your mind, always there reminding you that at any moment the ball could drop or a major disruption could destroy your best-laid plans.

So, yes there are strong and valid reasons why you do not like uncertainty, but not strong enough reasons not to learn to navigate it. Imagine for a moment that you believe that uncertainty led to opportunity. What if you bought into the idea that disruption, even the most challenging, was just what you needed to transform your organization? How far could you go? What could you accomplish? If you believe uncertainty was a competitive advantage. 

3 Truths About Uncertainty

1. Uncertainty Is Inevitable – as we said, uncertainty is going to happen no matter what you do. Don’t believe it, take a walk through history and look at all the uncertainty that impacted the leaders coming before you. Uncertainty is coming whether you want it or not, and it comes in all shapes and sizes – economic, health, technology, competition, customers and the list goes on. 
2. Uncertainty Produces Fear – left unaddressed, meaning as a leader you do not talk about it, plan for it, engage your team in it, uncertainty will produce one emotion – FEAR. Now, you can probably guess you do not want fear in your organization, but let me share with you exactly why. Fear shuts down innovation and creativity – the very skills needed to navigate challenging times. Fear causes team members and customers to disengage and pull back. All of that is going to negatively impact bottom-line results.

But if you have a plan for uncertainty, if you have a strategy you will drive innovation, drive engagement, and yes that’s right – drive results. 

• Uncertainty Always Has An Upside – let’s go back to that walk through history, while you will find that uncertainty is inevitable, you will also find that uncertainty, disruption and massive change have led to some of our greatest breakthroughs and inventions in society – groundbreaking transformation in medicine, technology, communication, and the list goes on. 

So what are you waiting for? You know more change is coming, and if you fight it you will lose and lose big. If you jump on board, learn to navigate uncertainty successfully, and start to predict the future. You will turn all of this uncertainty into your greatest competitive advantage.

"Part of why people don't innovate at work today is due to fear."

What’s interesting is that over 30% of American adults choose to become entrepreneurs. It shows that pursuing the American dream inspires others to follow. In fact, around 40% of small business owners highlight that it takes self-discipline to build a winning entrepreneurial mindset.

Let’s dive into the ten actionable insights and tips that you can use to build a winning business mindset:

1. Set Clear Goals

Your goals act as your compass that keeps you on the right track. So, make sure to objectively define your short and long-term goals. You can use the SMART framework to define your objectives. After that, break down your goals into steps to develop a roadmap that can help you achieve success faster.

Solid goals help business owners and entrepreneurs to be purposeful and persistent. Also, continue to review and adjust your goals depending on “your” changing business requirements and circumstances. 

2. Have Self-Belief

Self-belief is one of the elements that will help you build a winning entrepreneurial mindset. The trick is to realize and recognize your main skills and strengths. Additionally, highlight your accomplishments, no matter how small, and use them as a foundation to reinforce your self-belief. 

If you have a strong belief in yourself – you can become an unstoppable force with purpose and dedication. It will also allow you to be wise and intuitive about how you use your skills and expertise. Once you acknowledge your core strengths and expertise, it works as a self-assurance that helps you navigate complex business decisions and inspires you to fulfill your goals.

3. Cultivate Adaptability

One of the elements that will get you far ahead in the business world is adaptability. If you can adapt to new dynamics and market conditions, you can leverage new opportunities and drive long-term growth. So, don’t see change as a threat. Instead, take advantage of new technologies and ideas. Your flexibility to adapt also helps you stay ahead of your competition.

4. Practice Positive Thinking

You need an optimistic mindset to ensure the long-term success of your business and entrepreneurial efforts. Your mental attitude should be to solve problems and have an open perspective. It will foster more creative thinking and lead to transparent collaboration. 

5. Foster Resilience

A highly resilient mindset shows that you can handle unexpected and inevitable challenges. Businesses are bound to experience some setbacks; when that happens, your resilience will help you ward off potential failures. However, it requires a proactive effort to review your experiences and learn from your past mistakes.

6. Build a Network 

Strategically build a network of people who can challenge and uplift you. This network should help you get partners, ideas, and new perspectives. You can engage in industry seminars and events or join online communities. A solid network supports you and helps you reach out to a bigger audience. 

7. Embrace Continuous Learning

Continuous learning will help you build a growth-driven mindset. You should be curious to best utilize your industry knowledge, relevant skills, and emerging trends. For continuous learning, read books, engage with online communities, sign up for online courses, and participate in in-person workshops. 

8. Practice Gratitude

It is easy to drift afar and lose sight of your objectives. So, practice gratitude and patience to be in the moment. In fact, take a step back and convalesce when you have to. Most importantly, take your time to appreciate your support group, like mentors, customers, and internal team. Remember, gratitude fuels more innovation and improves relationships.

9. Embrace Failure as a Teacher

The last thing business owners and entrepreneurs should do is dwell on their failures. Embrace insights, analyze failures, and incorporate new changes to turn the tables. Embracing failures helps you come up with more effective strategies and allow you to be more resilient.

10. Manage Risk Wisely

Businesses and entrepreneurs actively take calculated risks. But it takes practice to review potential risks and weigh benefits against rewards. Use insights and collected data to make logical and informed decisions. Instead of stressing the risk of failure, take measures to mitigate potential risks and leverage the most valuable business opportunities.

Final Thoughts

The modern business landscape is competitive and dynamic and requires entrepreneurs and CEOs to build a winning mindset to drive more innovation and consistent growth. Small business owners, startup founders, and entrepreneurs need to find the “right” balance every time they leverage a new opportunity.

Remember that the path to success depends on your determination and resilience. In retrospect, nurture a winning business mindset around self-confidence, self-growth, adaptability, positive outlook, and continuous learning.

"Part of why people don't innovate at work today is due to fear."

While no leader can be expected to communicate perfectly all of the time, there are some best practices that all leaders should follow to minimize communication breakdowns and strengthen teams. Before looking at these core strategies, it’s important to understand why miscommunication is one of the greatest risks to business performance and growth.

The Problem with Poor Workplace Communication

When employees don’t receive clear information – or misinterpret the information they receive – it ultimately leads to confusion and misunderstandings. This leads to employees taking longer to achieve tasks, or can result in people prioritizing the wrong tasks. With insufficient access to the right information and resources, employee motivation levels also decrease, which undermines productivity.

Furthermore, poor communication leads to less effective collaboration between individuals and teams, which fosters mistrust and weakens company culture. If workers don’t feel like they’re being heard or struggle to get their points across to management and coworkers, loyalty to the company suffers. This results in low job satisfaction and higher stress levels, and ultimately increases employee turnover.

Leaders who don’t communicate effectively also create a working environment where employees are less accountable for their work. In these environments, employees don’t understand what is expected of them and are less likely to perform well, and business goals are less likely to be achieved.

Finally, poor leadership communication and direction increase the likelihood of workplace tensions. For example, a worker might be left to complete certain tasks that they assumed another employee was responsible for. If these issues occur frequently, team cohesion can be severely damaged and working relationships rapidly deteriorate. This lowers employee self-esteem and overall team morale, which also impacts relationships with clients and customers.

Research indicates that an optimistic outlook enhances one’s brain’s ability to learn and perform. Incorporating a positive perspective in all facets of life, such as work, relationships, internships, and more, is imperative, not just when starting a business. On the last episode of The Small Business Show, we discuss the significance of business growth strategies and the powerful influence of your mindset. Joining us is Will Polston, keynote speaker, author, executive coach, and host of the Make it Happen podcast with Will Polston. 

Polston grew up believing that money equals happiness and then went on a tangent to make as much money as possible. Then, ten years ago, he had a “lightning bulb” moment when he realized that his real drive had nothing to do with money but rather the suffering he witnessed his dad going through. From then, he vowed never to allow anyone to experience suffering like that and has since been obsessed with human awareness and human potential.  

Key Takeaways:

1. As a mentality strategist, Polston holds that 80% of success is determined by one’s mindset and 20% by skills and mechanics. Success, however, is subjective. Still, he notes that being clear about your goals and where you want to go is the first step toward adopting a positive mindset. 

2. Polston also asserts that one’s peak potential is determined by subtracting your potential from your interference (your belief systems and internal dialogue). 

3. The root cause of imposter syndrome among entrepreneurs is a hyperfocus on what one lacks rather than what one does have. Polston reflects, “They are hyper-focused on the gap rather than the gain.”

4. However, “Boast,” whose root meaning is “to inflate,” is one of the key terms when managing imposter syndrome. To avoid identifying as experiencing impostor syndrome, it is crucial to enter the Goldilocks zone of telling yourself what you’re good at, realizing it, and identifying it. Polston continues, “With social media, it’s easy to compare someone’s center stage to your behind the scenes.”

5. Polston advises entrepreneurs that when scaling your business, there are two factors to keep in mind:

• Know what you truly desire, not just what you believe you can obtain, given the current level of understanding. 
• Building on that, think about who you need instead of how to acquire them.

6. Oftentimes, entrepreneurs become engulfed in the “when then” cycle—”when I get this, then I can”—of their own making. Therefore, Polston advises entrepreneurs to set a North star goal—a goal so large that it’s impossible to attain. This is crucial because, according to Polston, entrepreneurs will experience ongoing fulfillment if they can detach from the intended result and place more emphasis on the process.

"Part of why people don't innovate at work today is due to fear."

Decision-making is the core responsibility of a leader or business owner, with an organization’s success or failure often hinging on the ability of its management to make good choices. However, many entrepreneurs lack faith in their judgment or allow personal beliefs to cloud their strategies, resulting in lost opportunities and glacially slow growth.

On this episode of The Small Business Show, host Jim Fitzpatrick is joined by George Deeb, best-selling author, Forbes contributor, and managing partner at Red Rocket Ventures. Deeb is a serial entrepreneur with extensive experience in mentoring successful business owners and effective managers. His insights into leadership make him a valuable resource for those looking to found their own companies or lead their teams to success. Now, he discusses the skills that comprise good decision-making so that entrepreneurs know how to improve the speed and accuracy of their judgment.

Key Takeaways

1. There are five key skills to good decision-making. Business owners must be knowledgeable, intuitive, receptive, nimble and receptive.

2. To be knowledgeable, entrepreneurs must have a grasp of the data and variables affecting their industry. The greater their understanding of their sector’s function, the better decisions business owners can make when setting their strategies.

3. For business owners, intuition refers to their “gut instinct” or common sense. While entrepreneurs should avoid relying solely on personal feelings, having a good instinct is a powerful tool that will keep a team aligned with its goals.

4. Business owners should never make choices without the input of others in their industry. To improve their decision-making abilities, entrepreneurs must lend an ear to employees, experts, managers, and others who have insight into the issues facing their organizations.

5. Speed matters when making decisions. Rather than letting themselves get bogged down with the details, entrepreneurs should prioritize nimbleness and agility so as to avoid missing opportunities.

6. Entrepreneurs must also approach decision-making with an open mind. By being flexible and avoiding headstrong behavior, business owners can navigate unpredictable markets and react faster to unexpected events.

"Part of why people don't innovate at work today is due to fear."

Here, you’ll discover more about the importance of accountability, the advantages of accountability partners, and insights into the various types of accountability methods. You’ll also learn useful tips for implementing accountability in your personal and professional life.

The Benefits of Accountability Partners

One of the main benefits of having an accountability partner is increased motivation. By having another trusted individual hold you accountable, you’re more likely to follow through on your commitments. Having someone there that is invested in your success inspires you to use your time effectively and prioritize important tasks, ultimately improving your productivity.

A study by the American Society of Training and Development reported that people are 65% more likely to meet a goal after committing to another person.

Types of Accountability Methods

Different accountability methods suit different people. The three most common are:

1. Individual accountability. This requires self-discipline to hold oneself accountable for personal goals and progress, which may be challenging for some to maintain.
2. Peer accountability. This involves working with someone in a similar role, who can provide an outside perspective and support. The other person needs to be committed to the process for this to work successfully.
3. Team accountability. This involves working with a group of people towards a shared goal. It can be an effective way to enhance accountability, but again, everyone needs to be committed to the process.

It’s crucial to use the method of accountability that best suits your specific requirements. For example, if you’re more of an introvert, individual accountability might be the best option. If you thrive on competition, peer accountability could be more beneficial. Alternatively, if you’re more comfortable in a collaborative environment, team accountability could be the best choice.

Sometimes, a combination of individual, peer, and team accountability is the best way forward. Flexibility is key.

Accountability in Practice

Here are some examples of businesses that have successfully implemented various accountability methods: 

• Microsoft launched a program called “One Microsoft” that promotes peer accountability by encouraging employees to collaborate and share information across departments. The program holds teams accountable for their contributions to the company’s success.

• Salesforce implemented team accountability through its “Ohana” culture, emphasizing teamwork, collaboration, and accountability by holding regular team meetings and encouraging employees to set and track their goals.
• Google established individual accountability through its “Objectives and Key Results” (OKR) system, which encourages employees to set specific goals and track their progress towards them over time, and provides regular feedback and coaching to employees to help them stay on track.

The Role of Business Coaches in Achieving Accountability

Business coaches can act as accountability partners by providing guidance, feedback, and support. They can help individuals and teams establish clear accountability goals and plans, identify specific areas where accountability is lacking, and provide solutions to address them. They may also provide training and resources to cultivate a culture of accountability within an organization.

Having a coach as an accountability partner means you get an outsider’s perspective. This is especially helpful if you’re stuck or unsure how to overcome a specific challenge. Coaches can provide ongoing motivation and support through regular check-ins, progress reports, and collaborative goal-setting sessions.

"Part of why people don't innovate at work today is due to fear."

Incorporating Accountability Into Business and Personal Life

Making accountability a constant habit, in both your business and personal life, is key to achieving long-term success and growing as a person. Setting clear goals, identifying necessary steps, and ensuring that you or others follow through on those steps are key to achieving accountability. This requires discipline, dedication, and consistency.

The next step is to find a reliable accountability partner. This partner could be a business coach, colleague, friend, or family member, but they should be trustworthy and have a supportive and committed attitude toward your goals. Set regular check-ins for progress tracking and feedback, using phone calls, emails, or in-person meetings. Make sure you stick to the schedule to ensure accountability remains consistent.

Commitment and follow-through are also crucial. Being transparent about the consequences of failing to meet commitments and holding oneself or others accountable is essential. Obstacles and setbacks are common, but you can overcome these by revising goals, exploring new strategies, or seeking additional support. 

Here are a few extra tips for implementing accountability in your professional life: 

1. Surround yourself with supportive individuals – people who will help you stay on track.  
2. Encourage open communication and feedback among team members.  
3. Set up regular check-ins and stick to the schedule. 
4. Clearly define expectations and responsibilities with your colleagues and team members.  
5. Always be transparent and honest about your progress.  
6. Celebrate your accomplishments, however small they may seem. Use them as motivation to continue improving. 
7. Continually evaluate and modify your accountability methods to meet your evolving needs.  
8. Keep a journal to track your progress, reflect on your experiences, and set new goals.  
9. Take responsibility for your mistakes and treat them as learning opportunities. 

Maximize Your Potential With the Help of Accountability

Achieving success in leadership demands commitment and accountability for your actions. Using the accountability techniques outlined here, and partnering with a trusted colleague or business coach, can provide the necessary support and encouragement you need to overcome obstacles in both your personal and professional life. Ultimately, harnessing the power of accountability leads to better business outcomes and personal growth. If you constantly struggle to achieve your goals, take action and start implementing some of these accountability methods to unlock your full potential.