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Guest Lee Labrada on Leadership

Accountability…Who Needs It?

We surveyed 32 random people regarding the importance or unimportance of accountability in the achievement of a goal or objective.

The results clearly indicate that the vast majority of people surveyed either have experienced positive results with, or believe that having someone (mentor, coach, partner) keep them accountable to what they say they are going to do or achieve will or has helped them achieve the desired or stated outcome.

This runs counter to much of the anecdotal and empirical evidence suggesting that sharing your goal with someone else can, as a result of the immediate gratification of sharing the goal, actuality reduce motivation and the likelihood of achieving it.

Below are the actual Survey questions and results

For more about ACCOUNTABILITY go to

MAX Mind Set

http://www.tomterwilliger.com/buzz/accountability-who-needs-it

The truth is accountability and especially accountability partners can be a HUGE pain in the ass. But truthfully I know of very few of us including the greatest athletes in the world who have the discipline, presence of mind and sheer will power to keep themselves on track and accountable all the time – especially to those big audacious commitments.

We all slip now and then… but to keep us from slipping too far or repeating the same mistake twice we may need someone to call us on our shit when it shows up.

In this episode of Max Mind Set I address the issue of accountability and how without it we can easily fall off the commitment wagon.

Watch the full Max Mind Set episode at Muscle and Fitness Magazine

Then come back and take my Accountability Survey

Click here to take survey

Here are the Survey results

Ready to rock… then check it out.

Get Audacious in 2012

Watch My Video at Muscle & Fitness Magazine

How BIG a game did you play in 2011

Chances are, like your neighbors up the street and millions of other people, you were directed less by a sense of desire and ambition and more by a need for survival.  As a collective we contracted last year like we have for the past 3 years and as a result we experienced very little GROWTH… personally or collectively.

Can you even remember  the goals or “resolutions”  you set for yourself last year… more importantly did you achieve them?

Perhaps you did. Maybe you stopped smoking, gave up the booze, started a diet, asked your boss for a raise or read a book a month. If so – bravo. But the odds are you either didn’t set any goals or don’t even remember your goals.

And there’s an even greater likelihood  that if you did set some goals, like the ones I mentioned above, you didn’t come close to achieving them.

WHY?

It’s simple,  those objectives aren’t ambitious enough to invoke even the slightest bit of excitement much less passion…

Read the rest of the story at Ironman Magazine

I didn’t have the chance to see it myself as it was hidden behind those pesky Rocky Mountains.

But I understand from friends on the west coast, who had dragged themselves kicking and screaming out of bed a t 4:30 am, that it was a very cool sight as what appeared to be a massively overinflated moon, draped in red, passed through and was completely eclipsed by the earth’s shadow cast by the sun.

Although I missed this particular eclipse and they say there won’t be another one for 14 years this isn’t exactly a rare spectacle for me and likely not for you.

I see it happen all the time in the area of achievement and success.

We get all excited about some big, bright, and shiny object and like George Bailey we attempt to throw a lasso around it and pull it towards us.  We shine a light on it, over inflate its size and make it the focus of our attention. We even run around telling people “This is it…this kind of opportunity doesn’t come around often. This is the one.”

Then before we know it, what was once bright and shiny begins turning red and going dim. The opportunity, hope and possibility that was once the source of the objects illumination is suddenly completely eclipsed by our own shadow.

A shadow cast not by the brightness of who we really are and what we’re actually capable of, but by our many inescapable  fears, doubts and uncertainties.

If we only understood that all we have to do is MOVE (decisively) and the shadow will disappear.

What are your thoughts?

Just the other day for example, I was headed to Colorado Springs from Denver and after arriving at my destination – I had vertically no recollection of driving or even what exit I took to get there. I had taken the drive so many times that it was programmed in.

It was as if I were in a trance the entire drive down except when some idiot in a semi cut me off doing 90mph.   Then somehow as if on its own with no conscious effort on my part, my finger popped up…. followed by a short all be it intense stream of obscenities flowing from my lips.

It was like a reflex or part of the natural fight or flight response – or what I now call the fight/flight/finger response.

Like walking, breathing or the pumping of blood to and from the heart much of that stuff that happens automatically without us ever thinking about it is the job of your unconscious mind.

Your unconscious (or subconscious) mind is responsible for almost 90% of your actual mental activity and most of it is happening below our conscious radar.

Imagine a massive iceberg for a moment… your conscious mind is represented by what you see on the surface which is approximately 10% of the mass. This is the realm we like to think of as CHOICE.

The vast majority of the iceberg like your unconscious mind is somewhat hidden below the surface. And whether you’re aware of it or not it has massive influence over the vast majority of your actions, decisions and the choices you make on a minute to minute day to day basis… like flicking the bone at a truck driver that could run your ass over without a second thought.

Logically that might not have been the best choice but the emotional part of the brain can often hijack logic and automatically trigger an otherwise foolish response.

Consciously you may have decided to get up and go to the gym this morning, or grab those two beers last night, what kind of shape you’re going to be in or even the amount of money you make. But what you’re likely not aware of is the influence your unconscious programming had on those decisions.

Like the blueprints and programming you created early on about how to walk, talk and all the little idiosyncrasies you have – you we’re also busy creating unconscious blueprints and programming for how much success, happiness, fitness and money you we’re going to have… as well as the way you response to stress or fear.  All based on some early experiences you had, and or the decisions or beliefs you created.

The very programs you likely created to help you safely navigate your environment at that time my now limit your options and choices and may have become the primary factors in limiting your ability to achieve what you want… providing you know what you want.

My goal was to get to Colorado Springs and back home again safely in one piece and yet my very reaction to the environment around me could have produced a decidedly different result.  In many respects it was a fear based reaction.

That reaction unless identified and re-programmed does and will continue to represent a restriction and limitation to the otherwise more empowering and appropriate choices available.

Maybe it’s time to start questioning some of your unconscious automatic responses to what’s been cutting you off or getting in your way. Maybe it’s time to scrap some of the old blueprints and start building a new set of plans for the type of choice you want to make consciously.

Too often we see only what stands between us and what we want and allow those things to stop us from moving forward or keep us from taking the first step.  The truth is we’re always going to encounter resistance in the pursuit of what we want – most of which with the right plan, enough determination and strength of will can be overcome.

The more subversive and covert stumbling block for countless otherwise great achievers is  the “internal resistance” they counter – but don’t have a clue it’s what’s slowing them down because it is on the unconscious level.

In the video I talk about the “end result” or outcome being like the leaves on a plant. Because they’re visible we get so focused on the leaves it’s all we pay any attention to….

“I must have great leaves.”

“I must have great leaves.”

“I must have great leaves.”

…and wind up ignoring what’s going on below the surface at the level of the roots.

But if the plant is going to flourish we must water and nurture the roots not the leaves.

If you have a values, integrity or worthiness conflict between what you want on the outside (the leaves) and what is going on inside (the roots) you will (not maybe) encounter overwhelming resistance, frustration and very likely failure.

The key is to fertilize, water, nurture the soil, and the roots. The only way to do that  is to take your sights off the goal and focus on your internal rather than external growth.

I would love to hear your thoughts.

No more bullshit – it’s time we get to the heart of top secret information regarding the four simple yet deadly covert ways your internal saboteurs pull the strings and create the illusion that you can’t lead or succeed.

Do you recall the significance of the date – June 13, 1942?
It was shortly after midnight on that date that four saboteurs landed on a beach near Amagansett, Long Island, New York – no more than 20 minutes from where I was born and raised some 17 years later.

The four men were from a German U-boat, clad in German uniforms and had brought ashore with them enough explosives, primers, money and supplies to support a two-year campaign of destruction, chaos, and fear.

The purpose of this campaign and one like it on the coast of Florida was to strike a major blow to the American people by bringing the violence of war to our home ground.

The mission was to shut down our ability to manufacture vital equipment and supplies for transport to the battlegrounds of Europe, diminish our resolve to win… and strike fear into the American civilian population;

Shut Down Ability — Diminish Resolve — Strike Fear

In the face of our recent economic BS and all the external challenges and resistance you’re up against everyday…  have you felt a little like your ability to succeed has been “shut down”  – or like your resolve may be giving way to fear in the past 24 months?

What if the primary resistance you face everyday wasn’t external at all – what if the majority of it is coming from within?

What if the biggest saboteur to you success had nothing to do with the economy, lack of resources, lack of capital, increased competition, or the controversial even hostile political climate.

What if the primary resistance you face everyday wasn’t external at all – what if the majority of it is coming from within?

Napoleon once said that,
“A spy in the right place is worth 20,000 soldiers on the battlefield.”

What if you have been infiltrated by inner saboteurs – whose job is to sabotage your ability to succeed, lower your resolve and induce paralyzing fear?

And if the answer to all those questions were YES – would you want to know about it?

My illusion is that you would.

Keep in mind however that knowing these answers may require some self evaluation and work on your part- possibly a lot of f—ing work or having to live with the knowledge that if you’re not where you want to be in life… it’s your fault – one way or the other.

Let’s start with this question; do you consider yourself a LEADER?                                                                                                                                                                                                             

In your business, your family, your community and or personal life… are you a leader?

If your answer is “NO” what follows may provide some insights as to why.
If your answer is “KINDA”… than the answer is actually NO.
If your answer is “YES” then you’re about to discover why you have not been as effective a leader as you could be.

Would you agree that at one level or another it’s your job as a leader to motivate, inspire, persuade and influence the actions and behaviors of others – primarily through your own actions and behaviors?

And if so, would agree that – that “leadership influence” is critical to getting others to willingly take action or change behaviors even in the face of resistance and to your success as a leader?

Of course it is!

But what if your own actions and behaviors are being covertly influenced or have been sabotaged by internal forces acting outside your conscious awareness or detection, below your radar you might say.

The bottom line is you would be at jeopardy of losing your influence as a leader… if you haven’t lost it already?

The ability to identify and stop your inner saboteurs… if indeed they actually exist should be of prime concern to you.  And if it’s not you can stop reading right now…unless you just want to check for more spelling and grammar errors.

Either way let’s get to it.

Like the Long Island beach invasion there are 4 Primary inner saboteurs that stop most of us from having or achieving what we want or from taking out leadership role.

There exact names and aliases (they have many) are on a need to know basis– and aren’t important.

What is important, what you need to be aware of – is how their actions manifest in your life.

The first saboteur is ANARCHY.

In my way of thinking Anarchy is allowed entry into our lives as a result of a Lack of clarity making it very easy to do its job.

“Most people never get what they want because they don’t know what they want”   ~ Jim Rohm.

Have you ever had to be at a meeting or someplace important and in your own mind you knew exactly where the place was you had to be without having to look at a map… or at least you thought you did?  But then as you were getting close to where you thought it was you suddenly realize you weren’t so sure after all, and maybe wound up a little lost and possibly late as a result.  This has happened to me on more than one accession.

It’s like that with our goals. We think we know what we want and even have an internal map of how to get there – but somewhere along the way we wind up confused, lost and chaotic.  That’s when Anarchy does its best dirty work.   If your objective or goal is even remotely cloudy, vague, and ambiguous this saboteur will slip in and begin destroying your ability to achieve it.

The way to neutralize this insidious little f—er is to get 100% crystal clear on exactly what your objective is.  And if you are going to create the focus, clarity and vision to inspire others to move with you it is imperative.

The 2nd saboteur shows up as EXCUSES

This unscrupulous saboteur will have you convinced that it’s someone or something else’s fault that you’re not succeeding or leading at the level of your potential.

Have you ever made up some BS excuse for dropping the ball, not following through or even just being late for a meeting?   Excuses will always point out a way of re-framing a failure so that you don’t admit to the mistake or error ir learn from the experience.

In most coaching circles there is this presupposition – “there is no failure only feedback”

But when we get in the habit of accepting excuses – we wind up missing the lessons or the feedback and losing out on the ability to use that feedback to correct and continue the next time.  And so we make the same mistakes again and again. Can you stand in your power as a leader when you make excuses? NO!  A true leader never, ever makes excuses for his or her actions. They stand in their truth regardless of the consequences.
Learn to recognize when you are making an excuse – even small excuses like “I was late because of all that ball game traffic” – it’s bullshit.  Stop mid sentence– Stand in your power and take the heat.

Cut the BULLSHIT and Take responsibility for what you are responsible for – YOUR ACTIONS AND YOUR RESULTS

The third Saboteur sneaks out of our dark closet at night – it’s FEAR

And it will stop you dead in your tracks – sometimes within inches of the finish line.
When I ask my audiences for the definition of FEAR – without hesitation they shout out “false evidence appearing real” which is of course and acronym not really a definition.

The actual definition is as follows: “a distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain, etc., whether the threat is real or imagined;
In short – “The Anticipation of Pain”

Do you remember the original Night of the Living Dead  movie?  I was about 10 years old when my older brothers and sisters took me to see it.  I am not proud to say that within the first 15 minutes of the movie I had jumped up from my seat, bolted out the theater doors and was half way home before I realized I was all alone on a strange street in the dark.

When I finally got home I ran around the house locking all the doors and windows and hid behind the living room curtains so I could peak outside to see if they were coming for me.

10 years old notwithstanding, what had me acting like such a little pussy?

The anticipation of pain & False -Evidence -Appearing –Real

To this day there has been no reported case of anyone actually being killed or eaten by a ZOMBIE. Not that I know of.

But because there is evidence of smart, competent people just like you and me losing their businesses – their jobs, their 401ks, their homes or stepping our front to lead only to be humiliated and rejected that the saboteur has us thinking – no believing it is going to happen to us.

And so we contract, lock the doors and windows, and spend all our time peeking through the curtains to see if it’s coming for us. And as a result we miss the abundance of opportunities that are just outside our door.

While we are on the subject of fear let me share with you just how much damage the 4 long island saboteurs were ultimately able to inflict on the US during their campaign?

The answer is zero. No damage whatsoever.

Why?  Becouse the leader of the group Georg John Dasch had his own inner saboteurs.  It’s been speculated that his resolve gave way to FEAR, doubt, and uncertainty as he began to think of the entire operation as to “grandiose”… and as a result of those very thoughts, it was… for him. Just one day into the mission he called FBI headquarters in Washington DC and arranged a deal that involved betraying his colleagues and turning himself in.

“Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear – not absence of fear.”~ Mark Twain:

Fear will always be present at the moment of life changing or life saving decision.  This saboteur’s job like a terrorist is to invoke FEAR and paralyze our ability to take action.

As leaders we must – FACE THE FEAR AND TAKE ACTION ANYWAY!

The 4th and last saboteur shows up as a Lack of Commitment

It’s job is to diminish our RESOLVE and fortunately for us it worked for Georg John Dasch in 1942.

Winston Churchill once said – “Continuous effort – not strength or intelligence – is the key to unlocking our potential.”

When I was pursuing a professional athletic career I once asked my coach and mentor who had trained countless champions – how he was able to identify who had what it took to go all the way and be a champion?

What he told me was not what I expected to hear. He said the true measure of championship potential had nothing to do with genetic predisposition, who trained the hardest, or who had the greatest level of skill or even the best coach. But rather it had everything to do with everything.

A CHAMPION, he said is someone who gives 100% to everything they do, even when the stakes are low, and when others see little or no value in the reward or the effort and sticks with it until the job is complete. That rare individual who has developed the habit of playing FULL OUT and giving 100% even when no one else is looking is already a champion so when the time comes to step up… it happens automatically for them – they don’t know any other way.

There’s a saying;
“How you do anything is how you do everything” If you’ve allowed yourself to get in the habit of playing at 50, 70, or even 80% or less you can stop wondering why you’re not where you want to be yet.
In today’s competitive climate there’s simply is no room for another also ran.  You either identify the enemy and stop them, or ……… puff…. they stop you.

The Challenge:
Make a commitment starting today… right now to Identify and systematically eliminate all your inner saboteurs
1.    Get Clear on What You Want
2.    Stop with the BS Excuses
3.    Face the FEAR and do it anyway
4.    Get and stay Committed

I would love to hear your thoughts! Leave a comment below…

It’s one of my favorite expressions because – although we don’t like to believe it or admit it, if we half-ass the stuff we don’t want to do there is a very strong likelihood that we will also half-ass the important stuff too. Holding back, playing it safe, committing 50% or less becomes a habit that will show up just at those critical moments when you need to step up and give 100% without thinking about it… you know – “just do it!”

On the flip side of that coin – if we practice playing full out and giving 100% in the gym, on the job, in our relationships  we will find that we also give 100% in other areas of our lives even when the stakes are low. Playing full out takes commitment and practice. It also takes constant self observation.

Once we notice we’re holding back we have to train ourselves to flip the switch and instead of putting one toe in the water we dive head first with everything we have. That’s how winning us done.  No one ever regrets giving 100% even if they “fail”- what we do regret are the times we held back and failed as a result.

Start becoming aware of those times when you’re not putting as much effort forward as you could, when you hold back, or screwing around instead of living up to your commitment and realize at that moment that what you’re doing right then is what’s going to show up later on.  Or your unconscious self image will soon -  if it has not already – become that of someone who half asses his or her way through life… is that really you?

“No one ever regrets giving 100% even if they “fail”

What are your thoughts?