What does Accountability Have to Do with Wellness? This week blog pertains to my leadership column for the Conscious Shift Community. The Conscious Shift Community is a socially aware and forward thinking online magazine which is in complete alignment with being a Step Up Leader. I highly encourage you to sign up for a free subscription. They take on ideas that are outside the mainstream and present them in an intelligent, and understandable manner. Below is an excerpt from my column!
What does Accountability Have to Do with Wellness?
Is there a link between accountability and wellness? I believe there is. I believe that accountability and wellness are flip sides of a coin, the currency of which is personal responsibility.
The ability to be accountable for vision, clarity, action and results is the hallmark of effective leadership. A true leader will hold herself accountable, even in the face of the most challenging circumstances. She knows that true control starts first with herself. Her outer world will reflect her inner world. She knows that she cannot control others; doing so will only create resistance and eventual resentment. Even if she can manage to obtain cooperation in the short-term, it won’t be sustainable. What isn’t sustainable in the long run leads to disintegration and disease. Our bodies and organizations are rampant with this reminder.
A leader who creates a culture of accountability will be at the helm of a health culture; one in which there is respectful, honest communication. People may not agree, but they have the competencies to disagree in an agreeable manner. They know how to engage and converse. They know how to make effective requests and promises. They know what a commitment sounds like. They engage without blame, shame or criticism. They know that others are not there to serve them; they know they are there to co-create. They know that in so doing, the whole will be greater than the sum of the parts. They know that they can sustain it. This is the kind of leadership we long for and are bringing forth. It is natural. It is leadership from the core.