The legendary UCLA coach, John Wooden, recently passed, but he left with us so many meaningful and wonderful thoughts. One of my personal favorites is “Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do”.
Lenny Talarico, CSEP, heads the corporate event sales department of MGM Resorts Events. He operates in a world of accountability everyday. Below are just a few examples of his impeccably produced events.
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On the subject of accountability, Lenny channels his child within and muses…
“One of my all-time favorite childhood stories is the Italian classic, Pinocchio. The story, written by Carlos Collodi, first appeared in 1883, but really enjoyed worldwide success after the 1940 animated classic was released by Walt Disney. I remember seeing the animated version on the big screen as a child. The cornerstone of Walt Disney movies is and has always been movies with messages. The take-away from Pinocchio is, of course, a fairly straight forward one, “listen to your parents, don't tell lies, and do the right thing."
The entire movie is about being accountable. The main character learns in the roughest of circumstances what happens to little boys who are not brave, truthful, and unselfish. He is tricked, cheated, lied to, and kidnapped, sometimes with his own consent as he ignores his conscience. The film clearly portrays how consequences are a result of our actions. One only need listen to the lyrics sung by Jiminy Cricket and look no further for a lesson on accountability, "always let your conscious be your guide". Accountability is that little voice each of us has in the back of our head, it is our own personal Jiminy Cricket telling us “do the right thing, be responsible for your actions".
As leaders, the lesson for us is clear; you must accept responsibility for the results (good or bad) you allow to be created. Leaders must be accountable for the consequences of their and their team’s actions, or in some cases-consequences due to inaction. When something goes wrong, or a project does not turn out as intended, leaders who practice “100% Accountability-0% Excuses” need to look inward to explore how the actions taken impacted the result.
Rather than playing the blame game, or pointing fingers at external causes, leaders who practice accountability seek to understand their contribution to a problem, in doing so they learn and grow in response to those challenges.
When all individuals within an organization adopt the concept of personal accountability, there is less blame placed on others and more focus on moving forward to achieve the goals of the organization.
Being 100% accountable is not always easy; undoubtedly each of us will face challenges, its part of life. How we choose to handle those challenges defines who we are as leaders. The simple way to stay focused on accountability is clear, listen to Jiminy Cricket; "take the straight and narrow path and when you start to slide, give a little whistle and always let your conscious be your guide."
Better words could not be spoken.
Photography Credit-
Photos 1, 3, 4-Kelly McKeon
Photo 2-The Viewfinder Group
Photo 5- Paul Cichocki
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