Episode 98
Strategic Accountability - An Inside Job | LAYC 98
In this insightful episode, Isabel Alexander continues her exploration of strategic planning, focusing on the vital element of accountability. She underscores the transformative power of accountability as an intrinsic, internalized commitment to achieving results. Drawing from her own experiences and coaching insights, Isabel challenges the conventional notion of being held accountable by others, emphasizing that true accountability is a self-driven, results-oriented endeavor.
Isabel delves into the intricacies of assigning accountability within the strategic planning process, providing actionable tips for business owners. She encourages a shift in perspective, where goals are set realistically, and individuals take ownership with a genuine belief in their attainability. The episode serves as a valuable guide for entrepreneurs seeking to navigate the often misunderstood terrain of accountability, stressing that the key to success lies in consistently measuring and adapting based on the outcomes of intentional actions.
As Isabel shares anecdotes from her coaching journey, listeners gain practical insights into creating a strategic plan that goes beyond being a static document, evolving into a dynamic roadmap for continual growth. The importance of stakeholders in an entrepreneur's life is explored, highlighting the interconnected relationships that can fuel success or, if neglected, pose challenges.
Join Isabel in this episode for a deep dive into the world of accountability within strategic planning. Learn how to cultivate a mindset of ownership, navigate the complexities of business relationships, and ensure that your strategic plan becomes a living, breathing guide for sustained success.
About the Host:
Isabel Alexander
Your Next Business Strategist and Transformation Catalyst
Dynamic, a self-made entrepreneur who overcame obstacles with an unrelenting positive nature, a farm girl work ethic, and a conscious choice to thrive rather than survive, Isabel Alexander cultivated an award-winning, $10+ million global chemical business and grew it from dining room table to international boardrooms.
Isabel’s strengths include the ability to initiate and nurture strategic relationships, a love of lifelong learning and talents for helping others maximize their potential. An inspiring speaker within both industry and community, she is a driving force behind those with the courage to follow her example of thriving against the odds.
With 50+ years of business experience across diverse industries, Isabel is respected as an advisor, a coach, a mentor, and a role model. She believes in sharing collective wisdom and empowering others to economic independence.
Founder:
Lift As You Climb Movement (www.facebook.com/groups/liftasyouclimbmovement)
and
Chief Encore Officer, The Encore Catalyst (www.theencorecatalyst.com) – an accelerator for feminine wisdom, influence, and impact.
also
Author & Speaker ‘Who Am I Now? – Feminine Wisdom Unmasked Uncensored’ (www.IsabelBanerjee.com)
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/isabelalexanderbanerjee/
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Transcript
Hello, I'm Isabel Alexander.
Isabel:Continuing this conversation as we approach the end of a calendar year
Isabel:about how we make next year a better, more rewarding, more fulfilling,
Isabel:more financial certain year.
Isabel:And there's only one answer.
Isabel:That's why we are continuing to talk about strategic planning.
Isabel:In fact, if the plan isn't strategic, then you better take a pause on that and
Isabel:think about what are you planning to do?
Isabel:Strategic is a positive direction and perspective to think about.
Isabel:If I wanted this, then I must do that.
Isabel:It's connecting the dots forward.
Isabel:In terms of, this is where I want to get to, this is the experience I want
Isabel:to have, this is the person I want to become, this is the capabilities and
Isabel:the resources that I wish to acquire.
Isabel:And then breaking it down as to, okay, what do you got to do to be
Isabel:able to accomplish those things?
Isabel:So strategic planning perhaps is a word or a term that, as a small business, Even
Isabel:a medium sized business or solopreneur or someone who's entrepreneurial within
Isabel:an organization they don't own, but they're contributing to the success of
Isabel:that organization, then understanding, embracing, enjoying, appreciating, and
Isabel:celebrating the advantages of thinking strategically and following through
Isabel:on the plan is a beautiful thing.
Isabel:In the past four episodes of this podcast, I've broken down some of the elements that
Isabel:I learned, experienced, applied, and grew because I learned from Verne Harnish's
Isabel:methodology, which is explained in a book called Mastering the Rockefeller Habits.
Isabel:It's not what anybody else wants, but when you allow yourself to pause in
Isabel:that quiet moment and say, what do I want my business to do for me, my
Isabel:family, the people I care most about?
Isabel:What is it that I want my business to say about me?
Isabel:It's what I want my business to be able to empower, to enable me to do personally,
Isabel:professionally, aspirationally then that's the important thing going forward.
Isabel:We've been reviewing the strategic plan as a one bite at a time of the elephant
Isabel:to enable us to get what we want out of our lives and our business impact.
Isabel:I encourage you to go back and listen to those last couple of episodes
Isabel:if you're just joining us now.
Isabel:And, of course, I would love it if after listening to that content you
Isabel:thought, there's some value here ,that you subscribe to this channel
Isabel:either as a podcast or as a YouTube video, whichever is your preference.
Isabel:And if you know of other friends, business owners, maybe they're
Isabel:your customers, maybe they're your suppliers, or maybe they're your
Isabel:subcontractors, that could benefit, and directly and indirectly benefit you by
Isabel:understanding a strategic plan and how to apply it to get good results, then
Isabel:please share this content with them.
Isabel:And I thank you ahead of time for that.
Isabel:Because I'd like to reach more entrepreneurs, particularly more
Isabel:women entrepreneurs, and help them increase the rewards they get from
Isabel:their businesses, and the impact that they leave, the legacy they leave.
Isabel:Today I want to go back a little bit and talk a bit more about
Isabel:accountability, because as I have been recording these episodes, I've
Isabel:also been refining, revising my own strategic plan for the upcoming year.
Isabel:And it was an interesting, the universe delivers, right?
Isabel:When the student's ready, the teacher will appear.
Isabel:In another coaching program that I am in.
Isabel:And that's part of my strategic plan, my own personal and professional development.
Isabel:I invest time and money in other areas with experts that I look up to
Isabel:and who will lift me as they climb.
Isabel:As a result of one of these coaching programs that I'm involved in, and
Isabel:I'm involved in several, and yes, that does require some planning to manage
Isabel:my time to get the best out of all of this and still deliver to my clients.
Isabel:I had the opportunity to be exposed to a different way of looking at
Isabel:strategic planning, and that is to dice it up into 12 week segments.
Isabel:I learned a different perspective on accountability.
Isabel:and I like it a lot.
Isabel:That accountability perhaps has been misinterpreted misappropriated as a
Isabel:word, as a meaning, as in needing to be held accountable for something,
Isabel:as in someone else outside of us.
Isabel:will hold us accountable for our actions, our results.
Isabel:The truth is, that doesn't work.
Isabel:Only we can be accountable for ourselves.
Isabel:And that accountability is very much an inside job.
Isabel:Accountability is the measurement of the result from the actions that we took.
Isabel:Or didn't take.
Isabel:So in thinking of when you're creating your strategic plan and your objectives
Isabel:and assigning accountability, like the first chair for that particular
Isabel:initiative, think about it in that context, instead of somebody else
Isabel:having to be there checking up on, approving or disapproving of what
Isabel:happens and the accounted for results.
Isabel:Think about it as that is definitely ownership by the individual.
Isabel:that is responsible for that.
Isabel:And if you're a solopreneur, often it's you, right?
Isabel:So be very careful about what you choose as important goals and priorities,
Isabel:because if you choose too many, You're setting yourself up for failure.
Isabel:It is far better to have a big vision and BHAGS, big hairy audacious goals,
Isabel:as we talked about in a previous episode, but set up the shorter term goals and
Isabel:actions with an expectation of success.
Isabel:You really believe that you can achieve, and then you go do it.
Isabel:Because the idea of having a strategic plan might sound kind of sexy, yeah, I
Isabel:got one, I wrote it, it's really pretty, and then you put it away after you do
Isabel:all that work, and you don't actually go back and say, oh, I have made progress.
Isabel:Yes, I did it.
Isabel:I achieved what I wanted to, or you had milestone markers that
Isabel:you visited and said, okay we're not on course for that, or maybe
Isabel:we're ahead of it, whatever it is.
Isabel:That it's adjusting what you're doing in business in a real honest to god,
Isabel:accountable to yourself, No Bullshit.
Isabel:It's, I said I wanted this.
Isabel:And I am entitled to have this, but it's up to me, myself, and
Isabel:I to have the discipline to create the steps, the action, the
Isabel:measurabilities to accomplish it.
Isabel:And that's the, ooh, the 'un-girly' stuff, perhaps, that some of us might
Isabel:say, oh shit, that's really not much fun.
Isabel:I think there is a bigger difference, I think, in my experience, that men
Isabel:in business set a goal, and they believe they deserve to achieve it.
Isabel:And they just go blindly with the expectation of having it.
Isabel:Women entrepreneurs, not so much.
Isabel:Although I'm very glad that is changing.
Isabel:And it's changing because of these kinds of conversations where business
Isabel:people like me and you are sharing candidly, honestly, what worked.
Isabel:And what did not work, and changing the paradigms, changing our attitudes,
Isabel:and changing our expectations about outcomes based on what we actually do.
Isabel:Accountability.
Isabel:An inside job.
Isabel:Please consider that when you're creating your strategic plan, that in the areas
Isabel:of the goals that you have identified, who really is taking ownership of
Isabel:that, and there will be No Excuses?
Isabel:There will be adjustments where required, but the action, the evidence must be
Isabel:there that they made every positive move forward to accomplish that goal.
Isabel:It has become my life experience and I've got witnesses on this all
Isabel:over the place, that it isn't just about you and your business and the
Isabel:plan and the success you have, but it's about every single stakeholder
Isabel:that is affected by your decision.
Isabel:Stakeholders, again, one of those really old time terms, but I frame
Isabel:it in the perspective of everyone who has a stake in the outcome, the
Isabel:evolution, the success or the failure of your leadership as a business owner.
Isabel:You, obviously, as the chief shareholder, are number one stakeholder
Isabel:on the list, and then your partners.
Isabel:If you have them, your staff, if you have them, your contractors, if you
Isabel:have them, and you better have some because then I would also refer you
Isabel:to reading another one of my favorite business books, and that's Dan Sullivan
Isabel:and Benjamin Hardy's Who, Not How.
Isabel:But staying on the topic of stakeholders also include your suppliers.
Isabel:your customers, your family, your friends, your service providers.
Isabel:your banker, your technology firm, your lawyer, your accountant, anybody
Isabel:who has a responsibility, a benefit, anybody who is somehow impacted by your
Isabel:business is a stakeholder to some extent.
Isabel:Think about this, that if you create a plan, consider them in the areas they
Isabel:can impact and they will be impacted by.
Isabel:As a woman, I experienced this myself, thinking about my family and my closest
Isabel:friends and my community obligations as stakeholders, made me think about how
Isabel:do I manage the time that I have, the energy I have, the capacity, the resources
Isabel:I have to still serve them as well?
Isabel:Engaging the people that are in your orbit, whether they're in the inner
Isabel:circle or a medium or outer ring, adds more energy, adds additional fuel to
Isabel:your success, and if you don't, one of those, if they feel underserved,
Isabel:distressed, annoyed, can knock you off your orbit by acting up a bit.
Isabel:It's something I talk a lot more deeply with my clients, my one on one clients,
Isabel:is figuring out who is in your cast and crew and how do they factor into
Isabel:your new script that you're writing.
Isabel:Writing a script with the Encore methodology is very much like writing
Isabel:an annual strategic plan and so there's definitely personalities involved to
Isabel:be considered and make the best of.
Isabel:Okay, so for today I'm going to add to your thoughts as
Isabel:you're creating, refining.
Isabel:editing your strategic plan, which, by the way, you should regularly be
Isabel:reviewing it and making sure that you're continually moving in the
Isabel:right direction for the right reasons.
Isabel:Remember, The Accountability, who's involved and how you make sure that
Isabel:they have ownership and know that it is an inside job for success!
Isabel:And that no plan means no party!
Isabel:And the party would be attended by all your stakeholders and the stakeholders
Isabel:are a broad category, but they all do have an impact on an entrepreneur's life.
Isabel:I hope this has given you some good juicy stuff to think about and create absolutely
Isabel:the perfect plan for your success.
Isabel:Looking forward to coming back and sharing a little more about strategic
Isabel:planning in the next episode.
Isabel:And That one will definitely be a celebration because I'll share some of
Isabel:my story and how my real life example and that of my clients are based on this
Isabel:simple process of a one page, elegant, perfect sized, strategic plan methodology.
Isabel:Ciao for now!
