The Present Leader's Ledger

Colleagues,
 
Welcome to a regular Thursday edition. I just wanted to point that out as I’ve been sending a lot of special editions your way.
 
Today we’ll look at strategy 6 for developing your leadership in 2020, but first a quick recap on what’s happening here at Strategic Leadership Consulting:

• On Tuesday we had our first Zoom meet up that included eight leaders from education and non-profit organizations in both South and North Carolina.
• Next week I’ll be launching a daily series on self-care for the homebound leader. You can read more about this program on my blog here.
• On Thursday, April 2 at 2:00 we will have our second meet up on Zoom. Please register here. 
• This is the first edition of The Present Leader’s Ledger. I've merged my two distinct audiences (P-12 education and everyone else) as this is a time when we all need to pull together.

Before we begin unpacking strategy 6, quickly generate a list of 5-15 people who you trust. These are people with whom you can be vulnerable. Take no more than three minutes and do it before you read any further!
 
Go ahead, do it now!
 
Really!
Did you make your list? Okay...

Goals that we keep to ourselves are invisible. The only accountability we have is to ourselves, and when things get urgent, accountability becomes less important. That’s why we need help.
 
If you are serious about improving in your focus area, you need help. You need an accountability partner. Important qualifications for being an accountability partner:

• They must have your complete trust.
• They must be willing to ask you hard questions and to push back.
• They need to care about your growth.
• They need to be a good listener.
• It helps if they themselves are reflective.

Your partner can be someone within your workspace, someone in a similar position in another organization, a friend, a relative or life partner, or even a parent.
 
Go back to that list of names you generated (you did do that, right?). They should all meet the first criteria. Now work through the other criteria and see who you are left with. Hopefully you have a couple of options.
 
Once you have identified an accountability partner, do the following:

• Share your issue, focus area, strategies, and one word with them
• Ask them to help hold you accountable
• Determine how they can hold you accountable
• Set up a regular time to touch base (weekly, monthly)

Do good and be well,

Frederick

​Click on the link to view a short video about my accountability parter!
You’ll also find short (3-8 minutes) videos that elaborate on each strategy and there are discussion forums you can participate in if you’d like to learn from and share with other leaders. 

My partner is...