Personal accountability QBQ

Personal Accountability: Flying Higher Is MY Job!

Posted by John G. Miller on April 18, 2013

I always enjoy speaking at a client event, partly because I love to sometimes be a contrarian.

Okay, who am I kidding—I love being “contrary” a lot. Karen and I even love to raise contrarians! Who wants to be a lemming?

Truth be told, when any of our QBQ! speakers arrive at an event, they already have “contrarian” stamped on their forehead because our sessions are titled “Personal Accountability and the QBQ!” And I think Kristin, at age 30, is especially contrary. How much more of an upstream-swimming salmon can one be than to be a Millennial and teach PERSONAL ACCOUNTABILITY in this blame infested and entitlement laden society?

But enough about us, really. What about the QBQ! material? What does it do for people and where does it apply?

QBQ! changes the way we view others and ourselves. And, it applies to all aspects of our professional and home lives. Let’s just glance at a slice of our work life:

Personal Development

A couple common Incorrect Questions (IQs) are:
IQ: “When is someone going to train me?” and “Why don’t I get more coaching?”
For those who know QBQ!, you know the better, more accountable questions are:
QBQ: “What can I do to develop myself?” and “How can I continue to grow?”

These IQs and QBQs are core content in any QBQ! presentation, but, I admit, after years of sharing these diametrically opposed questions, I can lose sight of their power. Then I’ll go speak somewhere and explain to an audience that, yes, managers do have an obligation to ask, “How can I best develop my people?” because that’s their primary job. But, people at all levels have an equal responsibility to develop themselves.

Trust me, in every organization there is someone somewhere right now complaining and griping about the lack of coaching and training. At 55, though, I have no hesitation telling client groups bluntly …

TRAIN YOURSELF!

Here’s a key rhetorical question I always ask when I teach QBQ!:

They’re your talents, gifts, and potential—why hide them under a bushel basket or bury them in the ground while lamenting about what others are not doing for you?!?

It’s then I can hear—and feel—the change of thought going on in the room. It’s at that moment I see this in people’s eyes:

Yes, yes! Why am I waiting for others? It’s my job to learn, change, and grow!

It even seems they want to shout, “Amen, Brother!”—but that’s not politically correct in some organizations, so they just nod, reflect, and reconsider.
And what they’re reconsidering, that is, changing their view of, is who’s truly responsible for their personal development, future, and—dare I say—destiny. Now they’re thinking …

I am.

What about you? Have goals? Would you like to become more? Want to win a promotion, earn a raise, or simply contribute at a higher level and feel better about yourself? Then start asking the outstanding QBQ, “What can I do today to develop myself?”

Because it’s always my job to fly higher.
For Discussion:
What training have I been waiting for? How will I now personally jump-start my own learning, growing, and changing?
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Posted in Personal Accountability | 5 Comments