At the risk of overusing the word crisis in today’s economy and world struggles, I believe we are in an accountability crisis.  In teaching and consulting on organizational effectiveness I find that almost every challenge leads back to accountability.  Accountability is deeply connected to results. In the age of the knowledge worker, it is apparent that supervisors are struggling or have given up trying.

First, let’s define accountability because it is a misleading concept.  It is an overused word and requires clarification.  Then, I’ll describe reasons why we are not achieving accountability.  In Part II on December 27, 2009 I’ll provide recommendations that can help win the battle.

Have you ever said, “I won’t do that again!” after volunteering for a committee, fundraiser, or organization?  I know I have. Until recently, I had decided that volunteering to help was more of a hassle than it was worth.  With three children, I have dabbled in volunteerism and often found the experiences disappointing.

For two consecutive years in a row my husband and I volunteered to coordinate ticket sales for my son’s group.  Our job was to distribute and track raffle tickets parents were responsible for selling and to coordinate occasional group sales locations.  This required a fair time commitment but we felt good about contributing to the organization.  That good feeling quickly dwindled when we were yelled at—and I mean yelled at—by a few parents who were angry about having to sell tickets in the first place.  It was the classic “shoot the messenger” scenario and the parents seemed to overlook the fact that we were just volunteers.

The inspiration to write this article about finding your strengths and putting them to work so you are more fulfilled professionally and personally comes from one of my best friends.  She has a good job with good benefits.  She excels at her job.  Her son is grown giving her new freedom.   She has all this and still feels like something is missing. Like my friend, many people I talk to wonder how to find their strengths and a profession or job to match.

This topic has always fascinated me because I realize now how internally driven I have always been to find a profession I love and excel in.  I grew up with the social notion that you can’t expect to love what you do.  After all, it’s called work for a reason.  I even labeled and happily proclaimed my beliefs as idealistic.  But a while back I discovered Marcus Buckingham’s research and work. His work substantiates my own belief in loving what you do.  He has written and co-authored books such as First, Break All The Rules, Go Put Your Strengths To Work, and many other fantastic books to help people to find and capitalize on their strengths.  Buckingham calls his work the “strengths movement” and advocates that we should not focus on improving our weaknesses; instead we should focus on discovering and developing our strengths.

This week, I conducted training for parents on communication and conflict resolution with teenagers. The parents in attendance wanted the same thing — healthy, happy and independent individuals. With our oldest, a senior in high school, I often wonder if I am doing my best as a parent.

Many times, employees struggle in the workplace because of the “baggage” they bring from home. One challenging aspect of home life is raising a teenager. Here are some ways to improve communication with your teen and foster a healthy lifetime relationship. Happy parents of teens are happier employees.

As a consultant I have clients who jokingly say, “Your article isn’t going to be about our dysfunction is it?”  I’m not going to lie. Often times I do get my inspiration from my clients.  However, it isn’t their “dysfunction” that inspires me; it’s their willingness to face their challenges and their commitment to improve them.  It takes great humility to admit your mistakes and enormous strength to resolve them.

This week the inspiration came from a team of coworkers who had been struggling with unresolved conflict for a long time. Although conflict is a part of everyday life, unresolved conflict only gets worse. Dr. Stephen R. Covey reports the No. 1 reason for conflict is violated expectations. So it doesn’t mean you are wrong and I am right (although that is always an option--kidding). It means that what you are expecting from this meeting, relationship, job, or whatever is different than what I am expecting.

— just take it one step at a time

It’s impossible to ignore the desire to have it all — money, a career, kids, a spouse and personal time. But how realistic is having it all, and how can we achieve our hopes and dreams while juggling a busy career, raising kids and tackling one unexpected event after another?

First, you must be realistic about what can be achieved on a daily basis. Then, you take small steps every day to reach your goals, care for your family and have a little fun along the way. Isn’t that what life is all about?

The billion-dollar question is what does it take to motivate us to achieve a difficult goal? Although many in the diet industry claim to have the answer in their products, the truth is different things motivate different people.

One thing I always wanted to do is to become a runner. Even though I mostly hated running, I always have admired the mental and physical discipline a runner maintains. At Delta High School, the track coach always tried to recruit runners or in my case, a live body, to join the track team. Coach Milligan tried to appeal to my ego. Apparently, the idea of being a track star wasn’t enough to motivate me to join. Once I realized track meant going on road trips, I became sufficiently motivated. Like so many difficult goals we try to achieve, the motivation is external and doesn’t last. The pain of running the 1-mile and getting lapped by West Valley’s Mara Rabinowitz more than once outweighed my desire for road trips.

One of the most significant things we can do as leaders is to establish and maintain a high level of trust. When you’re a new leader, you have about six months to a year to prove your trustworthiness. If you succeed, people will be less judgmental and more supportive of your decisions and requests. If you work for someone you don’t trust, you know it is nearly impossible to believe a word they say because you always are second-guessing their true intentions or judgment call.