The price of greatness is responsibility - Winston Churchill

”The price of greatness is responsibility.”- Winston Churchill

So many people go into business for themselves in an effort to have more control over their life. They have either made the decision that they need more financial freedom or just want a better life work balance. But being a successful business owner requires you to become a leader. And being a leader means being accountable.

Who holds you accountable? Your employees aren’t going to rat you out or hold your feet to the fire when you just “phone it in” and your family won’t know it. Who is going to make you do the things that you need to do even when you don’t want to do them? Who is going to stop you from doing the things that you shouldn’t be doing? The truth is there isn’t anyone who can. It is completely up to you. And you must have the discipline and guts to hold your self responsible.

We all know those people who are never to blame for anything that goes wrong in their business. It always seems to be something outside their control when things don’t seem to work out right. They are very good at making excuses. They did all they could and the results that they got where just inevitable. They say things like “Business is down for everyone!” or “You just can’t trust employees “When the cat’s away the mice will play”.

Making excuses and blaming your outcomes on inevitability or someone else is nothing more than excepting that you are a victim and powerless to be effective. And ineffective leaders do not have successful businesses.

If you really want your business to thrive then you must be aware of what is not working, acknowledge it and take ownership of it. Without ownership you cannot fix anything. If your employees aren’t performing the way you need them to, then what are you going to do differently to solve that problem. Is it a morale problem? Maybe it is just a lack of training.

Being accountable means seeking out solutions. If sales are down, have you stepped up your game? Are you doing anything differently? I have had business professionals who are in the service sector tell me that they refuse to discount their hourly rate. Well, in my world when you have excess inventory you do what you have to do to move it. Excess time is excess inventory. You don’t want to discount; fine then figure something else out. Whatever the issue, it is your job to seek the solution.

Being accountable means getting uncomfortable. You can’t sit on the sidelines and hope and wait for things to improve. Sometimes you are going to have to deal with conflict. Too often harried business owners assign all the important jobs to just one employee and then find themselves in a very precarious position when that employee turns toxic and removing them because next to impossible.

I was at a presentation once where the presenter was talking about business leaders who refuse to deal with problem employees. He said to the group “If you are one of those people who have to take Aim….Aim……Aim……Aim…..Aim….and then shoot; you really should reevaluate whether you belong in this role.” Hoping and waiting for a problem to fix itself is not an option.

When we fail to acknowledge reality and blame or make excuses for our problems we are acting like victims. It is only when we hold ourselves accountable by becoming aware of where we are, owning it and seeking solutions we become the true business leaders that we aspire too.