Why Inspiration Trumps “Accountability”

Confession: it rubs me the wrong way when people say, “we need to hold kids accountable.”

No, we need to do a better job of inspiring them to be their very best. Because when they are already going ABOVE AND BEYOND what we would think to ask of them, at that point, there’s no need for “accountability.”

If anything, it’s the LEADERS that need to be “held accountable” for creating THAT environment for kids!

When we do see something “off” with a child, genuinely wanting to know, “what’s going on with you that you’re not at your best and how can I help?” is just CARING and loving them well.

It has nothing to do with, “I’M holding you accountable.”

That makes it feel like I have way too much control over your experience, like I’m in the drivers seat doing all the steering and directing. Telling you what to do and then making sure you do it, that’s how “holding people accountable” comes across to me and it’s how I see it used and executed by parents and coaches most often.

Now, I’m fully aware that this perspective can very much be colored by my own past experiences with the phrase.

There may very well be another another way to look at it and use it.

The way I all this?

I, as a leader, am simply here to love you well and see the very best in you so you can become it … because YOU did the work … because YOU are already amazing, NOT because I “held you accountable.”

I don’t want you to succeed “because I held you accountable!”

I want you to know you succeeded because you always had it in you and you were smart enough to surround yourself with sun, water, and nutrient dense soil <3  🙂


inspiration trumps accountability

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