“That which we measure, improves. That which we measure -and report- improves exponentially”

OVERVIEW:

What are “Accountability Partners”? They are 2 peers who talk on a regular basis to help each other become more successful.

First off, finding an accountability partner is optional. It’s for people who want to take their productivity up a notch.

Napoleon Hill, author of Think and Grow Rich, described this concept as “The harmonious alliance of two or more minds that create a friendly environment to gather, classify and organize new information for fast and effective implementation.”

Strategy, accountability and support are some of the biggest benefits you’ll receive from working with an accountability partner.

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THE STRUCTURE:

Here’s a template for an accountability partner structure:

1. Decide on a meeting schedule and duration. Keep the meetings short, productive and focused on solutions. 2x a month for 30 minutes is typical (each person talks for about 15 minutes). Respect each others time and make these calls a priority.                            

2. Start collaborating with each other to set goals, troubleshoot and strategize. Hold each other’s feet to the fire!

3. Here are the 3 questions each person should answer on each call:
A. How did I do regarding the goals I set at the end of our last meeting?
B. What are my current challenges that I want to discuss?
C. What am I committed to accomplishing before our next call?

Don’t over commit or set unrealistic goals. Set whatever makes sense for you to accomplish before the next meeting. Example: “Over the next 2 weeks, I intend to get 6 sendouts, 4 ‘A’ level searches, and to jog 3x per week”.

4. Keep things as confidential as you wish: It’s not necessary for you to reveal any sensitive information about your clients in order to work with an accountability partner. For instance, if you said, “I have a client who said they wanted me to start on a search but now they’re not returning my calls. What have you done in this situation?” you’d have the ability to strategize without ever having revealed the name of the client. Don’t allow fear of revealing sensitive details to keep you isolated from people who can help you – only reveal as much as makes sense for you.    

5. Try working together for 3 week period. Meet once a week for 3 weeks using the 3 question meeting template that I outlined above (after the 3 weeks you can change the meeting schedule to 2x a month or whatever you want to do).

The reason you want to do 3 meetings in a row is that it takes 3 weeks to form a new habit. If you decide to end working together after the 3 weeks, you’ll walk away with some new habits if you’ve taken the process seriously.

6. After the 3 week trial, decide how to proceed. If the chemistry isn’t there- no problem- just end the relationship and contact a different member to explore working together. If you do want to proceed with your partner, set up an ongoing schedule (2x per month is recommended) and continue to work together.

7. Consider Using Technology to Keep You On Track: Habit Forge is an simple tool for instilling a new habits into your daily routine. You decide on the habit you want to form and habit forge will email you for 21 days straight.

 A much more powerful tool that you could use as your “portal” with your partner is Stickk. Stickk was founded on the principal that creating incentives and assigning accountability of the two most important keys to achieving any goal. This a great tool- check it out!

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HOW TO FIND AN ACCOUNTABILITY PARTNER:                                                                  

1. Add your info to the Accountability Partners Forum so that other potential partners can find you.

2. Update your profile & photo on the Dashboard page.

3. Scroll through the people in the Forum and the Directory to see who you might want to work with.

4. Take initiative and contact people. Introduce yourself and set up a 10 minute phone call to explore the idea of working together as accountability partners for a 3 week period (as a trial). Remember, if someone is on the Forum it means they WANT to connect with people like you. Don’t expect people to approach you- take initiative yourself to get the ball rolling.

Here’s an example of an email you might send to a potential partner:

“Hello, I noticed your profile on The Recruiting Lab forum/ directory. I’ve been in the business for x years and recruit in the x niche. I’m not sure if you’re still looking for a partner, but I thought I’d take the initiative and see if this is something you’d like to discuss. If you’d like to explore this, I was thinking we might follow Gary’s suggestion of working together for a 3 week period and then assess if we want to continue after that. That way we’ll have formed some new habits that we can benefit from and then have the option to continue or not. If this sounds of interest, let me know what a good time is for you to set up a call to discuss. Thanks.”                                                                                                                        

4. Contact people outside our forum: If you can’t find someone via our forum, you can use the meeting instructions (see above) with anyone who you think might make a good partner. Other small business owners, professionals in your office building, business coaches etc. Reach out and connect with people you’d like to work with.

Lastly, if you have suggestions on what we should add or subtract from these instructions, please let us know.

Good luck!

Gary