RESET in the Mirror: Holding Yourself Accountable First

Before you can hold anyone else accountable, you must start with the person in the mirror. Leadership without self-accountability is hypocrisy, and nothing destroys trust in a team faster.

Recognize Your Own Gaps

It’s easy to see flaws in others. It’s harder to admit them in ourselves. But if you don’t recognize your own gaps, your credibility erodes.

Envision the Leader You Respect

Would you follow you? That’s the real test. Envision the leader you’d be proud to work under, then measure yourself against that image. Remember — this isn’t about perfection. It’s simply about identifying your starting point.

Shift to Radical Ownership

Stop the excuses. Own the mistakes, adjust, and move forward. A team will forgive errors; they won’t forgive blame-shifting. You can delegate authority, but you cannot delegate responsibility.

Embody Accountability

When you admit your faults and correct them, your team learns that accountability isn’t punishment — it’s growth. A team that consistently grows will always exceed expectations.

Track Your Reset

Set regular checkpoints: Am I still living the standard I demand? Use RESET as your accountability compass. The key is to build these check-ins into your schedule — and protect that time.

I’ve made plenty of mistakes over the years. The ones I regret most are the ones I didn’t own up to and grow from. As a leader, it’s normal to face situations you’ve never encountered. In fact, if you’re not, you’re probably just going through the motions, not truly leading.

The more I embraced my mistakes and took accountability for them, the more my teams rallied behind me and did the same. It can be something as small as forgetting to send an email, or as significant as giving bad direction that wastes your team’s time. The more you publicly admit your mistakes, the more comfortable your team becomes admitting theirs — and the transformation is almost unbelievable.

A question I’ve often been asked is: Should I take accountability for my team’s mistakes? My answer is always yes. As the leader, you are responsible for everything that happens — or fails to happen — within the team.

This doesn’t mean letting people off the hook. Quite the opposite. It means ensuring your team has the tools, guidance, direction, and motivation to succeed. When mistakes happen, it’s your responsibility to work through them, identify solutions, and prevent them from happening again. Sometimes that means setting clearer expectations. Sometimes it means redistributing tasks. And sometimes, it means making tough calls when someone can’t or won’t meet the standard. But it always comes back to you.

👉 Leadership starts in the mirror. Ready to RESET your accountability? Book your discovery call here: Schedule Here.