Accountability and Boundaries
After giving a talk in my home city of Denver, I rode down the hotel elevator with a woman who had attended the session. She studiously reviewed her notes, lost in thought. Before we reached the lobby she looked up at me and spoke: “So what you’re saying, John, is I should go back to the office and do other people’s work for them?”
Whoa, where did that come from? I thought. I must not have been clear enough about that. So let me be clear now: The QBQ is not about covering for people, taking on their duties and responsibilities, or doing it “all by myself.” Doing so is not a service to others; it is a disservice to everyone.
When managers step in and close the sale, when project leaders carry the team’s ball, or when parents clean the child’s room—it teaches nothing positive and adds no lasting value. Certainly, leaders at all levels ask questions like “How can I help?” and “What can I do to contribute?” but they don’t do other people’s work for them.
For most of us, defining boundaries—where my accountability ends and another’s begins—is a lifelong process. I suggest asking the QBQ “How can I set good boundaries?” But accountable people are committed first and foremost to excelling in their own job and performing their own work the best they can.