The Ultimate Accountability: Being Responsible For Your Own Success

"The buck stops here!" might be the most famous political slogan of accountability, in the last century.

It was, of course, President Harry S. Truman's quote and reaction to politicians "passing the buck" or in other words abdicating responsibility for their promises, words, or actions. The story goes that these words appeared on a plaque prominently displayed on his desk in the Oval Office during his term.

As children, most learn accountability through their parents, the educational system, or early work or job experiences....but here's the "rub" as well as my opinion: We often collapse accountability with fault, blame, guilt. and even responsibility and they are NOT the same thing and often cause us to avoid or not choose this critical value, therefore skewing our results.

We learn, throughout our lives, to be accountable from a young age. Show up in class, or work...ON TIME. Do your homework! It follows us through life. Want to lose weight? Keep a journal.

My first career job was with a large textile mill as a Territory Manager. I worked from home, but drove through a large area consisting of multiple States, Cities, towns, etc. calling on Specialty Store Retailers, Architects, Designers, and Commercial "end users." Each day I would keep a "Call Report" and at the end of the week, send them to my Division Manager. What a pain!! But how else would the company know I was actually doing what they were paying me to do?

When an entrepreneur sets out to own or start their own company, as in our MLM model, they are accountable to no one but themselves.

The realization of this, was a fundamental breakthrough for me. If it doesn't work out, there is no where to fix the blame! Your network is composed of volunteers, not employees. You CHOSE the products AND the "supplier." The compensation plan doesn't have a mind of its own...it IS what YOU create with it...and it's unlimited.

However, I believe what happens a lot of times is, being human, we confuse accountabity with "responsibility."

A late, great, coach of mine, Mike Smith, once told me that most human beings are hardwired to avoid responsibility.

When I began to study and research why network marketing didn't work for so many, I heard: " 'Tried it....didn't work....never again.." or some version of ..." again and again, ad nauseum!!

Look: It takes no small amount of chutzpah to take a stand, an existential act of courage, and declare, I will succeed,PERIOD! I have a vision. I have a strategy. My life and my future to live a life of choice, is at stake.

Will I do it right, the first time? Don't know. Probably not. Will I quit? Never!! Will I win in the end? BANK on it!

One thing is for certain; Responsibility, like motivation, only works when it is self-sourced. When you are responsible for your own success, you are accountable to your own rules and parameters. No one else's.

Are you willing to be responsible and accountable for your own success and results? It's a lead pipe cinch no one else will be.

Remember, whenever in your life, you've been disappointed with a result or a decision, YOU have always been there.

The same is true of success, as you are the only one who can define and therefore, ultimately be responsible for it.

RUSS DEVAN is a popular industry-wide speaker and trainer, and he is president of Success By Design Inc, the consulting firm he founded in 1991 to support both the corporate and distributor levels of Network Marketing. Russ is a long-time contributor to Upline. He is currently concentrating on developing his training system on the Internet. Russ lives with his family in Scottsdale, AZ. This article first appeared in the November 1993 issue.

Editor's note: Russ has been doing and teaching this for decades successfully... it works! Russ is now a columnist with The Network Marketing Magazine and someone I consider The Greatest Networker In The World! George Madiou