Stuck Below The Line

A thin line separates accountability from a lack of accountability, success from failure. Below the Line^® lies excuse making, blaming others, confusion, and an attitude of helplessness, while Above the Line^® we find a sense of reality, ownership, commitment, solutions to problems, and determined action.

The CEO of a large retail chain was faced with the challenge of correcting an eight-year slide in revenue and profitability. His management team had recommended Accountability Training, but the CEO remained unconvinced that such training could fix the company’s problem. Eventually, the CEO agreed to a pilot program that would involve a few dozen stores in The Oz Principle^® Accountability Training^®—to see what it might produce. Ninety days later, all of the pilot stores were producing revenue and profitability results well above the company’s other stores. To assess the impact on results for himself, the CEO decided to visit some of the pilot stores. What he discovered turned out to be life changing for both himself and the company. Here’s how he tells the story:

“A woman who’d worked for the company for 22 years came up to me with tears in her eyes, thanking me for the Accountability Training she’d just received because it had changed her life. She said, ‘I have lived my whole life Below the Line. For 52 long and hard years, I have complained about my sad life, blamed others, and assumed I had no way out. After this training, I realized that it was me who made the choice over all those years to stay Below the Line. I want you to know that I will never spend another day of my life stuck Below the Line.’ Then she gave me a big hug and a kiss on the cheek. That’s when I finally said to myself, if Accountability Training can bring about this sort of fundamental change in our people, it can certainly correct our eight-year slide in revenue and profitability.” Which it did over the next several months, as Accountability Training was implemented companywide.

People and organizations find themselves thinking and behaving Below the Line whenever they consciously or unconsciously avoid accountability for individual or collective results. That’s when they get stuck in what we call the blame game or victim cycle, slowly losing their spirit and resolve, until, eventually, they feel completely powerless. Only by moving Above the Line and taking the Steps To Accountability^® can they become powerful again. To learn more about how to avoid getting stuck Below the Line, go to www.partnersinleadership.com.