Navigate the Path to Integrity by Establishing Accountability as a Core Value

Always accepting accountability as a core value was one of the most important steps in our website launch.  Staying true to our moral compass, especially in challenging times is always difficult.  Core values strengthen resolve and focus.

We actually have three core values. The other two are to be compassionately courageous, and to simplify leadership development.

We went through a process to come up with these three core values. In this page we'll explain that process and why it is important to narrow your working list down to a few, so they maintain a high priority. You'll notice we don't use singular words like honesty, courage, or any of the list of great character traits that are important. Here's why.

Single words can be vague. We all want to be honest and kind folks. But what if honesty could mean hurting someone? Remember the three test questions about honesty. Is it true? Is it necessary? Is it kind? Sometimes the first two override the third question. Sometimes we need to speak the truth that might hurt another person. So if core values are honesty and kindness and they contradict, what do you do?

Accountability is a recurring theme in these pages.  But that one word doesn't fully define our core value.  We must "always accept accountability."  No excuses, no passing the buck.  We didn't trip on a rock, we aren't victims of our environment.

Courage is a noble character trait.  But again, not specific enough for a powerful core value.  We must always "be compassionately courageous."  It's harder to remain strong in our beliefs while still being willing to listen to people with the intent to understand first, then to be understood.  That's the nature of effective core values.  They make us reach deeper and work harder.

Posting leadership principles isn't all that tough.  Our core ideal is a nation of young leaders who put service above self.  That goes against the current trend in politics and in college lecture halls.  We need to simplify the process so our young  people can be prepared to move into leadership roles and change the "me-first" culture into one of "how can I help make things better?"

Every morning we ask for peace, happiness, wisdom, understanding, and forgiveness, in that order. None of those individual words are part of our three core values, but they are vitally important to those three core values. More on that in the last section of this page.

All of us learned that without solid core values, we tend to drift through life, sometimes adding value to life and lifting people up, and some other times missing opportunities because we were too focused on our own circumstances.

Recognizing Your Core Values

There is a difference between a core value and a core ideal. We wrote on our home page that we believe the American Dream is alive and well. That's a nice ideal and we do believe it. But that isn't a core value. When we list always accepting accountability as a core value, the test becomes, what do we do to lift people up closer to that American Dream?

What is a core value? Core values inspire action. Core values are the guidelines that help us make good decisions and give our life meaning. Here is an easy process you can all use to define your core values. They will or at least, should, align with your core ideals.

Make a list of character traits. You'll find a block full of strong examples in our page titled, "What Is A Character Trait?" Be honest with yourself. Don't add words that sound good or are traits that people hold in high regard but are not hot buttons for you.

When you have a satisfactory list, group similar words together to shorten the list. Then take a break.  Go for a walk with your dog.  Think about how you see your purpose in life.  What would you do if you knew you couldn't fail?  What group of  words keep coming back to you? 

This is the part that took the longest for us.  Maybe because we had more than one opinion and more than one personality type?

As we went through this, it became obvious what our core values would be in relation to our core ideals. We all knew we wanted to be part of something involving service to our fellow citizens.  We recognized that good things could happen when a committed group takes positive action in support of a worthwhile goal.

And we agreed on the top core value because everything built off that one.

Setting Always Accepting Accountability As A Core Value In The Top Spot

In our minds always accepting accountability as a core value is essential for everyone who is trying to make a positive difference in the world. In our morning ritual, wisdom is included. Forgiveness is listed. Understanding is listed. Responsibility is included in the big section on our page about character traits. So is courage. And humility. Persistence is in there too.

To always accept accountability, we need to have courage, but also humility. We need to be responsible but also forgive other people when they apologize and remember to forgive ourselves when we slip up. Everyone slips up.

Being compassionately courageous brings in peace, forgiveness, understanding, courage, wisdom, kindness and service to others. We need all of those character traits to define our core values and then more importantly, to live those core values everyday.

To simplify leadership development we must be trustworthy. We will need to be determined for sure, and optimism is important. No one wants to listen to someone who is always in the Chicken Little mentality of the sky is falling.  How do people feel when they read the pages on our website?  Are they more inspired, more determined, more encouraged?  

We believe in always accepting accountability, always being willing to recognize that our thoughts lead to actions and every action has consequences. Our core values lead us to doing our best to provide quality information to simplify leadership development.  The end goal is to grow more strong leaders who believe in being compassionately courageous people who also believe the American Dream is alive and well.

Go through the steps, identify your core values and then act on those core values to make things better than you found them.

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