Are you one of those individuals that can easily “obtain” employment, but have a hard time “maintaining” the employment?  If that category encapsulates you, don’t worry, you are not alone. In working with youth, accountability seems to be a major problem in their lives, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Accountability much like everything that humans do is a learned behavior and once a learned behavior becomes entrenched into your life, it is habitual. The older that you get, the harder it is to actually change a habit because it causes you to first, unlearn the negative behavior and re-learn a new one: and yes, in the writer’s humble opinion, lack of accountability is a negative behavior.

The essence of accountability is to “answer for one’s conduct and obligations” , this is  very important because more often than not your performance at work will be evaluated on the above philosophy. Are you the type of person that accepts responsibility for your actions no matter what, or are you looking to run somebody up a flag pole and assign blame when something goes wrong? People that are accountable for their actions will always succeed because fish swim, birds fly and humans make mistakes! It commands a level of respect when you can admit your shortcomings and make changes through your actions. People just as much as employers respect introspection and accountability.  When you are going to be late, make sure you phone. When you are sick, make sure you phone. When you make a mistake, own up to it. These are the simple yet effective things that you can implement into your life that will help you succeed.  This is why in an interview one of the best things that you can say about yourself is that you are a “solution based person” this is exceptional because it tells the employer that you always look for a solution to a problem, because talking about the problem will do nothing, working forward to a solution, now that’s golden (pardon the Olympic reference).

Lack of accountability skills and not taking responsibility for your actions is fear based. If it is a forgone conclusion that humans make mistakes then why are you so scared to admit them? You have to remember that victory lies in the admission of defeat and when you need help: ask. Despite what many people think or what we have been taught in certain cultures, asking for help is not in any way, shape or form  a sign of weakness. In my experience with some youth they seem very content with  not asking for help, messing up what they are doing and when they have no choice but to ask for help, it is too late. If you use a trades based environment for example, if the plumber makes a mistake laying the pipe and does not tell anyone, then the drywall will be put on and within 5 years the house will have to be completely renovated which will end up costing double, what could have saved all of that: admitting your mistake and fixing it therefore, being accountable.

In conclusion, so many youth make capricious decisions that have an adverse affect on their lives. At the time they may feel that their behavior in innocuous, but having poor accountability skills will permeate every area of your life and will cause more stress in the long run. My suggestion is to start by being accountable to yourself, if you  say that you are going to do something make sure that you follow through, it will be the foundation of trust because despite what you may think, many employers are a very sagacious judge of character and your accountability skills will be your best friend or your worst enemy in the fight against unemployment.