In today’s culture, accountability seems to be a dirty word. It sounds too much like personal responsibility. But I believe it’s an essential part of being an effective and impactful member of society. Accountability is not just something that others demand of you. It should also be something that you demand of yourself.
In property management, accountability is essential. We have multiple stakeholders that we are accountable to as discussed previously in our article about commitment. It’s a delicate balance to find the win-win for all parties involved. And if you’ve lived on this planet long enough, you’ll know that there is always someone around to call you on the carpet if you screw up.
External accountability is always there – whether we want it or not. How we respond to it is the only recourse we have. Understanding and valuing accountability means that you graciously accept the charge, acknowledge it, and take the necessary actions to fix the situation or prevent it from happening again. It requires enough emotional intelligence and introspection to decipher truth from opinion – is the claim legit or not? There are people who make it their full-time job to find fault with everything so it’s important to be able to discern the legitimacy of complaints.
The real power of accountability comes when you hold yourself accountable. Doing this regularly usually results in less checks from external sources. As an organization, that means we continuously check our processes, systems, and people against our standards of excellence. Personally, that is one thing I love about LaPlante – the willingness to change to create a better product, service, or operation. You’ll never hear “that’s the way it has always been done” here.
Internal accountability comes from the same strength and humility needed to accept and thrive under external accountability. When you do the work that comes from looking in the mirror and really evaluating yourself in an honest way growth can happen.
Growing in business can be painful. Sometimes it can feel like we’re moving backwards instead of forwards. But in the end growth will still happen, and we can look back and feel proud of the progress we made to benefit our residents, investors, agents, community, and selves.
The owners at LaPlante encourage employees on an individual level in personal development through private discussions, company-wide meetings, and book recommendations. Investing in personal development is key to valuing external and internal accountability and growing from their impact.
At LaPlante we value accountability, both externally and internally, because we know that it’ll only make us better. The status quo is not our mission. Bringing game-changing real estate services is.
LAPLANTE CORE VALUES
Service • Leadership • Accountability • Authenticity • Commitment • Teamwork • Respect • Excellence
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