Championship Networking Tip – Accept Accountability

If you can’t be accountable, then you can’t do business. Period. There is frankly nothing more disturbing than to refer a deal to someone who ultimately proves unaccountable. An excuse is just another reason for failure. The definition of an excuse is to defend a broken commitment. Too many excuses and you have now been branded unreliable or false. And, what’s false is false; what is true is forever. That’s why networking is forever.

Short of giving birth or experiencing a death in the family, it’s difficult to appreciate some of the excuses you’ve probably heard or used through the years. People will talk about not showing up or why they were late—oh the traffic—or offer up that last-minuet phone call. I was disorganized, I didn’t plan properly—you know what the real reason was? Low priority. It just wasn’t on your list as something that was important.

This is very important: If I offered you $100,000 to be at a certain place tomorrow at 6:00 in the morning, knowing that if you don’t come at 6:00 in the morning you’re not getting the money, you would take the hotel across the street and wait. Everybody would. Why not? Would you deliberately miss an event if you were offered $100,000? Be honest. The event has now become a high priority.

Eric Shaw is the founder of All Cities Network, a California based business networking organization.
For more information, please visit All Cities

And, remember, the way you do anything is the way you do everything!

Championship Networking is a column on Actors Reporter, a site on the Actors Podcast Network, a Pepper Jay Production.