Earlier in my career as a central office administrator, my district was undergoing a number of big changes. (A pattern for the ages, it seems.) Because many people then, as is true today, did not welcome change, one of the assistant superintendents posted signs throughout our office showing the “prohibited” sign (red circle with a line through it) NO EXCUSES! He sent a strong message of the expectation that we would each do our job–changes included–without excuses or complaining.

Some may say, “I didn’t sign up for this!” It’s true. It’s also true that we rarely know ALL we sign up for when we sign up for anything. Things change. An example from Stephen Covey is, “When you pick up a stick, you pick up both ends of the stick”, meaning actions have consequences that are included in choosing the action. In this case, when you sign up for a job, enter into a marriage, decide to have children, you sign up for the things that come with it, even if you aren’t aware at the time of all that might mean.

We are fortunate to be more at choice than individuals in many parts of the world. We can choose whether or not to accept and remain accountable for our current choices or whether to make a different choice. Regardless, we choose our attitude about the conditions in which we find ourselves. So when change occurs, we choose to be personally accountable for new and perhaps different expectations–NO EXCUSES–or to blame others for expecting something different.

• How will you hold yourself accountable for the consequences of your choices?
• How do you make changing expectations clear and hold others accountable in a supportive way?
• Where does the idea of NO EXCUSES hold you personally most accountable?

By Frances Shuster, PCC