I will explain why accountability is very important in BNI.

Accountability is a multi-billion-dollar industry and growing.  Individually we have a love/hate relationship with accountability. We love it for others—after all they need to be held accountable—but we do not love it for ourselves. At all levels of our BNI organization we must be willing to be held accountable, from franchise owners down to the newest BNI member.

High level athletes have coaches and trainers, those who create the greatest successes in life do so because they often have either a driven sense of self accountability.  Sometimes they belong to accountability groups, have accountability partners or pay for accountability coaches.

BNI is an organization of accountability and it is the very reason that it is so successful worldwide. How many organizations have you belonged to where nothing ever gets done? People do not show up consistently, a mere 20 percent of the people do nearly all of the work while others contribute minimally or not at all. Yet everyone seems to want the same benefits from the organization

BNI has a system of accountability to ensure that franchise owners and members get great results and every BNI member in a chapter participates in creating success for other members. It is the first thing that people tell us they love about the organization. It is also the first thing that many members want to change because they did not think that they would be the one having an attendance policy letter sent to them.

If you want the highest level of success it is important to have mentors, coaches, peers and trainers who will support you. Champion athletes surround themselves with peers who want to play at their level and higher, trainers who teach them, and coaches who hold them accountable. Highly successful BNI Members understand this.  Your chapter membership committee is responsible for holding members accountable. Here is the SIMPLE Method for implementing and using accountability to achieve success.

S – Set Expectations – Make sure that everyone understands the expectations. BNI has clear expectations and it is the membership committee’s responsibility to explain what those expectations are to every new applicant and member.

I – Invite Commitment and get buy in – each person who submits an application is invited to commit to the process prior to being accepted into the BNI organization. Each member who does the Member Success Program commits to being accountable to the BNI System including the Policies.

M – Measure Progress – this is a constant process in the chapters and at the franchise level. There are many ways that BNI Chapters measure success. We track activities with the PALMS Report, we show results with chapter traffic lights and member traffic lights, also known as the Power of One. Each person in the chapter is responsible for their own progress and should review the reports regularly.

P – Provide Feedback – Getting positive honest feedback is critical to success. The Mentors, the membership committee and the ambassadors are there to give you feedback and support you in your progress. The Participation Chair on the membership committee is responsible for also giving feedback to members.

L – Link to Consequences – it is important that we have consequences that are appropriate. When expectations are set consequence are also explained. For example, the BNI Policy for attendance is 3 missed meetings without a substitute is puts you are risk of losing your position in the BNI chapter the next time you miss a meeting. Lack of participation can cost you both in business referrals and in membership.

E – Evaluate Effectiveness – Membership committees must review regularly that they are doing the right job, are they holding member accountable, are they making sure everyone participates? Evaluating how well we are doing is key to our incredible success in this organization. Reflecting on the processes and being diligent in our efforts results in greater levels of success for everyone.

Accountability is SIMPLE but very important to BNI success. If you are going to be successful as a BNI chapter and as a member you must both implement accountability and be willing to be held accountable. If you are going to be successful as a franchisee, we too must do the same as we expect from our members, be accountable.  We must be willing to hold each other accountable in spite of our relationships with one another.

Implement SIMPLE in your chapter, your life and your business for greater levels of success. To read more about the SIMPLE Method of accountability and cultural change visit Rick Torben’s website (https://www.torbenrick.eu)

Keep It Simple

 Hazel

There are few women better at building a global network than Hazel Walker . Renowned for her straight talk and no-holds-barred approach, Hazel is a globally sought after speaker.

This Walker This Way video will explain further the benefit of having accountability in our BNI Chapter for success!