The Balance Between Accountability and Responsibility - a winning formula

It has been a busy 2 months both personally and professionally. The reoccurring theme for my reflections is the importance of how accountability and responsibility work together to get a result. It can make a difference between winning and losing , growing and thriving as a person or stagnating, making a difference in the world or draining our resources. My first story starts with this years Rugby World Cup. The All Blacks are now back to back winners and it has been a real learning watching their progress as a team. As adopted kiwis we have now lived through two Rugby World Cups. This year was a little more challenging for us as the Wallabies and All Blacks played in the finals. We were lucky enough to be staying with our good friends, the Sweeneys, at Piha. Our commitment to Rugby saw us up early snuggled in blankets cheering on our teams. It was a great win by the All Blacks. I reflected on their comments throughout the competition. The comments that impacted most for me was when they beat France to secure their place in the semi finals - they had won by 28. Many teams would have been celebrating at this point. What struck me was the calmness and ultimate responsibility Richie McCaw , the captain , took to reflect on the teams goals. " All this has done is earned us another week . The job is not yet done.". Of course the NZ public had assigned great accountability through their expectations. There are not many countries where your groceries turn the colours of the team . Milk was packaged in black bottles with the team numbers prominent on the bottles, weet bix were packaged in black tins and so it when on. To me a great example of a team being held to account but the winning formula turned out to be the responsibility each team member took to get the job done. The ultimate quote by Steve Hansen , the coach, after their win in the finals was "worry is a wasted emotion". Once again a clear signal of how winners really take responsibility for their actions and emotions. They don't need others to hold them to account.
An example a little closer to home is Michael, my husband, and his commitment to his own health and personal growth. He set himself the goal of completing his Masters in Indigenous Health and two duathlon events this year. A sport he has never done before. I have admired the responsibility he has taken to complete his assignments so he can graduate next year and to improve his fitness and identify what it would take to compete in a duathlon. He completed his final assignments despite busy work schedules and supporting my crazy schedule. He also finished his second duathlon last week. It was a great achievement. It was a clear example of the importance of taking responsibility to define your goal and then creating daily habits that will get you closer. He had no one holding him to account , he took full responsibility to learn, adapt and face the challenges I am very proud of his strength and commitment.
I am also very grateful for his support . It is his love and commitment that allows me to be the person I am. He holds me to account to be the best I can and in turn I take personal responsibility to be clear about our goals together, my personal goals and we face every day together creating habits that will ensure we achieve individually and as a couple. We can hold each other to account but at the end of the day it is our personal responsibility to do what really matters to achieve our goals.