The Accountability Myth

Our second meeting of Cougar Women at Work was a lovely success.  Mattison Grey, a business coach and entrepreneur with Greystone Guides, spoke on the provocative topic of The Accountability Myth.  Ms. Grey said that many times people use traditional goal setting strategies and then fail to accomplish their designated goals.  She noted several difficulties that get in the way of success.  For instance, she says many people’s stated goals are a stop along the way to what they really want.  For example, one woman’s stated goal was to have a million dollars. After careful coaching by Ms. Grey it was revealed that her underlying goal was to have financial security in order to spend more time with her young daughter.  And achieving that goal might be more possible than attaining a million dollars and better represented what the participate really wanted in the first place.  Ms. Grey noted that a second obstacle can occur when anxiety gets between people’s thoughts and actions.  She noted that people have to acknowledge the anxiety and come up with a strategy to overcome it.

The participants of Cougar Women at Work seemed to gain a great deal from the program.  Marilyn Wade, co-chair, passed around a survey asking women what they would like to see in future programs.  The next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, March 22 at 11:30am-12:30pm. Female faculty and staff are welcome. Bring a lunch and a friend!  Contact Beverly McPhail with the Women’s Resource Center, 3-5888, or Marilyn Wade with University Career Services, 3-5092 to sign up for the listserv and be kept apprised of coming meetings. 

Greystone Guides is a high-performance leadership coaching and consulting firm providing coaching, training, speaking, and public seminars in the arenas of business, sales, entrepreneurship, money, organizing, and parenting.