FORTUNEBUILDERS, INC.

ACCOUNTABILITY GROUP

WORKBOOK

Accountability groups provide additional support to help you achieve your goals. There are six steps to follow to create and successfully run your accountability group.

1. Identify 2-4 like-minded people2. Establish expectations & ground rules3. Set regular check-ins4. Identify goals & consequences5. Take action6. Conduct meeting

ACCOUNTABILITY GROUP OVERVIEW

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The goal of this workbook is to guide you through starting a personal development accountability group. The right group can help you exponentially by providing support, perspective and feedback, as well as challenge you and hold you accountable for achieving your hopes and dreams. You’ll also grow from your experience in helping others achieve their goals, which is a win-win!

Working with others is not always easy. You will encounter challenges that as a group, you’ll need to address and resolve. This workbook will also provide you with some tools to help overcome those challenging moments and determine the best outcome for the group.

Finally, you’ll be able to use this workbook as your accountability group evolves. Your needs, and the needs of the group will continuously change and it’s important that your group communicates honestly and frequently with the purpose of helping each other accomplish goals.

Get started by reviewing the Accountability Group Process so that you are clear on the steps you’ll be taking to create and participate in a group. Prior to identifying other potential group members, it’s impor-tant to assess your readiness to commit to an accountability group. An accountability group requires a significant commitment, similar to a marriage or a business partnership, as you’ll be relying on others to help you and vise-versa. Take time to reflect upon the questions on page 3 to help you determine if an accountability group is right for you at this time. If now’s the time, follow the process. If now isn’t the right time, that’s ok. Revisit these questions and work towards being part of a group over the next year. You already have a ton of support in Mastery and have several avenues to pursue for personal growth so figure out what’s best for you and pursue your goals!

The Accountability Group Process

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Assess Your Readiness to be Part of an Accountability Group

What do you want to get out of participating in an accountability group?

When you have set goals for yourself in the past: What helped you be successful in achieving those goals?

What prevented you from achieving those goals, or what created the biggest challenges for you when achieving those goals?

How do you foresee an accountability group helping you overcome challenges with achieving your goals?

What strengths do you have that will contribute to the success of an accountability group and its members?

How do you communicate best?

Can you commit one hour weekly to the group?

Can you commit 2-3 hours to the group monthly?

How much time on a weekly basis can and will you commit to your action items?

How will you schedule/manage your time differently so that you achieve your goals?

Are you willing and able to dedicate the time, effort and energy to the group?

Now that you’ve taking the time to consider your readiness and what is important to you, it’s time to re-flect upon what you are looking for in other group members.

Selecting Group MembersYour group will play a critical role in your success so group selection should be just as important as any partnership. Whether marriage, business partnerships or an accountability group, you should have criteria in which you reference to determine compatibility and fit. Consider the following five key criterion when selecting group members.

1. Diversity: You want a group that has commonalities and common values, yet members that will bring varying experiences, perspectives and thoughts to the group. Discuss your values, traits, skills and beliefs and how those will impact the group dynamic.

2. Open-mindedness: Members must be able to keep an open mind and explore possibilities that stretch them out of their comfort zone. One of the reasons for joining an accountability group is to offer and gain other perspectives. Be open to listening to and trying other’s ideas, and sharing a different or contrition perspective yourself.

3. Transparency: It’s critical that you communicate openly and honestly in the group, whether sharing your situation or offering feedback. You must be truthful with yourself and others.

4. Committed: The group and each member will thrive when everyone is committed to helping each other to achieve goals. What you put into the group is what you’ll get out of the group. Look at your bandwidth to fulfill the commitment you’re making to the group.

5. Availability: With today’s technology, groups are not restricted to geographic areas. Use video calls such as google hangouts or group skype so that you can see other group members. It is important to consider time zones and availability of others when selecting group members.

Consider these additional questions prior to networking and identifying group members.• What are the five most important characteristics other group members would possess that would make

your group interactions most successful?• What, if any types of people would be a struggle for you to work with in an accountability group?

Treat group selection as an interview process. Accountability groups are just as important as selecting a spouse/partner or your business partner so complete your due diligence. Share bios, ask for situational examples and ask questions that will help determine fit.

On the next page we’ve included an example of accountability group selection interview questions. You may use this as a resource to guide you as you network and identify potential accountability group members. Add your own questions as well so that you find a group that is right for you.

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Example Accountability Group Selection Interview Questions

Name: Date:

Location: Time Zone:

email: Phone:

Tell me about yourself (professional experience, personal situation).

How would your best friend describe you?

What are your hobbies?

What other groups or organizations do you participate in?

What was it that made you decide to join Mastery and start your real estate investment business?

What are you looking for in an accountability group to do for you?

What can/will you bring to the accountability group to make it successful?

How would you describe your communication style?

Who has been an influential person in your life, what characteristics did they possess and how have they impacted you?

Tell me about the most successful group/team that you were part of. What was your role, how many other people, what was most challenging, what was most rewarding, what was the outcome/result?

Tell me about a time that you had to handle differences of opinion or conflict? What did you learn as a result of that difference or conflict?

When you have set goals for yourself in the past, what prevented you from achieving those goals, or what created the biggest challenges for you when achieving those goals?

How do you foresee an accountability group helping you overcome these challenges?

How will you ensure the success of your accountability group?

Other questions or notes

Group DynamicsTo be a high performing team, most groups go through different stages. For our purposes, we’ll reference Dr. Bruce Tuckman’s four stage team development model: forming, storming, norming and performing.

Forming: This occurs early on in the group dynamic when members get to know each other and build relationships. This stage is also when groups will start developing trust and learn how each person will contribute to the group dynamic.

Tips:Take time to get to know each other personally and understand each other’s goals.Create an Accountability Group Agreement (see page 7 for an example)

Storming: Groups typically encounter this stage when making decision and sharing differing ideas and perspectives. Emotions and tensions can run high in the storming stage. However, conflict can be highly productive when handled properly. Groups should acknowledge this stage and work through challenges/differences/conflicts in a productive manner.

Tips:Discuss how to handle challenges/differences/conflict prior to them occurring.Take out the emotion and blame and focus on the situation/issue.Refer to your Accountability Group Agreement.

Norming: During this stage, team have established trust and roles and outcomes are better defined. The group has a sense of stability and uniformity that allows them to focus on achieving the desired outcomes.

Tips: Agree upon meeting times and schedule into your calendars.Create an agenda that helps meeting productivity.Keep discussions contained to the group setting.Consider and approach group members based on their individual needs.

Performing: Group members are cohesively working together during this stage, completing tasks and are able to function at a high level. Groups have a good rhythm and are accomplishing results.

Tips:Revisit prior meeting’s action items and outcomes.Celebrate successes and address challenges. Commit to action and review next steps prior to getting off every call.

Your group will go through these stages and may cycle through the storming stage multiple times. It’s im-portant to recognize where your group is currently and what it will take to get to the performing stage.

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Accountability Group ExpectationsEach group should establish expectations. This includes attendance, participation, privacy, communication, addressing conflict and sharing challenges and progress.

Start by identifying your individual perspective and complete the following activity to help document your thoughts for expectations.

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Group Dynamics Perspective

During a 12 month timeframe, how many absences should be allowed and should there be any exceptions?

How do you think tardiness should be addressed?

In what circumstances, if any, is it ok to share information from meetings outside of the group?

If you are not engaged in the group, completing action items or achieving goals, how do you want the group to help you (i.e. tough love, gentle and allow more time, etc.)?

If others are not engaged in the group, completing action items or achieving goals, how will you communicate and help the person?

How do you handle conflict, and how do you want conflicts within the group to be addressed?

If someone is not contributing to the group or the group isn’t a right fit, how should it be addressed?

What’s protocol for communicating outside of scheduled meetings (phone, email, social media, etc. and what is the expected response time)?

What does a productive meeting look like to you?

Other?

Share your perspectives with your group and figure out how this will play into establishing accountability group expectations. Recognize that there will be times to compromise and times in which you will look to others in the group to compromise. It’s important to first listen to others perspectives and evaluate the impact, and then share your point of view and alternatives. As Steven Covey suggests, “seek first to under-stand and then be understood.”. Here are two example scenarios for you to consider. Feel free to discuss your perspective with potential group members or once your group is formed.

Joan shared with the group (Steve, Alice and Jo) that she is always late and it’s just part of her nature. She’d appreciate if the group would either wait for her or if she’s not on the call within 5 minutes to start without her and she can join in whenever she arrives. Joan’s perspective: This is just part of what makes Joan unique and others shouldn’t be so uptight about time. Steve and Alice’s perspective: Our time is valuable and it’s disrespectful to be late. We can’t get started without the entire group otherwise we’ll waste time catching people up on topics already discussed. Jo’s perspective: I have a lot going on in my life and may be late at times. It would be nice if we could have a tardy policy if things come up on occasion.

What would you do in this situation?

Mike shared with the group (Ann, Kim and Tom) that he doesn’t have a filter so if someone is offended by something he says, don’t be. Mike’s perspective: We’re supposed to be honest in this group so if someone can’t take the truth, maybe they shouldn’t be part of the group. Ann’s perspective: I don’t like conflict so say whatever you want and I’ll deal with it on my own. Kim and Tom’s perspective: There seems to be an opportunity for all of us to communicate better and more effectively. Lets agree to speak honestly and consider the other person’s feeling before speaking. If someone says something offensive, we need to recognize it immediately and address it on the call.

What would you do in this situation?

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Accountability Group AgreementEach group should create an agreement that outlines expectations for the group. This agreement is critical as it establishes and clarifies expectations. Groups can also reference it to clarify expectations, or get members back on the same page without pointing fingers or assigning blame.

Sample Accountability Group Agreement

This accountability group consists of the following members: [insert names]. We have outlined the following terms and commitments to our group. We will reference this agreement to clarify and/or realign the group’s terms and commitments.

• Attendance is required monthly for the entire meeting time. Group members are allowed one absence, which should be communicated in email to the entire group at least 24 hours in advance. If more than one absence occurs, the team member will ask to be excused from the group.

• Team members should be on time. If running more than 5 minutes late, do not join the call as it will be disruptive. If a team member cannot be on time for meetings, they should not commit to the meeting date and time, ask for an alternative or ask to be excused from the group.

• Meetings will be hosted on [platform] and scheduled one month in advance. Communications will be in English only.• Goals and status updates should be emailed to all group members weekly on Sunday by 5pm EST. • Use appropriate and respectful language – no profanity,vulgarity, labeling, slurs, judging, blaming, off-color jokes,

insensitive humor or unkind criticism. Harassment is also prohibited.• Communications with the group should not be shared outside of the group without advance permission from the group. It is

also expected that if information is shared, the identity of the person will not be disclosed.• Should conflict occur within the group, every effort will be made to address the conflict with respect for each other and work

towards resolution that is in the best interest of the group. We will use statements such as “when x occurs, I feel...” or “can we pause for a moment as I’m having difficulty with x situation/comments. Perhaps I misunderstood.” or “I’m feeling x and hoping we can discuss it as a group so that we can be successful.”

• It’s ok if a group member can no longer commit to the group. They should inform or ask the group to be excused. If challenges occur and the group member does not ask to be excused, the entire group should meet and discuss how they can assist and get the group member to recommit. If the group member cannot recommit at this time, they should ask to be excused. Groups parting ways should make every effort to do so amicably.

• When giving feedback, we will be thoughtful and direct acting in the person’s best interest. Ideally we will learn how best to communicate with each other and respect differences in communication style. We’ll utilize the method of asking questions to help others discover their own answers.

• If entering into deals with other group members, we will do our own due diligence and accept full responsibility for the outcomes and interactions that result. Every effort should be made not to disrupt the purpose or dynamics of the accountability group.

• We understand that this group is neither endorsed nor supported by FortuneBuilders. We are joining and participating in this group by our own will and will accept responsibility for our behavior, communications, meetings, interactions and any repercussions that may generate from the group.

Sign Name Date

Print Name

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Group Meeting Schedule & FormatSchedule weekly and monthly check-ins for your group. It’s up to the group to decide the format, how-ever groups should meet at least monthly. Typically groups video call/conference using google hangouts or group skype. The frequency of those call is up to the group and several options include:

• Weekly calls and monthly or quarterly in-person meetings• Weekly email update and a monthly call/meeting• Weekly email update and quarterly call/meeting

First decide what works best for you and discuss scheduling as part of the interview process. This way you’ll be in alignment prior to trying to organize the meetings on a calendar.

Once you have agreed upon check in frequency and format, then schedule time on the calendar for your check-ins. Schedule out as far in advance as the group can so that you keep in a routine and rhythm.

To make the most of your meetings, create a standard “agenda”. This includes defining the order in which group members will share, time allotted to share and give feedback, committing to action items and how to keep the meeting on topic. This may change from meeting to meeting, however having a plan will save time and ensures the group stays focused. Typically, you’ll summarize what you achieved that week/month/quarter, communicate challenges and set new goals or action items to work on for the next month. Group members will ask questions, provide feedback and offer suggestions to help you achieve your goals and overcome challenges.

Summarizing AchievementsEach group member will share updates on the call. When doing so, it’s important to restate the goal and share: what happened? what went well? what did not go well? what you learned?

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Sample Monthly Meeting Flow Housekeeping - 5 minutes Group Member 1 updates (20 minutes) Group Member 2 updates (20 minutes) Group Member 3 updates (20 minutes) Group Member 4 updates (20 minutes) Positive thoughts/reflections Next meeting confirmation

Setting GoalsWhen setting goals, be realistic with what you can achieve. Goals should still stretch/challenge you and need to be attainable. Set goals based on you and your situation, not what someone else has achieved. You probably don’t have all of the information on that other person’s situation to know if that’s the right path for you or even possible for you. One strategy you can utilize when setting goals is to create SMART goals. SMART goals are: Specific, Measurable, Attainable/Achievable, Realistic and Timely. Lets compare a goal that is SMART against that same goal that is not SMART. The details involved in a SMART goal will help you with creating action items, tracking your results and ultimately increasing your success.

Taking ActionIts not enough to want to achieve your goal and say you will, you must take action. This sounds simplistic yet is often overlooked. One of the most important steps you can take to help you take action and achieve your goals is to schedule time in your calendar to complete your activities. You need to be realistic with setting your goals and realistic with the time you have to execute those goals. Again, analyze your situa-tion and make decisions that are right for you. Make sure you can and will commit to that scheduled time.

Giving FeedbackWhen giving feedback, do so in a manner that is free from judgement and blame, and that will help the other person. Most people don’t like to be told what to do and will resist, get defensive, blame others or find excuses. Consider at how you give feedback and who the person is receiving the feedback. One of the most useful feedback techniques is getting the person to discover their own conclusions and formulate solutions. You can do this by paraphrasing what was said and the situation. For example:

What I’m hearing you say is...Based on the updates you’ve given, it looks like...To recap or summarize...If I’m understanding you correctly, you’re saying that....

Next, you can take the approach of sharing what worked for you. This offers alternative perspectives in a manner that presents options without telling the person what to do. Plus, what works for you may not work for someone else based on their unique situations, personalities, resources, etc. Think about how effective this approach can be to helping others without insulting them. A great example when this approach should be used is all of the advice given to new parents. Parents are so excited to share some-thing that worked for them, yet the delivery falls short because they tell rather than share. Think about how this approach can be more effective in guiding your team towards solutions that are right for them.

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SMART Goal Example• My goal is to lose 10 pounds in the next 90 days by exercising three times a week and only eating

out 2 times a week.

Not SMART Goal Example• My goal is to lose weight.

Another approach is to ask questions to guide the conversation and drive towards solutions. Here are sample questions and starters to questions, you can ask to help drive towards solutions.

Help me to better understand what it is that you want and what is standing in your way?Would it be fair to say that you need to try a different approach?What would you advise someone else if they were in your shoes?What one action item can you focus on accomplishing in the next 7 days?Could you share a visual of your plan with us so we can see the big picture?What can we do to help you overcome the roadblocks you’re experiencing?What are you feeling when you think about your goal and is that mindset helping you?Would you be willing to commit to doing something different than you’ve done in the past?What’s motivating you to accomplish your goals?When you are at your best and feeling great, what are you doing and who is involved? How could

you translate/transfer some of that to these goals?

There may be times when a person isn’t able or willing to be open to feedback and you may need to be more direct. This can be a difficult conversation to have and receive. Here are a couple of additional tips.

• Use “we” instead of I or you• Ask how the other person wants to have this conversation• Acknowledge the situation • Stick to the facts• Find common ground and agreement• Be empathetic (I understand vs I’m sorry)• Work towards solutions

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Example ConversationTo recap what you’ve shared, you have two goals. First, you’ve committed to losing 10 pounds in 90 days by increasing your physical activity by exercising three times a week for 10 minutes/day and only eating out two times a week. Second, you’ve committed to not yelling at your family in the next 30 days, and will sit down and have a conversation where you stay calm and you’ll also meditate daily for 20 minutes. You’re doing well with not yelling so that’s fantastic. It sounds like the strategy of staying calm and having a conversation along with meditating is working well for you. Congratulations! With your other goal, it’s been three weeks and you’ve been unable to exercise, and although you are eating out less it’s not to the 2 day maximum. Correct? Would you agree that we’re at a crossroads with making progress on the goal for losing weight? We’ve had several conversations that don’t seem to be helping you in the right way. How is it that you’d like the group to give you feedback so that we can help you achieve your goals and celebrate your success? We understand that it’s difficult to overcome some of the challenges you face, yet part of the group’s purpose is to help you overcome those challenges and hold you accountable. Would you be able to commit to smaller action items, or is there something else that perhaps we need to talk through and help with so you can focus on achieving these goals?

SummaryAccountability groups can help increase your success in achieving your goals if you are ready, willing and able to put in the work. Keep these key steps in mind regarding accountability groups.

• Analyze your readiness• Identify the right members• Schedule time for the group and for your goals• Establish group expectations• Keep the lines of communication open• Take action• Accept responsibility• Keep commitments

Also remember that the group will evolve over time so be sure to recognize change, or when change is needed and address it within the group. Remember, the goal of the group is to help each other achieve your goals. Keep that goal front and center as it will help guide the group and take you to the next chapter of your group’s journey.

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“Life isn’t about finding yourself, it’s about creating yourself.” George Bernard Shaw

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