Yes. I like to write.

If he had hoped for a worst-case scenario, this was it. He was caught red handed in the middle of leaving the scene of a crime, and would now have to show himself to potential witnesses. His eyes darted to the floor board. Underneath, he knew there was a hard, steel tire iron.

“Everything ok?”

It was the voice of a woman, it sounded middle aged, with a light and friendly tone – but cautious.

“Sir, do you need some assistance?”

A man chimed in, with more of an authoritative and gruff voice. Still young, but definitely male.

He didn’t reply, but instead grabbed the tire iron from underneath the floor board. His hands were sweaty, and he could feel the sun starting to warm up the air around him. His breath was rapid, and his heart was racing. It was as if time was slowing down. He wanted to simply say that he was fine, but there was a lump in his throat. His pulse was racing as he slowly held the trunk lid with his left hand and pulled it down to show his face.

The voices were from a duo of joggers, who had stopped across the road about 10 yards from the car. They looked very fit, young and concerned. This was a problem, because this meant he needed an excuse, which he obviously didn’t have. And most likely, they would offer to help, being the good Samaritan type, which would also be an issue.

“Car…trouble…” he murmured, barely able to get the words out.

Normally, he was all talk, outgoing and personable. But this was different. This was panic mode.

Hartford was born into a small family in a rural town in Michigan. His father was an automobile plant worker and his mother was a drunk. He had pretty much removed those memories from his mind, but he could still remember the fighting. They would yell and he, along with his younger brother and sister, would hide out in a closet next to the kitchen. It seemed so stupid now - to hide from arguing parents. But it gave him the ability to comfort his younger brother and sister – his ‘responsibility’.

Over time, it became quickly apparent that Hartford had a keen eye for detail and a disdain for social situations. Partly due to his parents constant fighting, he found that avoiding contact with people altogether would enable him to avoid conflict and allow him to focus selfishly on his own pursuits. One such passion became tinkering. By the time he was thirteen, he had completely built a computer from spare parts in the computer club at school. And it wasn’t just any computer – he had built a new operating system, complete with new code and functionality which didn’t exist. Unfortunately, his teachers were more interested in his completing his Oregon Trail assignment group work and his grades suffered.

But in life, sometimes things work out, and when his mother left the family when he was in High School, his father remarried a woman named Carol. In a prior life, she had been a thought leader in the field of computer science, and had since moved to Michigan to work at MIT as an adjunct lecturer. While her discipline was highly technical and obscure, she instantly recognized that Hartford was special and encouraged his father to enroll him in a more focused educational program. And what was more, she offered to help pay – autoworkers salaries barely put enough on the table for three kids

There are many things that can derail a good idea. In business, the line between success and failure is painted with a thin brush stroke of luck, ingenuity and timing. Let’s be honest, with staggering statistics that state the majority of businesses will fail before they reach the 1 year mark, it can be very intimidating to think that as an owner, you are ultimately responsible not only for the success of the business but each decision you make will move the pin closer or further away in terms of business success. But, how, you wonder, can each decision I make really have that great of an impact on the future success of my company? Is it even possible that my choices will alter the next year, month or day? Absolutely, without a doubt, the answer (proven again and again and again) is yes. You, as a leader, have the ultimate responsibility, if not duty, to understand that your decision-making is the key to your company’s success. Herein lies the principle that I have come to know as the ‘Accountability Factor’.