Next summer, my primary accountability partner and I will celebrate 20 years of regular weekly check-ins. We only pause for vacations.

So why with this successful working relationship, did I suddenly triple my accountability partners from one to three this June? The answer: To overcome the “post-conference fade out.”

As context, accountability is a powerful way to grow and develop. Thanks to research and changing practices, accountability is viewed as a reward, not punishment. And when you add a social component, you improve your ability to remember and apply your learnings.

This social phenomenon explains how the number of my accountability partners grew in June. Keeping them long-term doesn’t seem practical. However, for the short term, these commitments are well worth the time. Here’s my story.

Accountability Partner #1: Building a legacy

My primary accountability partner and I met in 2007 during an intense online book writing program that encouraged accountability. We were matched as partners and discovered we liked our new process for weekly check-ins. We adapted it to our businesses and have stayed with it all of these years. To celebrate, we’re planning an in-person get-together in Canada’s Ontario Province, where she lives. This will be just the third time we’ve met in person.

Based on our experience, our weekly 5 to 15 minute phone calls help us clarify our priorities for the week ahead. We make commitments to ourselves and each other. We also extend some of our calls to discuss emerging issues and ideas. We value the differing perspectives each other brings.

Confession time: In late May, I wrote two back-to-back blogs about the value of continuous learning (Want to remember and apply what you learn? Take time to integrate and Want to stay relevant as a leader? Commit to being a continuous learner) that focused almost exclusively on solo reflection. I completely missed referencing the power of social learning!

The many benefits of social learning: Being exposed to others’ perspectives removes you from your echo chamber. Plus the accountability keeps you from ghosting your own goals. And social learning helps you refine important skills needed today, such as active listening, articulating complex thoughts clearly and succinctly, negotiating different viewpoints, and giving and receiving constructive feedback.

So why do I suddenly have two new accountability partners? It’s a function of the calendar, contributing to my latest learning challenge. During the month of May I attended two intense conferences: The Institute of Coaching’s 2026 conference took place the first two days of May in Boston and The Barrett Values Centre (BVC)’s Transforming Organizations program was the last week of May near Amsterdam. Both were stimulating and provided practical learnings worth retaining and applying.

(FYI, don’t do this type of cramming if you can help it. The conference bookends were manageable because I also scheduled a 10-day European trip in between. This opportunistically planned vacation allowed me to relax between training sessions. However, I had to keep reminding myself that my May priorities were professional development and personal pleasure, not work productivity.)

Accountability Partner #2: Valuing integrating and implementing

On the last day of the BVC conference, the facilitators asked us participants to pair off as accountability partners to keep our learning alive and deepen it. My accountability partner #2 and I have met a couple of time to review our training and describe to each other how we’re applying the content on active projects, which is helpful.
BVC also is reconvening our entire group for a video call at the end of July to review how well we’re integrating what we learned and what we’re doing with it.

Accountability Partner #3: Jogging memories and embedding key ideas
With two accountability partners, how could I say “no” to the request from a potential third? During the BVC conference, an email arrived from a colleague who had also attended the early May Institute of Coaching conference.

She wanted to connect to discuss the shared sessions we had attended in Boston. As she explained, while reviewing her notes to complete the course evaluation, she realized “the richness of the material is starting to fade.” Did I have the time and interest to talk with her?

“Yes!” I responded as I could barely remember the basic concepts from this first conference, due to my active month of May. Working with her when I returned to the states has jogged my memory and ensured that money and time spent on this conference hasn’t been wasted. Also setting aside time to talk about the common sessions we attended has helped us convert what we heard into meaningful memories and action. And it’s been enjoyable getting to know her better.

Lessons Learned

Learning and applying new ways of working are easier—even in the summertime—when you make the work social with supportive accountability partners. And social learning can jump exponentially in value when you and your fellow learning partners have attended the same events.

What about you? Have you got some workshop notes gathering dust? Don’t wait any longer for the perfect moment to pull them out. Find a partner, book a 15-minute call, and start turning your forgotten memories into real-world knowledge. Conferences introduce us to new ideas while accountability partners ensure we actually turn the concepts into action.