Managing by Accountability: What Every Leader Needs to Know about Responsibility, Integrity--and Results

At its core, accountability is the responsibility to act. It is the commitment to do the right thing and stand by your decisions. And it is something that must come from within. Dishearteningly, business today is rife with examples of precisely the opposite. Accountability is certainly in vogue; everywhere we find people screaming for it. But what we often get is a watered-down version, with leaders waiting for some third party to take action. In some cases it may be Congress (e.g., Sarbanes-Oxley legislation), the media, the company's legal or communications department, Wall Street, disgruntled customers, or angry community activists. This is not to say that formal accountability programs are useless; they do play an important role. Nevertheless, it is ultimately the individual who must hold himself to the highest standard first–without waiting to be told, pushed, or prodded. Those who manage by accountability viscerally know that external rules cannot substitute for character. And they also know that accountability can be developed, honed through practice, and encouraged in others. Managing by Accountability demonstrates how leaders who embark on a management philosophy of personal accountability imbue their organizations with the qualities of integrity and responsibility. Using stories drawn from David Dealy's experiences on the front lines, as well as examples from other successful leaders, the book provides concrete examples of accountability in action. In their down-to-earth style, Dealy and Thomas identify the five "great accountability mistakes" and offer a wealth of practical suggestions for overcoming them to achieve outstanding results throughout the organization.

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