How Did That Happen?
Holding People Accountable
for Results the Positive, Principled Way
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# 1 Leadership Book - New York Times
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# 1 Leadership Book - USA Today
# 1 Leadership Book - Publisher's Weekly
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Named to the Amazon.com Best of 2009 Series
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Over the past two decades Partners In Leadership has worked with clients intent on meeting the high expectations of their marketplace, shareholders, customers, and all the other stakeholders. As they have helped companies of all types and sizes cash in on the organizational currency of accountability, they have become convinced that there are two very distinct sides to the accountability coin: one side of the coin is taking accountability yourself, and the flipside is holding other people accountable.
In this New York Times bestseller, How Did That Happen? they examine the otherside of the accountability coin: holding people accountable for results in a way that conquers all the damaging behaviors that permeate so many organizations today.
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POSITIVE AND PRINCIPLED |
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How Did That Happen? shows you how to hold others accountable for delivering on expectations in the positive, principled way that produces results. Never again will your attempts to hold people accountable backfire in a way that actually hurts your objective. Never again will you feel at a loss, wondering what else you can do to get others to deliver on expectations. Never again will you be surprised at the outcome, wondering, “How did that happen?” in spite of all your very best efforts. By following the steps in what they call the Accountability Sequence, you will learn how to avoid the unpleasant “surprises” that plague almost every project and discover the key to getting things done through others.
Over the last twenty years, Partners In Leadership has accumulated a library full of stories and case studies that illustrate how accountability, correctly understood and applied, produces results for companies all over the world. The stories you will read in this book have drawn heavily upon their own practical and real-life experiences with clients, illustrating both successful and failed attempts to hold people accountable.
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PRACTICAL TOOLS |
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How Did That Happen? provides a variety of tools that will better enable you to get results through others. Throughout the book you will find a rich assortment of “how to” approaches and methods that show you exactly what you can do to implement each step of the Outer and Inner Rings successfully. Every step of the way we encourage you to practice what you are learning with a variety of useful devices: graphic models, self-tests, checklists, tips, and reality checks including:
- Accountability Style Self-Assessment
- Clues to Assessing How Well You Form Expectations
- The Deliberate Leader Self-Test
- The Keeping-Up Quiz
- “How Often I get Surprised”
- Am I a Chaser?
- How Strong is Your Cause?
- How conscious Am I? Self-Test
- Which Way Does Accountability Flow in Your Organization
- Culture Questions
- Organizational Integrity Assessments
Within minutes of finishing each chapter, you will be able to apply a particular principle or practice to your work. It’s that practical, essential, and useful. Holding people accountable for results may be an essential philosophy for anyone intent on succeeding in today’s complex and fast-changing business climate, but that philosophy won’t make much of a difference if you don’t have a concrete, step-by-step approach you can use to ensure your success.
At the conclusion of each chapter is a recap of the major ideas and principles discussed in the preceding pages. This summary’s title, “The Positive, Principled Way,” reminds the reader that the tools and practices introduced in the chapter make the process of holding others accountable both “positive” and “principled.” The concepts, modes, philosophies, methods, and ideas presented in the chapters are, in fact, the principles that cause people to feel that you are implementing accountability in a way that is fair, rational, predictable, and full of integrity. When people experience that kind of accountability, they willingly embrace it themselves.
Applying the skills presented in the Accountability Sequence Model, comprised of both the Outer and Inner Ring, will help you hold all the people you work with more accountable for what you need them to do, right here and right now. If you make accountability your standard operating procedure, if you do it the right way, they may not know precisely how you did it, but they will know that something has changed: they may enjoy a relationship that runs more smoothly and more efficiently, they may sense a focus that did not exist before, and they may grow ever more willing and able to deliver the results you expect. At the end of the day, you will eliminate the surprises that come with bad news and missed results, and you will no longer find yourself shaking your head in frustration, wondering “How did that happen?”
