Accountability is essential to individual and organizational success, but few leaders know how to make it happen. Consequently, accountability remains at too high a level-far away from the people who really should be accountable for their work. Managers spend far too much of their valuable time chasing after details, progress reports, and hope-it-got-done worries. If there were a way to calculate the value of managerial time wasted because of our accountability deficiency, the cost would be astronomical. If you could calculate the cost to you, personally, it would far exceed the price of this book.
Miller presents his advice in a design that's easy to grasp-complete with anagram. He offers a SIMPLE system: Set expectations, Invite commitment, Measure results, Provide feedback, Link to consequences, and Evaluate effectiveness. Each of these components is explained in its own chapter, following the same format. The principle is presented, followed by an explanation of why it is important, then the how-to. Examples and checklists (good ones at the end of each chapter) strengthen the book's value.
You will gain a considerable amount of worthwhile knowledge, technique, and advice reading this book from cover to cover. However, the strongest benefit will come over time as you use this volume as a reference book, a handbook to return to for refreshers and reinforcement.
Idea: copy relevant items from the end-of-chapter checklists and use them as daily reminders that you're doing what must be done to build and maintain accountability. This is a book you'll want to keep close to your desk as an important companion.
PS-the principles will work in non-business situations, as well.
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