Own Up!: How to Hold People Accountable Without All the Drama

Accountability Starts With You

Are you a manager who struggles to get accountability right within your organization? Have you been faced with the need to hold someone accountable and either bulldozed your way through the encounter or talked yourself out of it with excuses like "I've already tried that," or "It's too risky"? If you've ever done a poor job of holding others accountable, this book can help you feel more comfortable with how you gain ownership from employees.

Own Up! addresses the big myths, everyday hesitations, and all the other stories we tell ourselves about what it means and how much time and effort it takes to create a culture of responsibility. Author Jennifer Thero Long's central insight is that lack of clarity around ownership is responsible for all the drama that accountability conversations (done poorly) entail. It's the drama, and not actual accountability, that demands our extra attention, time, and energy. To combat misunderstandings and self-defeating assumptions, she guides readers through a series of practical and immediately implementable steps for achieving accountability in any situation.

Own Up! shows how clarifying ownership--of expectations on the one hand and duties on the other--is the key activity by which accountability is established and maintained. Accountability done well takes very little time and energy, and its results include immediate gain in employee performance and execution, reduced work and workarounds, increased trust between individuals, and greater employee reliability.