The 85% Solution: How Personal Accountability Guarantees Success -- No Nonsense, No Excuses

Accountability is a hot issue in business as organizations face the toughest recession in years. Yet the notion of accountability is often confused with punishment, fault, blame and guilt.

Not so, writes Linda Galindo in the new book, The 85% SOLUTION: How Personal Accountability Guarantees Success – No Nonsense, No Excuses (Jossey-Bass, October 2009; $22.95). Galindo argues that the only true accountability is "personal accountability" and the only way to achieve it is to be responsible for the outcomes of your choices, behaviors and actions.

“If your mindset is that you are at least 85 percent responsible for your success—and that just 15 percent could depend on the way the wind blows—you’ll get the results you’re looking for,” says Galindo.

In today's fast-paced business and economic environments, organizations across the country and the world are being pulled in different directions as their definition of success constantly changes. While increasing sales and creating or maintaining healthy work environments are essential to long-term organizational sustainability, Galindo explains how personal accountability is the fundamental success factor for any organization or system to reach its greatest potential.

With Galindo's tips and practical strategies on personal accountability, THE 85% SOLUTION will guide readers in establishing the needed mindset to begin their days, protect their jobs or work with others.

Responsibility. Accept no less than 85% of the responsibility for the outcomes of your actions. Readers learn to identify the level of responsibility they take for their own choices and actions and explain the correlation between a mindset of responsibility and a happier, more productive life.

Self-Empowerment. Empower yourself to take the risks and actions you must in order to get what you want. Readers are guided through the process of mustering the courage to take the risks and actions needed.

Personal Accountability. Show that you are willing to answer for the outcomes that result from your choices and actions. This part emphasizes the importance of clear expectations and clear agreements in the pursuit of accountability.

Galindo provides a framework for people of all backgrounds and professional positions to realize their definition of success by embracing a mindset of personal accountability, and dispelling old belief systems about how personal and professional success is achieved.

“Because our society doesn't talk in a formal way about what personal accountability actually is, we are adopting it from what we see in the media, from corporate and political talking heads who tell the world they “take responsibility for their actions” when things go wrong but are not accountable for their own missteps,” explains Galindo. “Hiding behind legalese and complex contracts, we are misdirected by a definition of accountability that infuriates the public and sends a mixed message. The more we are accountable for our own actions and choices, the more successful we will be.  This is not about “taking responsibility” – it is about being accountable.”

SKS Fuel Distribution President, Andy Thweatt, said that without the accountability shift that Linda Galindo initiated at his company two years ago, they would simply be out of the competition in a brutally competitive business. "An accountable culture is the only true long-term sustainable competitive advantage I have seen in this industry or any other," Thweatt said.