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

by Linda A. Galindo, Versera Performance Consulting

A guide to personal accountability-the fundamental key to leadership success With the toughest economic downturn in recent history, the issue of accountability has taken center stage. However accountability is often confused with punishment, fault, blame and guilt. In this book, the author argues that the only true accountability is "personal accountability" and the only way to achieve it is to take responsibility for the outcomes of your choices, behaviors and actions. The 85% Solution reveals that to be truly accountable, leaders must accept no less than 85% of the responsibility for the outcomes of your actions; Empower themselves to take the risks and actions you must in order to get what they want; and Show they are willing to answer for the outcomes that result from their choices and actions.

Offers a practical guide to personal accountability and reveals how this leads to personal and business success Guides readers to take the risks and actions to reach their goals Contains self-assessments for determining personal accountability index The author is an experienced consultant who works with organizations, teams, and individuals to improve their personal and work lives.

Genres: Nonfiction, Self Help, Leadership

256 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 4, 2009

Reviews

[Jami Eubanks · Rating 2 out of 5]

Basically, the gist of this book is for everyone to turn into Taylor Swift and say “hi it’s me, I’m the problem, it’s me.” You are 100% at fault for every shitty event in your life. To avoid problems you essentially need to hole up in a cave away from all living creatures because inevitably there will be conflict that you have to “own” 100% of the guilt. It is almost never the bosses fault, it is always the poor stressed out employees fault. If you are confused by your boss or someone’s accusations you are a liar who refuses to accept accountability for your actions. Your eyes will roll the entire way through this book if you make it through it at all. I suggest reading your Bible instead. Believe it or not, there are evil people out there who enjoy stirring up problems for people that are in fact not at fault in anyway accept for having the misfortune of unknowingly choosing a toxic work place. If you live in a black and white inflexible world you will love this book. The author seems to think there is no gray area ever. You are to take 100% accountability for anything you are ever accused of ever. News flash, you ain’t Jesus. You are not perfect and you are also allowed to defend yourself without admitting any part in any wrongdoing.

[Tito · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bland and repetitive, this book has only one point to make, and it does so through catch-phrases, anecdotal evidence, and a lot of repetition.

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

Great intro story. After that exceedingly repetitive and basic.

[Bailey · Rating 1 out of 5]

Hated this book. DNF.

[Mik Mango · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was REALLY excited about this book after the first few chapters. The idea of taking 100% accountability for my life really resonated with me. Since embracing this mentality, I have been consistently happier with myself & my life. The key takeaway for me is the idea that is our OWN actions, and those actions alone, that shape our experiences. No one is making your day (or life) bad/unproductive/etc. other than you. Of course, this idea comes with a grain of salt/exceptions but I think for the average day to day events this stands true. There have been countless ways this thinking has improved my personal & professional life.

While the overall message is valuable (and one that I think most people could benefit from), the actual execution of the book is pretty weak. I think the writing was over simplified and excessively repetitive. It feels like Galindo tried to stretch a TedTalk into a full book. Despite these flaws, I am rating it highly & would recommend due to the positive impact it has had on my life. Ps. if anyone would like to borrow it I (for once), have a physical copy!

[Resilient Writer · Rating 1 out of 5]

*Spoiler*

This book was forced on me by a former (horrendous) supervisor. It's trash. It's very idealistic, doesn't take into account the fact that sometimes things are very bad and beyond your control. It honestly gave victim-blaming "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" energy, and I did not vibe with it. You can be accountable while still recognizing that sometimes, no one is to blame for things going horribly wrong. It is oversimplified and unhelpful. There were no revolutionary ideas.

Of course, if you're a part of a team, you generally should not spend time pointing fingers and should instead focus on solutions. However, there are times when an entire team is failing because their leader is failing them. In those instances, fingers need to be pointed, and leadership needs to be confronted. This book should be called "how to gaslight your disobedient staff into blaming themselves when you're the real issue."

At some point, it talks about having a plan a, b, and c (something like this) for everything. This is idealistic as 💩. Most people hardly have time to come up with a quality plan A. If you're planning for 2-3 other possible outcomes, you're neglecting something else in your life (which does not lend itself to long-term wellness and success). This could also create some obsessive and unhealthy behaviors.

Don't read this book 🥰

[Quinton Baran · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found the advise in this book to be very good both professionally and personally. I read it as an assigned book from a leadership training group that I am in with my employer. We discussed the book in the groups, and there were mixed opinions about it.

I especially like the discussion about empowerment. Only you can empower yourself to do something. Sure, the path can be made easier or more accessible by external forces, but unless you choose to embrace and become something, no one else can achieve your dreams or goals for you.

I am practicing goals of being more accountable personally and professionally. I want to be 100% accountable, but this isn't achieved overnight. It requires quite a bit of work and removal of old, bad habits.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very practical (almost simplistic)discussion of the elements of personal accountability and its relationship to success.

[Dawn Lynch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great theme! A little redundant.

[Janice · Rating 3 out of 5]

This topic is good, and she has some great examples. For reasons she explains, some of this isn't welcome! Guess I have some of my own work to do.