David C. Tate, Marianne S. Pantalon, and Daryn H. David’s new book may not be wholly original in terms of what it encapsulates, but it more than makes up for any said discrepancies with style and informational substance to boot. This makes the introduction and hypothetical implementation of their philosophy that much more compelling, and that much more ideologically sound. “In this book we will describe our notion of accountability at its best – what we call conscious accountability,” Tate, Pantalon, and David concisely explain. “We define it as expanding awareness to create deliberate intentions, take informed actions, and be responsible for our impact…By awareness we mean awareness of ourselves, awareness of other people, and awareness of the interdependence between self and others.

Deliberate intentions refers to having preconceived ideas about what it is we want to do, and about the desired effects we want to have on others. Informed actions are actions that are both informed by our awareness and are consistent with our intentions. Finally, being responsible for our impact means acknowledging that our actions (and inactions) affect other people, and that we are willing to own the results that follow.” This is naturally encapsulated by the title of the book itself, a sort of literary thesis statement in its own right. With what they’re able to push within the pages of Conscious Accountability: Deepen Connections, Elevate Results, Tate, Pantalon, and David don’t just make things comprehensible, they make them personable. It’s clear the three have a genuine passion and investment in what they write about. A kind of genuine ethical and pragmatic fixation.

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“We, the authors, come to the work around conscious accountability in a number of ways,” Tate, Pantalon, and David write in aforementioned vein. “We are psychologists who bring theoretical and practical expertise on human behavior change. We are executive coaches who have walked alongside people through their journeys to greater personal satisfaction and team performance.

We are also educators who teach strategies for greater personal and leadership effectiveness to graduate students, faculty members, healthcare professionals, executives, and leaders from around the world. But primarily we come to this work as human beings who strive to ‘walk the talk’ every day in our personal and professional lives.” It’s this kind of conviction making the three writers feel trustworthy. They’re willing to put some emotive material in the presentational and communicative deliveries, albeit never to the detriment of the facts, nor resorting to sentimental, proverbial parlor tricks.

 They make you feel empowered in addition to being informed. “We…illustrate each practice with examples and offer practice exercises for you to try…we offer additional tips and inspiration for implementing conscious accountability and encourage you to think about how the world would be different if more people practiced it. We invite you to make your practice of conscious accountability a part of your life and to make the most of the opportunity that this book offers. We are thrilled to have you along for this journey! Ready? Let’s begin.”

Garth Thomas