“Dad, why don’t you write a book?”
—Heather Spitzer, Randy’s daughter
In January 2001, at a conference at the Haas Business School at Berkeley, California, I met Steven Piersanti, president of Berrett-Koehler Publishers, and briefly discussed a new book Randy Spitzer and I were working on. The working title was Accountability. Randy had begun the project more than one year earlier, and about five months prior to my conversation with Steven, I’d joined in collaboration. Steven’s curiosity was peaked by the subject and our focus, and he asked me to send what we had. Frankly, I was reluctant to send Steven anything because the concepts were still half-baked, and I was afraid of the rejection. But I did as I promised and sent off the unfinished work with fingers crossed.
A few days later, Steven called, and we spent over an hour on the phone talking about the project. I was somewhat stunned and immediately called Randy with my good news. I assured Randy, a first-time author, that what was happening only happened in the movies—and that perhaps this was too good to be true, so we should keep this news to ourselves. What Steven said in the conversation I initially took with a grain of salt because Steven was talking about wanting to participate in the process. He spoke of a collaborative process between his staff and us. He talked like this approach was commonplace at Berrett-Koehler. Having been the author of two prior works in the past ten years, my experience with publishers is less than one of collaboration. I’d have to say it was more like a hit and run with the author left in the gutter bleeding.
Steven, it turned out, is not your run-of-the-mill publisher who pushes a new book off on subordinates. No, this publisher is different.254
For most writers, Berrett-Koehler is a “pinch-me experience”—a publisher who care about more than the bottom line. Steven and his editorial staff collaborated with us. Their walk has been their talk throughout the project.
For this experience both Randy and I are deeply grateful. What began two years earlier as a research paper attempting to bring together hundreds of theories and writings around one central theme, accountability, with the help of Steven Piersanti and his staff, blossomed into a book that we are all proud of.
Additionally, we would like to thank all of those who helped us in the development of this book by courageously reading the early versions and digging into the subject with enthusiasm and constructive candor. Berrett-Koehler asked a group of wonderful people to read our early work. We thank Christine Saponara, Douglas Hammer, Richard Lynch, Christopher Delgado, Marcia Daszko, and Ariel Jolicoeur for their insights and ideas. A special thanks needs to go to Angela Wagner and Kathleen Epperson for their high level of creative thinking, contribution, and belief in the subject and in us. Jeevan Sivasubraminiam was great at getting to the point and helping us understand. His courage to ask tough questions and to challenge us on every page was invaluable. The Berrett-Koehler team practices accountability every day, for you don’t write a book alone.
A special thanks goes to our wives, Sharon Lebow and Laurel Spitzer, for helping us add a human touch to our writing. Thanks to Jane Alberts, our editor, and to Pam Halvorson, my wonderful assistant who was with us every step of the way.
Finally, thanks to our book agent, Bill Gladstone, who has stuck by this project and was instrumental in getting this book into print. Bill is a one-in-a-million guy who has believed in me for nearly twenty years and whom I consider a friend.
—Rob Lebow