Stepping Up

Business Book Summaries® September 28, 2012 • Copyright © 2012 EBSCO Publishing Inc. • All Rights Reserved

September 28, 2012

Stepping UpHow Taking Responsibility Changes Everything

John Izzo

©2012 by John B. IzzoAdapted by permission of Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.ISBN: 978-1-60994-057-7

IntroductionIn Stepping Up, executive coach and leadership speaker Dr. John Izzo describes how taking responsi-bility can improve lives, businesses, and relationships. The principles he introduces enable people to convert moral courage, resourcefulness, and perseverance into positive change. They also provide guidance on effectively countering the negative influences and environments that might otherwise deter people from stepping up to take initiative. Crucial among the prin-ciples is the concept that leadership derives from a person’s conduct and activity; it is not a bestowed title of authority. Making the decision to be responsible for change transforms an individual’s self-perception from that of a victim to that of a change agent. This commitment makes people feel stronger and results in greater personal satisfaction in one’s personal life as well as at the workplace.

The Power to Change ThingsEach person is an agent of change and must “step up” to accept responsibility rather than look to others for leadership. According to Izzo, “Stepping up is seeing a need and deciding that you are the right person to do something about it.” The act of making this decision is profoundly empowering and enables the individual to accomplish more. Individuals need to appreciate what the acceptance of responsibility truly means—that everyone is responsible for their own happiness, for the success of their relationships, and for the success of their organizations. However, people are also responsible for poverty, global warm-ing, homelessness, their neighborhoods, and their schools. Izzo acknowledges the influences of outside forces, but asserts that once people choose to focus on what they can do and how they can act, they are suddenly powerful. He is careful to distinguish the

Stepping Up John Izzo


acceptance of responsibility from the burden of respon-sibility; he admits that many people already feel the weight of responsibility, taking on blame and feeling the need to fix everything. The acceptance of respon-sibility is actually a liberating feeling and involves people choosing to do what they can in their spheres of influence without worrying about the actions of others.

Izzo anticipates the reactions of those who feel pow-erless, as well as those who can perceive that many immense problems (e.g., world pollution) require the actions of many to see any resolution. He urges people to concentrate on stepping up to take responsibil-ity for what can be accomplished in their immediate spheres of influence. In a practical setting, hotel desk clerks must do what can be done to make their guests happy, just as company CEOs must do what can be done within their areas to improve overall company performance. Individuals create change when they focus on their areas, and the more people focus on taking action themselves, the more likely they are to observe progress.

Focusing on one’s own actions helps avoid assigning blame to others. It seems natural to identify someone else’s actions or attitudes as a problem that requires that person to make changes. However, believing that someone else must assume responsibility denies the power of belief in a person’s own ability to effect change. In addition, leaving a problem’s solution to others usually results in nothing being done. Over-coming challenges requires the individual to use the skills and resources immediately available.

The Responsibility RippleHuman behavior is contagious. This is true of good behavior and bad behavior. Izzo believes responsibil-ity is also contagious, and he calls this phenomenon the “responsibility ripple.” The responsibility ripple results from one person stepping up to change things and, in doing so, inspiring others to step up and find courage that they did not know they possessed.

Silvana Fucito was a Neapolitan shopkeeper who decided to stop paying protection money to a local crime syndicate. These payments were an intolerable financial drain on her business, and thugs often helped themselves to merchandise. She confronted her tor-

Key Concepts• Stepping up is the simple act of deciding

that you can, must, and will change things.

• A key component to stepping up is believ-ing that you have the ability to make a difference.

• You should step up and be a leader when no one is watching or expecting you to do so.

• Place focus on what can be controlled, not who can be blamed.

• Leadership is not a position; it is the by-product of action and an ability to influence others. A person can exercise leadership simply by maintaining a certain type of con-duct.

• Speaking up, without blaming or complain-ing, is a key component of stepping up.

• When implementing changes, give all employees/family members a seat at the table. They will step up when they feel their input is valued and appreciated.

• Accept 100 percent responsibility with zero excuses.

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Information about the author and subject: www.drjohnizzo.com

Information about this book and other business titles:www.bkconnection.com

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By Gina Amaro Rudan



mentors and informed them that she could no longer pay. In response, the mob burned her business. A few months later, Silvana formed the San Giovanni Anti-Racket Association with the goal of getting residents and the government to end the intimidation. Initially, her peers and neighbors resented her efforts, fearing reprisal, but Silvana would not give up and the move-ment spread. As it did, protection payments faltered and the government was finally shamed into cracking down on the crime syndicate, seizing its property and closing mob-owned businesses. Silvana and other business owners no longer had to suffer intimidation and the revenue drain of protec-tion payments.

It was Silvana’s action of stepping up that started a ripple effect, inspiring her neighbors and other citizens to join together to successfully oppose criminal intimidation and extortion. It was not easy, and the results were not obtained overnight, but her choice to step up when many others would have chosen to back down started a ripple that continued to spread.

Responsibility changes everything. The moment we decide that we are the ones who are capable of and responsible for chang-ing things everything shifts.

About the AuthorDr. John Izzo is the author of four bestsell-ing books, including Awakening Corporate Soul, which established him as a pioneer in the move-ment to create socially responsible workplaces. His bestselling book, Values Shift, showed how employee and consumer values were shifting, and how businesses would have to adapt to this new set of emerging values, including sustain-ability and social responsibility.

Over the past 20 years he has spoken to more than one million people, taught at two major universities, and helped over 600 organizations create sustainable cultural change, including WestJet, Tim Hortons, Hewlett Packard, TELUS, Applebee’s, IBM, Walmart, the Mayo Clinic, and Clorox. His work has been featured by CNN, CBC, the Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, and Maclean’s.

If Not Me, Who? If Not Now, When?Many people make excuses to avoid taking responsi-bility. One of these excuses is the doubt of achieving success. As Izzo puts it, what if we step up and noth-ing changes? It is entirely possible that a person can take initiative in the workplace and find no co-work-ers willing to join in, or an individual can attempt personal change and obtain no betterment. However, failing to step up guarantees that nothing will change. People are more likely to regret remaining inactive than they are to regret their failed attempts.

Another reason for avoiding stepping up is the belief that it is someone else’s responsibility to change things. Izzo puts this in perspective by detailing an argument he had with his wife. He felt that she needed to make significant changes in order to reach a solution, but after reflection he realized that the more he focused on what she should do, the less powerful he felt. By focusing on what he could do, Izzo was taking responsibility for the change that was within his power to achieve.

Izzo offers an experience shared with him by Howard Behar, former president of Starbucks International. Behar’s first managerial position was running a fur-niture store that was part of a large chain. One day, the company’s owner, a man in his seventies, came to visit the store and stopped in the parking lot to pick up some pieces of litter and scrape chewing gum off the pavement. Behar told him that he would have someone pick up the litter later. The owner looked at him and said, “Howard, if not me, who? If not now, when?” Behar claims that this incident set him on the path of picking up litter and refusing to hire employ-ees for Starbucks who refused to take responsibility for doing the same.

100 Percent Responsibility/Zero ExcusesIn 1998, Fortune magazine named the Synovus the best company to work for in America. Izzo, who had never heard of Synovus, was intrigued and interviewed the CEO and numerous people who worked there. He



heard repeated references to a concept called “100/0” and asked a teller what it meant. She explained that the 100 stood for 100 percent responsibility and the zero for no excuses. This concept was understood by the employees to mean that each individual was responsible for the bank’s success through the satis-faction of the bank’s customers, and that there are no excuses for not giving one’s best.

Izzo notes regretfully that there are many who have the fraction reversed. These 0/100 people believe that nothing is their responsibility and have end-less excuses for why they cannot change. They are convinced that they bear no accountability for short-comings and failures, and can offer many reasons why things cannot change. He relates that many of the CEOs he has interviewed identify this particular mindset as being the most formidable obstacle that they encounter in their efforts to motivate and inspire employees.

The most significant aspect of the 100/0 attitude is that the people who share it have a willingness to look at themselves critically and accept responsibil-ity rather than place blame on others. Someone who takes responsibility for every problem, even if he or she is a minor contributor, is able to make a change for the better.

Don’t Wait for the Perfect PlanOne of the emotional deterrents to creating change is the perceived need to have a plan in place before beginning. Many people will remain on the sidelines until a clear plan for success appears. The way to overcome this reservation is simply to start. Start by identifying one thing that can be done immediately to move in the direction of the desired change and then do something, anything, to achieve it.

Izzo advocates talking to others to determine how the future should be different. He provides the example of Father Jaime Crowe, an Irish priest who lived in

the Brazilian slum district of Jardim Angela. In 1996, the district was one of the most violent places on the planet, containing 300,000 people and averaging over 500 homicides a year. Weary of seeing corpses on a near-daily basis, Father Crowe decided to do some-thing about it. His first move was to organize a march to the cemetery where many of the victims (mostly teenagers) were buried. Five thousand people walked

with him on this march, called The March for Peace and Life. He worked with other community leaders to set up a weekly meeting to bring together district officials, police officials, and school admin-istrators. The meetings stimulated group discussions of how to solve

the district’s challenges. Increased attention garnered results. The schools were revitalized as classrooms started to fill, attracting not just children but adults and teenagers who wanted to improve themselves. Law enforcement was improved with the opening of a station in the district and the introduction of com-munity policing. The results were not immediately positive; in fact, the murder rate continued to climb until 2001, when it started falling drastically. In 2006, only 91 homicides were committed, an 83 percent decline.

The March for Peace and Life is now an annual event and has grown to 25,000 participants. The weekly meetings still take place, and Jardim Angela has changed from a violent, crime-ridden zone to a vibrant community. This is due largely to the efforts of Father Crowe and his decision to do something without first having a plan laid out for him.

Making a Difference, Right Here, Right NowOtherwise well-intentioned people can dissuade themselves from stepping up by undervaluing their abilities. They may feel that they need knowledge and expertise before they even start to step up. To surmount this barrier of doubt, people should act with whatever gifts and skills they currently possess. These skills do not have to be unique or advanced in comparison to those of others. Skills can be as basic as speaking in front of groups or writing persuasively. A person may have nothing more than lots of time to

When we focus on ... constraints instead of on what we can do given those constraints, we wind up acting like victims. Make no mistake, your career will be very limited if you become known as one of those people who always has a reason why they did not come through.



dedicate to a project or initiative, but it will be enough to get started.

Another disincentive is the misguided perception that the opportunity to step up and take responsibil-ity exists only at some distant place far removed from one’s own locale. To overcome this, people must look closely at their immediate environment and identify opportunities to make a difference, then begin to do what they can with their current skills and resources.

Leadership Is Not a PositionLeadership is the by-product of action. One part of stepping up is for people to take on a bigger role than they currently have. Izzo illustrates this point by relating the story of how the Starbucks Frappuc-cino (an enormously profitable product of the chain) almost never came to be. In the mid-1990s in Santa Monica, California, a local coffee shop served a cold dessert drink that was drawing customers away from Starbucks stores nearby. Some of the Starbucks staff members and the local manager obtained blenders to create a drink to compete with this drink. The man-ager of the stores in the Los Angeles area gave her boss a taste of the drink and described its popularity with regular customers. Her boss presented the drink to Starbucks’ senior team who claimed to like the drink, but felt it was not the right product for a traditional coffee chain. The area manager received this news from her boss but did not give up, repeatedly reminding him of the drink’s popularity, and ultimately started to serve the drink regularly. Growing demand and sales did the rest, and the Frappuccino eventually became a three billion dollar success story for Starbucks. This would not have happened had an area manager in Santa Monica not stepped up well beyond her position’s job description.

Speaking Up Is a Form of Stepping UpQuite often, speaking up is a form of stepping up, and great change can result from it. Speaking up could take the form of challenging an employer’s policies, giving honest feedback to a friend or co-worker, or break-ing silence on an honestly held belief. Unfortunately, many people fear the consequences of speaking up if they suspect that the message may be unpopular.

These consequences can include alienating friends, relatives, and colleagues, or offending management at the workplace. There is no denying that speaking up in these circumstances carries risk, but those who do speak up often have a profound influence on other individuals and organizations.

It is important, however, to speak up in a positive way. This means challenging things but focusing on what needs to be done to achieve improvement. Argumentativeness can be positive when employed by those who enjoy a debate and like to speak up for their ideas. Izzo cites studies that show that managers rate employees who speak up higher than those who remain quiet. Additionally, those employees who spoke up tended to be more involved and engaged in workplace operations, indicating to management a greater interest in the organization’s success. However, he is swift to emphasize that mere argumentation in the form of verbal aggression is extremely ineffective. Verbal aggression is largely characterized by finger pointing and the use of you language. Practitioners of this technique tend to receive lower ratings by man-agement.

Stepping Up Is Not about Being ExtraordinaryThe people who step up do not necessarily possess unusual qualifications. What they do have is the desire and perseverance to make things happen. Skill, talent, and resources are overrated compared to drive, determination, and vision. That is why the question “Why me?” should be countered with the question “Why not me?”

In the early 90s, Ken Lyotier was a homeless alcoholic living in Vancouver. Lyotier survived by rummaging through dumpsters for returnable bottles and cans. He was amazed by the amount of non-recyclable waste that he encountered in the process. One day, he and another homeless man had a chance conver-sation with a Church of Canada minister about the

The first step to stepping up is to be naïve enough to think you can change things. This may seem so obvious as not to merit mention, but having a belief that it matters if we step up is critical.



daily challenges faced by the homeless. The minister offered $1,500 to the pair if they had an idea on how to improve conditions. Lyotier came up with the idea of a one-day event where homeless people could bring in non-recyclable bottles to a collecting point and get paid for the bottles that were not in the deposit system. The event attracted huge attendance and caught the media’s attention. Subsequent publicity convinced the provincial government to add many more products into the recycling system, thereby reducing the accu-mulation of mountains of refuse.

Encouraged by his success with recycling, Lyotier set about to establish a bottle depot run by the homeless and serving as a training center to enable people with no or minimal job skills to be able to enter the formal workforce. This enterprise evolved to become United We Can, which runs a bottle depot and an urban farm called SOLEfood in Vancouver. United We Can recycles millions of products a year, turns a profit, employs scores of homeless people, and contributes significantly to the recycling cause. It was Lyotier’s drive and perseverance that resulted in this success story, and it is a prime example of how once a person steps up and takes the initiative, he or she will find the resources needed to get the job done.

A Seat at the TableIzzo persuasively makes the case that an individual can inspire others to step up far more readily if he or she first creates a culture that encourages stepping up. He uses the phrase “a seat at the table” to describe how employees should be made to feel that they have a stake in the outcome of the decision-making process. Employees are most likely to assume respon-sibility if they feel themselves to be an integral part of an organization’s success. Some business cultures do not invite this participation. A leader who dismisses new ideas without considering them, or character-izes proposals as inconsequential, discourages others from taking responsibility. Once an employee deter-

mines the work environment to be hostile to new concepts, willingness to do anything other than plod along the prepared path can become entrenched in the work ethic.

Many leaders are afraid of letting people have a seat at the table because they think that lower echelon people will make the wrong decisions. Research, however, indicates that leaders who consult with their subordi-nates and ask for ideas on business operations benefit from the input. In addition, having been solicited for

ideas and guidance makes the con-tributors more willing to step up and take responsibility for imple-mentation.

People will not act responsibly if they are not given responsibil-ity. Tying peoples’ hands means that they have neither reason nor

need to take personal responsibility for their actions. If people are expected to step up, they must be given the chance to err, to learn, and to develop. Individuals want to step up and will do so given the right envi-ronment. In addition, praise is essential to sustaining others’ assumptions of responsibility. This can mean going overboard to praise efforts as well as results, especially if someone exceeds expectations and really steps up.

One Person Always MattersOne person stepping up always matters, and one person acting in concert with others matters even more. Individuals should always assume that other people are acting in accordance with their beliefs—this reassures that the individual is not acting in a vacuum, and it encourages the individual to claim his or her own power to act. Many will still feel alone when they make the decision to step up. This may stem from a fear of failure, but later in life these people may regret not stepping up at a crucial moment. Anyone can be an agent of change, and stepping up is about taking responsibility for change instead of waiting for others to act. Taking responsibility means look-ing within to determine what one individual can do, rather than complaining about what others should be doing. Once a person has stepped up, he or she can talk with others about the future, which is often a powerful precursor to change.

It may be that almost every person who has ever stepped up doubted that they had the resources, talent, and skill to do so. You may doubt that you are the right person to step up. Yet what I learned ... is that skill, talent, and resources are overrated com-pared with drive, determination, and vision.



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Features of the BookReading Time: 2.5–3.0 hours, 166 pages

Stepping Up would be helpful to anyone wishing to make positive changes in their personal lives, relation-ships, workplace conditions, or with environmental or political concerns. The book uses inspiring exam-ples from businesses and society to illustrate how individuals have stepped up to accept responsibility for change and see their initiatives through to success. The book is well organized, and John Izzo concludes each chapter with bulleted key points and includes a section of key themes at the end of the book. An index is also included, so readers can quickly look up rel-evant information.

ContentsForeword by Marshall Goldsmith

Preface

Chapter 1: The Five Rows of Responsibility

Chapter 2: It’s Not My Job, It’s Not My Fault

Chapter 3: I Am Only One Person

Chapter 4: Only Naïve People Change the World

Chapter 5: 100% Responsibility/No Excuses

Chapter 6: Do Something…..Do Anything

Chapter 7: Always Begin in the Room You Are In

Chapter 8: Leadership Is Not a Position

Chapter 9: Stepping Up by Speaking Up

Chapter 10: Who Am I to Step Up?

Chapter 11: Creating a Culture of Stepping Up

Chapter 12: One Person Always Matters

Resources

Stepping Up for Change

Key Themes in this Book

Acknowledgments

Index

About the Author



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Stepping Up

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