Seth Godin today writes a timely post on “responsibility” and how it can benefit you as an organization, especially during a time of crisis.
As my friends and associates know, I believe heavily in Personal Responsibility. I have always felt that way. My motto for our team at the last place I worked was PP&R for Professionalism, Proactive & Responsibility. “Responsibility” as a philosophy and integrating it into one’s life really all came together for me after reading Steven Covey’s book
I was just talking to my wife about this. She asked (in response to a school project I’m doing), “Do you think customer service really can have an ultimate impact on a company’s success?” I said “Yes!” in as resounding way I could. Seth’s article provides a great example.
Side Note: Seth goes on in his post to say:
“The problem with accepting responsibility, though, is that you can be too glib about it. A lot of responsibility taking in today’s newspaper for example…”
He then mentions Vice President Dick Cheney takingresponsibility for the shooting accident. I can not quite tell if Seth is saying that the Vice President is being “glib” about this or not. I wanted to state, for the record, that I’ve always been very impressed with Dick Cheney and I do not think he is being “glib” in any way, shape or form. It was an accident and he takes full responsibility for it. Period. No gloating, no “look at me,” just pure responsibility. I hope my kids grow up to be like him, and like me.
Responsibility is very important. And it takes good leadership to make it work in an organization. A good manager makes sure everyone gets assigned the proper responsibilities, makes sure the subordinates know what their responsibilities are and then holds them accountable for those responsibilities.
My favorite example of poor management was a system crash we had where data was damaged on a Friday afternoon before a long weekend. My manager called all five of us in and said WE have to get this data fixed by Tuesday before the others come in. Since he did not assign anyone in particular the responsibility, most of the group left. The group was responsible but no one person. Only those who felt personal responsibility to the group stayed.
On the personal side when talking about responsibility, that is where things get a little fuzzy. We as a society have some guide lines, or laws, on what each person should be responsible for, beyond that each individual has to decide what they are responsible for by themselves. Since Dick Cheney was not charged with a crime he is not responsible criminally for what he did. The fact that he came forward and took responsibility for his actions shows what he believes in and that what he did was caused by his actions.
Being Responsible…
My good friend Jeffrey makes some great points about responsibility that go along well with what I said earlier today. Tags: Responsibility……