Personal responsibility…who owns the problem?
Who owns responsibility? Do we all take our share?
In all areas of life, be that personal, work life, or even on a sporting front, there will be people that step up to the plate and take personal responsibility.
Ordinarily, we look to leaders to do this, parents, or captains…But should we or do we have to? What about personal responsibility? Does this relate to the modern world, and a more entrepreneurial culture?
What if younger children, took more responsibility for their own actions…and in terms of sport, every person stepped up to the mark?
How does a leader kick start the process?
First of all, it starts with the culture…do you want to be good or great…and then how do you create an environment, where only the latter is acceptable?
What are you doing to demonstrate that excellence is the only option? This will be demonstrated by the words that you use, how you communicate and your body language…Make sure that all of these are synchronized, and every hour and every day…not just the first time that you say something! Consistency of message and actions can become habit forming!
Encourage people to take responsibility, and accept that on occasion, mistakes may be made…but recognize those as learning opportunities…but just the once!
Harvard described two leadership styles in the 1950s…COP & ACE.
“Control/Order/Predict” and “Align/Create/Enable. If you treat people like robots, you will get robotic behaviour, whereas once you involve people, including their thoughts, you get remarkably different results.
This is rather like a model that I use…The TEAR Cycle…How our thinking effects our emotions, the actions that we take and the results that we get. Sadly, some organisations forget the order, and do the reverse…
Results expected…Actions given…Emotions never considered…Thoughts never requested!
To get people to own the problem, starts with YOU!
“If you could kick the person in the pants responsible for most of your trouble, you wouldn't sit for a month.”
Theodore Roosevelt
