Accepting Responsibility

Today’s post was written by an author who wishes to remain anonymous. It was originally given to me as part of a homework assignment where she was focusing on one of her personal strengths, “the ability to accept and live up to responsibilities.” Her work is reprinted with permission.

Anonymous prefaced her work by stating “A company can take on the most qualified experienced candidates, but if these people do not feel a certain responsibility to their job and the company, they typically make decisions based on how easy or difficult it is for them or for their department.”

She then went on to describe a number of things that she believes are a natural part of her responsibilities as a supervisor. Here’s what she said: “I frequently find myself asking the question ‘if this was my company, my customer, my bottom line, what would I do; how would I behave?’ Typically, the response to this question is the more difficult of the available choices. Nevertheless, this is the path I will take. I believe this to be the more responsible choice, even if this means working extra hours to achieve the end goal.

“I accept new responsibilities only after fully understanding the scope of the assignment. I believe this is the only responsible thing to do. Quite often, people will agree for the sake of agreeing without understanding the magnitude of what they are being asked to do and then simply do nothing afterwards. If I believe the scope of the project I am been tasked with is outside my expertise or just not feasible, I will ask that we look at alternatives before agreeing to accept the project. The benefit to the company is that once I accept responsibility for a project, the management group trust that the assignment will be completed on time and in full.

“I tend to ask questions, if I see what I perceive to be as inefficiencies in the workplace, whether it is in my department or another. Rather than take the approach “it's not my job, my department, my problem", I will flag issues as I find them to department managers. Sometimes this may appear as meddlesome to the receiving party but once I explain why I think we need to look at something and why it's good for the company as a whole, I tend to get a favorable reaction. If nothing is being done and I feel strongly that the company would benefit from some action, I feel a responsibility to take it to the next level.

“If I find I am falling behind and not on top of my job, I will take the time to prioritize what needs to be done and by when. I will write a 'To Do' list to understand how far behind I am. If necessary, I will work longer hours (typically from home or at the weekend) to get back on target. I will flag items that I think will go overdue and ask that the due date of any assignment be moved out if necessary.”

Thanks, Anonymous, for sharing your thoughts on what responsibility means in real life terms.

About me: Before becoming a full time educator, my career experiences included being vice president of a consulting firm, vice president - finance of a publishing company, vice president - sales support services for a manufacturing company and vice president - operations for a distribution company. As a full time educator working principally in Rhode Island (RI), Connecticut (CT) and Massachusetts (MA). I am pleased to share my experiences and business philosophies with managers at all levels, and I encourage Pelleyblog readers to share their experiences, philosophies and general thoughts as well.

Copyright © 2009 Daniel W. Pelley
All rights reserved.