Am I Responsible for Everything?

“I am totally responsible when my organization is unsuccessful, even if my own performance is outstanding.”

Does this sound like you are responsible for everything? Could that work to “be responsible for everything”?

Probably not. On the other hand people “leave accountability on the table” every day. In very concrete terms if you go to work today and at work you see a trash can knocked over in an area and  its contents on the floor are you going to clean it up? If you said yes why is this situation your responsibility? If you said no why isn’t this situation your responsibility? By not cleaning it up you are making an active choice to leave it for someone else and you have chosen to not take ownership. If you do clean it up you are likely saying this is not right and I will ensure it gets fixed. Accountability and responsibility are about “doing the right thing” and “getting to the right outcome”.

So when a failure occurs in your organization are you responsible for that? What will  you choose to do to help?

Empowerment or Accountabilty: Which Do You Want?

Are you seeking to have greater empowerment in your organization? Do you want people to take greater ownership of outcomes? Not sure what that means or will look like? This may help: If you want greater empowerment, create greater accountability or vice versa. What matters is that you and your co-workers (direct reports, fellow managers, your boss) need to see that empowerment and accountability are opposite sides of the same coin. To get one you have to get the other. Empowered people are more accountable. Highly accountable people operate in very empowered ways.

John wants to have his staff take on more of the duties that he is doing that are less important to the accomplishment of his goals but still important in the bigger picture. But John keeps hanging onto these weekly tasks because that is easier, at the moment,  than delegating them. He is afraid that others will not be as accountable as he is for doing the tasks. In reality a number of people on his staff have been asking to take over some of these tasks for a number of months. John needs to get over his fears and engage them to be empowered and accountable. When John figures out that if he empowers them to accomplish these tasks he also needs to ensure they understand that they are accountable for the results, he will be on his way. Once the truth that to take on the task also means being accountable for the result John and his staff had an easier time transferring duties. Empowerment = Accountability and vice versa.