TRUST – THE IMPORTANCE of RESPONSIBILITY

RESPONSIBILITY
Responsibility means to be accountable to someone or something, having the agency to act and make decisions within that realm and the courage to take blame when your behavior does not hold up to the obligations that come with being responsible to someone or something.
Responsibility starts with being accountable and answerable for your behavior. It means you will act in a manner that is congruent with cultural norms and expectations. You will follow through with the obligations you have placed on yourself and those that have been assigned to you as a consequence of your position in life; common examples include being a citizen, daughter, son, father, mother, wife or husband. Daily, the news agencies broadcast stories about people not living up to their responsibilities as parents, husbands or wives. All people mess up and make mistakes. That's a part of everyday life. People who can be trusted take responsibility for their mistakes. They don't blame others or make excuses. When Responsible people mess up, they admit it and do what is necessary to fix it, if at all possible.
When you take on a leadership role, you are accepting responsibility for a span of control and authority over something and usually someone. You may be accepting responsibility for a project, a team, a department, a division, a geographical territory or for the entire organization. In our leadership roles we accept being responsible to the organization, to our superiors and to our patients, clients or customers. However, often overlooked is our responsibility and accountability to those who work for us. An exceptional leader recognizes this responsibility and artfully balances the sometimes contradictory obligations of being responsible to staff, the organization, to superiors, to patients, clients and customers and to one's family.
My prior Blogs on building and maintaining TRUST talked about the importance of being Credible, Respectful and Fair, holding to these three dynamics helps in balancing the intricacies of being Responsible to multiple obligations that are not always in alignment with one another. Another helpful resource is following the practices of a Servant Leader. A Servant Leader is someone who achieves results for their organizations by giving priority attention to the needs of their colleagues and those they serve. Servant-leaders are often seen as humble stewards of their organization's resources (human, financial and physical).

Another phenomenon about leading and being responsible is that you do not always have absolute control over outcomes that you are accountable for. In interviewing a Chief Medical Officer (CMO) for my dissertation I asked him what it felt like being a CMO. His response was, "it's like driving a car without a steering wheel". His words formed an excellent metaphor for what it is like being held accountable and having responsibility in producing outcomes over something that is beyond your total control. For many of us leaders this is not an unusual predicament. It requires us to have TRUST in others that have a bearing on things we are responsible for. It requires us to develop our skills in relationship management, political acumen and interpersonal skills. We must be competent at influencing others that we do not have formal authority over.
I would be interested in hearing your perspective on Trust and Responsibility and suggestions for future topics.