Taking Responsibility

Be Boring

We are spending a little time on the building blocks of good relationships. The first element that we introduced in the last post was, BE BORING. Be who you are all the time. Be authentic.

The second building block is TAKING RESPONSIBILITY. This block has two aspects that are important in relationships.

TEAM RESPONSILILITY

As adults we live in a society where people tend to shirk their responsibilities, and more of us need to step up and take ownership. We need to take ownership of our responsibilities to our team, and for the outcomes produced by that team. And we need to take ownership of our full potential.

It is often said that many more of us are afraid of success than failure. Are you?

We all lead in some aspect of our lives, even if we only lead ourselves. Often we will find ourselves in positions at work, at home, at church, at club meeting, when we need to stand up for something.

Take responsibility for yourself, your life, the things happening around you (to the extent that you can) and be ready to help move the process forward. By yourself if you must. Because that, my friend, is what responsible adults do. We see problems or issues, and we try to fix them. Or we offer suggestions about how things might be different, or improved.

PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY

The second aspect of taking responsibility can be summed up with a simple phrase:

“When you screw up, own up!”

Every idea that we present, every task that we are given, every venture that we set our minds to will not be successful. Accept that! If you make a mess of things, or can’t figure out the next step, ask.

Here are six steps to get through it.

Nothing in this life will ever be solved or resolved by figuring out who is really to blame. So stop blaming.

Take the hit for the team, for your marriage, whatever.

Back your ego down a notch or two.

Take a really deep breath (and cry if you need to).

Figure out how to go forward and…

And, here’s the really hard part: DO IT!

Caution:

Don’t get stuck in the licking your wounds and self-recrimination part. This serves no one ultimately. Least of all you! So pull up those big girl and big boy panties, take a breath and make the next step.

So far, we have two building blocks in place for the development of good relationships:

1.         Be predictable. Be authentic.

2.         Be responsible: For the team, and for your own actions.

What would you add to being responsible?