30. 1. 2017 – YOU, YOUR TEAM AND YOUR RESPONSIBILITY

“Every decision made by headquarters takes responsibility away from people in other parts of the organisation and reduces the number of people who feel that they are effectively helping and contributing to the functioning of the organization” Dennis Blake

Responsibility – one of the many topics that companies and teams imagine is not problematic for them but the opposite is true. And yet the question of accepting responsibility, like most important things, is basically very simple. Responsibility begins at the moment when we decide that we will accept it. Therefore it is only a question of OUR CHOICE.

Why is responsibility so important? Accepting responsibility has a considerable influence on satisfaction in our personal and professional lives, and thus the performance of the teams. Accepting responsibility actually gives us the feeling in our lives that we are in the driving seat rather than the passenger seat. Developing maximum team responsibility is therefore in the interest not only of each team leader, but also its members.
Refusing responsibility is very dangerous and actually toxic for us. Whenever we get rid of responsibility and give it to someone (or something) else, along with our responsibility we surrender OUR POWER at the same time – to our partners, bosses, clients, companies, friends and so on…
Whenever we get rid of responsibility and give it to someone (or something) else, along with our responsibility we are giving away OUR POWER at the same time
Read that sentence a few times, until you truly understand its meaning. Surrendering strength is actually the price, the tax or the fee that you pay so that you can give up your responsibility. Such behaviour will, of course, not pay off for you in the long run.

How does getting rid of responsibility manifest itself in the team?

1) Members of the team work because they have to, rather than because they want to – low levels of inner motivation and commitment
2) Outside as well as within the team its members are (so called) covering each others backs – typically by using too much unnecessary email communication and sending emails to too many colleagues
3) A decreased ability to make decisions – decisions are slow, the team does not trust the decisions and does not stand by them
4) By being unable to guard their personal or team boundaries

5) By using a directive management style and over-controlling
6) Time and stress related problems – however they may seem to be attacking from outside, are in fact problems coming from within as results of denying one’s feelings and the lack of self-stress management
7) By blaming others (the boss, the company, the customer, the partner, God or fate) for their work situation, their lives, all the problems, and so on
8) By victimising themselves – there is nothing to be done The client refused me, the boss didn’t approve of something, and so on. You cannot do anything about it, so you don’t even try and just keep complaining
9) By rationalising – nothing is happening, it doesn’t matter, he/she didn’t mean it by not undertaking responsibility for their own feelings and emotions and for suppressing those which results in just “thinking” but not admitting any responsibility for finding solutions and fulfilling them
10) By trying to save everybody and everything around them; all their colleagues, the boss, deadlines, projects, etc. You are refusing responsibility for the amount of time spent at work and the time-management
What is the level of admitting responsibility of all the people in your team?

How would the team STRENGTH change if you focus on undertaking responsibility?
Within the next 7 days, try to focus on undertaking the responsibility Do not judge, just watch, observe and notice what is happening deep inside you as well as around you, when you fully admit the responsibility for your behaviour, your negotiations and all your thoughts

LIFE’s GREAT!

Ondřej