Great leadership and a high degree of personal responsibility go together like fish and chips, right? Leaders who take responsibility for themselves and for others know what’s required of them, and they never shy away from making decisions. In short, they make things happen.
And if things don’t go according to plan? They take the criticism and find an alternative solution.
It goes without saying that we all like leaders who think seriously about their choices and the impact those choices have on others. We admire how, if their team is underperforming, they first look to themselves before critiquing the behavior of others. They are a fine example to follow.
But there can be a downside to personal responsibility.
Let me rephrase that.
There can be a downside to personal responsibility if you’re an inexperienced manager and/or you’re unsure how to handle this trait effectively.
Let’s look a little more closely at the characteristics of those who display a high degree of personal responsibility in the workplace, and then consider potential pitfalls.
What is Personal Responsibility as a Leadership Trait?
Gallup, who offers the CliftonStrengths talent assessment, identified Responsibility as one of 34 themes or talents. Together, these 34 themes explain positive elements of human behavior found in the world’s most successful people. Individually, they describe what you naturally do best (or where you might need help).
Scoring highly in the Responsibility theme when you take the assessment indicates that you “take psychological ownership of what you say you will do.” Let’s analyze that description:
The word ‘psychological’ points to a mindset. The word ‘ownership’ implies that you have decided to adopt this mindset, that you have made a conscious decision to think a certain way about something. The last part suggests that you tell others what you’re going to do. In other words, you don’t just tell yourself.
Personal responsibility is being conscientious about keeping the promise you make to others.
Honoring Your Commitments
Demonstrating a high degree of personal responsibility means you probably have other values that most of us admire – values such as honesty, dedication, and loyalty. Consequently, team members trust you to get things done. You don’t need a lot of external motivation to either start or complete a project.
Therefore, if you say to your colleagues that you’ll do something, you’ll ensure that it happens. You commit. If it doesn’t happen for some reason, you hold your hands up to it and then try to find ways to make it good. But what about the potential pitfalls of personal responsibility? What are they and what can you do about them?
5 Potential Pitfalls of Personal Responsibility in Leadership
Taking responsibility may be the highest mark of great leaders, but it’s a quality that comes with a few downsides if you’re not careful. An over-developed sense of personal responsibility can lead to the following:
- Not delegating
The flip side to taking psychological ownership of a commitment is not allowing anyone else to own that commitment. The reluctance to assign responsibilities to other team members may stem from a desire to stay in control or a confusion between responsibility and accountability. Be clear about the difference: responsibility can be delegated but accountability cannot.
Unfortunately, leaders who do not delegate appear distrustful of others. If you find it difficult to delegate, think about the underlying message that you’re giving your colleagues. You’re telling them that you think nothing will happen unless you do it yourself. Show trust in them, and they will do their best for you. - Making too many promises
Taking your responsibilities seriously is all about making progress because you made a promise to someone. This makes you an excellent accountability partner. However, you can also put yourself in a position of saying “yes” a little too often. This means you tend to take on more than you can sometimes handle, either time-wise or experience-wise.
Learn to say “no” now and again. You may feel like you’re letting people down. In reality, you’re ensuring that you don’t over-promise, which will build greater trust over the long run. Make sure you have the right number of priorities on your plate so that you can follow through on your commitments. - Thinking every failure is your fault
Assuming responsibility when something goes wrong is admirable. Feeling you should be blamed for every little thing that goes wrong is not. In fact, it’s counterproductive. Yes, excuses and rationalizations are totally unacceptable for leaders. But constant self-criticism can quickly turn into anxiety and low self-esteem.
If you are apt to condemn yourself for every failure, check your internal conversation. Make sure you’re not saying to yourself things like “I should have done this myself” or “This is completely my fault.” Reframe it by saying “How can I ensure this doesn’t happen again.” Remember, you and/or your team won’t always get it right. Learn your lessons and move on. - Magnifying mistakes
It’s normal to feel frustrated or embarrassed when we make mistakes. That’s how we learn not to repeat them. But if you tend to think that every blunder made by you or your team is a disaster because you’re the one ultimately responsible (and how could you of all people have let that happen!), it’s worth taking a deep breath and a step back.
Put things in perspective by talking openly with you team and/or your peers about the issue at hand. A simple discussion in the cool light of day is often the best way to change the way you think about something, or at least reduce the magnitude of it in your own mind. If necessary, make a straightforward apology without making excuses or passing the buck. - Feeling a heavy burden
Do you feel the weight of people counting on you? It’s probably because you’re juggling too many balls and feel afraid to drop one or more of them. Your sense of duty and your determination to see things through to the end can be burdensome at times, especially if you’ve made too many promises (see point 2!). Recognize that sometimes it’s okay to let a commitment go.However, do this only with the approval of those affected by your decision. Learn to prioritize and strive to create a balance between work and home. Admitting you can’t do everything is not a sign of a weak leader. It’s a sign that you know your limits and have the courage to set them.
As a leader, it’s important to realize that a mature approach to personal responsibility is all about choosing when to commit, when to do it yourself, and when to delegate. True, you may not always have a choice about taking on more responsibility, but there’s nearly always room to negotiate. Responsibility is an admirable leadership trait and one best cultivated in a balanced and thoughtful way.