Do what's expected...

re·spon·si·bil·i·ty

/rəˌspänsəˈbilədē/

noun

1.     the state or fact of having a duty to deal with something or of having control over someone.

a.     "a true leader takes responsibility for their team and helps them achieve goals"

2.     the state or fact of being accountable or to blame for something.

a.     "the group has claimed responsibility for a string of mis-adventures"

3.     the opportunity or ability to act independently and make decisions without authorization.

a.     "we would expect individuals lower down the organization to take on more responsibility"

4.     a thing that one is required to do as part of a job, role, or obligation.

a.     "he will take over the responsibilities of overseas director"

5.     a moral obligation to behave correctly toward or in respect of.

a.     "individuals have a responsibility to control personal behavior"

 

Responsibility is a big deal – parents teach it to their children and employers seek it from their employees. And each of us as individuals are expected to practice it. In everything we do. But even with this much emphasis, it’s not as universal as you might expect. Eventually we all must accept full and total responsibility for our actions, everything we have done, and have not done. The part about the things we have done is understandable – to be responsible for the things we say and do. But the part about the things we haven’t done is equally as important – because it’s about not doing what we should or know is right. At work, make sure you let your employees know what’s expected, and then catch them doing it right or coach them when they don’t; in either case, that’s reinforcing behaviors and performance that’s expected. At all the things you do outside of work, family and friends rely on you doing what you say you’re going to do – you may not get in trouble for not doing it, but the people you care about are impacted just the same. At Wynn, our motto was Keep the Promise – sounds simple, but it was a high bar we constantly talked, trained, coached, and wrote about, and recognized in many demonstrable ways. Because it’s what co-workers and customers expected. Make a big deal about the importance of taking responsibility for what you do and don’t do today.

 

Hubert Selby Jr. (1928 – 2004) was an American novelist, poet, and screenwriter.  

Learn more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubert_Selby_Jr.