Are you taking absolute responsibility?
- By Vicki Wusche -
- Nov 24, 2011
Are you taking absolute responsibility? Here's an entrepreneur guest blog on goals and responsibilities...
That’s the thing with responsibility, it can only be absolute. Maybe it’s one of the few absolutes we can rely on. You can’t take partial responsibility for something. So what are you responsible for?
When I started to invest in property for myself and my family in early 2008, I was very clear what I was responsible for. We had a series of meetings around my kitchen table and we allocated roles, tasks and timescales. I knew what I was responsible for. We set income goals, and working from the income goals I knew how many cash flowing properties I needed to identify and buy. I knew what I needed to do, I knew what my responsibilities were.
What I didn’t realise, was that my values meant that my goals and responsibilities had a different “weight” to my other family members. I didn’t, consciously, realise that they valued other things, which meant that the importance that they allocated to their responsibilities would be different.
As you start a business or as your business grows you will need to grow your team – it is inevitable. If you plan and discuss your business development, like all successful businesses do, then hopefully you will create a successful business plan.
I am sure you have heard commentators or consultants say that you need the “buy-in” of your team. What does buy-in mean? Is it enough that they agree? Or do they have to commit something to the process? If they have to commit something (effort, knowledge, funds or time), then are you in effect assuming that they will take personal responsibility for that commitment?
If you are assuming then you may well fail. I assumed, and the working systems we agreed failed. I carried out my responsibilities as agreed, because I was committed and through commitment took responsibility, it seemed obvious to me. I don’t believe that you can assume the obvious when working with others. Even a shared goal does not mean that people will share the same amount of time, effort or skill to complete that goal unless you discuss it.
This concept is explained in another way by Blair Singer, one of Robert Kiyosaki’s advisors. He talks about creating a “Code of Honour”, in essence a set of rules that all members of a business or team create and commit to. I like the concept of agreeing a written set of rules that a team creates together. What if you don’t have a team yet? You can still write one for yourself as the process will clarify what you can and cannot achieve.
That brings me back to the underlying concept of responsibility. When you start a business and when you have that first moment of recognition that you actually have a marketable product or service, in that moment of excitement and realisation, I believe you take responsibility for that thought. Why? Because if you don’t take responsibility for it, take charge, then it will not come to fruition, how can it without you?
You take absolute responsibility, not partial or part time, full-on absolute responsibility; for everything, for the concept, to the production or delivery, for the sales and marketing, for the accounts and finance, for the paperwork and systems. Now, this does not mean that you have to do all that work yourself as you may not have the skills or knowledge, you almost certainly won’t have the time.
You must take responsibility and even where you delegate that responsibility – you become responsible for checking that your team members, accountant or outsourced staff do what you agreed, when and how you agreed it. We call this management – I think it is so much more than management. I think sadly we have all experienced a situation that was being “managed”, but not necessarily by anyone taking total responsibility.
Image by Helen K on Flickr
By Vicki Wusche. Blogs at ThePropertyMermaid.com and tweets at @VickiWusche
This guest blog complies to Virgin.com terms & conditions.
