The Beauty of Personal Responsibility

Harnessing Career Power: The Beauty of Personal Responsibility

Here at LinkedIn, I have the tremendous opportunity to explore workplace issues that catch my attention. Some of the topics reflect my own work life experiences - others emerge from reader e-mails or comments. Interestingly, over time I have noticed a salient pattern in readership. It seems that by far, the most shared posts discuss personal responsibility in relation to work and career. These posts aren't always titled as such - but they share a point of view that encourages taking ownership and acting on our own behalf. This can include changing our attitudes toward a situation or modifying our behavior.

What I find fascinating about personal responsibility is that in many cases, we ignore its existence or hesitate to embrace it. On some level, we may be worried that if we take ownership of a career issue, we might not find a solution. Or if we develop a solution - that we won't be able to act on it. However, in many cases we simply fail to consider our potential to actually impact the situation. We become entrenched in our vantage point - that we cannot affect our work life experiences.

When we do accept some measure of personal responsibility, we can derive a great amount of power from that decision. Somehow when the ball bounces back into our "court", we realize that it is up to us to make our own work life choices. It is both frightening - and liberating - at the very same time. But, that feeling of empowerment - can propel us forward.

Here is an example: A very common workplace complaint, is that we just don't seem to have enough time to become maximally effective. Frequently, this is attributed to the notion that others aren't respectful of our time and responsibilities. (Interruptions, meetings, etc.) However, if we shift this viewpoint slightly to include a measure of personal responsibility, we could ask the following: What role do I play in this scenario? Do I value my own time? Do my actions tell others that I do?

Of course, not every workplace problem can be completely resolved in this regard. But, if we learn to shift the "epicenter" concerning work life challenges just a bit, we can afford ourselves the power to use our own judgement to decide where we stand, and how to proceed. We could move forward in this manner - bolstered by a healthy dose of self-compassion and a certain measure of trust in our own inner voice.

Some ideas:

• Ditch blame. Assigning blame to a workplace issue rarely solves the problem - but taking on ownership can. Leave blame at the door and retain your power to move forward.
• Be bold. There is no time like the present. When considering an issue or problem, list 3 actions that you could employ tomorrow to affect it. No excuses allowed.
• Imagine. Visualize your work life with the current problem or issue resolved. What areyou doing differently? Have you changed your attitude? Your behavior?
• Challenge yourself. Read "An Exercise in Changing Yourself", by master coach Marshall Goldsmith.

Have you ever hesitated to take personal responsibility for a workplace issue? Did you come around? How did things turn out?