Who Wants Some Responsibility? Not Many It Would Seem…

I sat at a meeting recently where 3 people were required to take on positions of responsibility. The main role was filled but from a group of over 60 people, there were no volunteers or nominations for the remaining 2 positions. Most of the people had arrived at the meeting because they wanted to change. But very few wanted to be the architects of change. Spectators vs Players. It is much easier to be a spectator.

In business, there is also a problem with too many spectators. Very few people really want to take on responsibility for themselves, let alone other people. Why is this? Especially since taking on responsibility and being the architect of positive change can do so much for an individual. It can cause and force them to grow as a person. It would require them to get involved, have a voice and challenge themselves to be better.

Very few people actually want this, they want to fit in. They want to keep the head down and plod along.

How many of these “head down”, “plod along” people do you have.
And this is your company. If you do have people like this in your team, the first one to have to accept responsibility for it is your good self. Either you hired them like this (and therefore your hiring system needs improvement) or they got like this since you hired them (and therefore your people development skills need to be enhanced). Either way, the problem is yours and you have to do something about it.

Some steps to take?

1. Work out how must income your business has lost by working with mediocre people
2. Outline the options you have available – Appraise, Question, Plan for improvement, Plan for Departure
3. Identify why the situation has happened in the first place and how you were responsible for this negative development
4. Identify some systems improvements to prevent recurrence at same rate.
5. Go to work on yourself. Learn how to be a better leader and learn how to lead the team properly so that they welcome responsibility and achievement.

Recognise yourself? Call me on 087 222 0720.