Responsibility in Leadership

The Latin term Peccavi means the Admission of Responsibility. Often admission of guilt. However, to admit to responsibility lends itself to the role of the leader and, as such, the attributes of leadership can be described as follows:-

Purpose

- Providing your team with Meaning, Clarity and relating their organisations purpose with that of the individual’s role. When an individuals role is seen as part of the bigger picture, then they have more than buy in to the organisation.

Empower

- Know when, and when not to, empower your team to take control of their work. If the leader can trust his/her team to do the work, then the leader can concentrate on the wider performance of the team and not spend time on micromanaging tasks.

Collaborate

- Involve your team in adapting the workplace and processes to enhance the work and performance.The team has a better understanding of how the task is carried out, so listen to their input to improve the way things can be done. This will bring improvements to the operational performance of the team and raise the morale of all the employees .

Challenge

- Create a growth mindset and challenge your team (and yourself) to push boundaries and improve as a team and as individuals. However, the leader must first understand the specific competency levels of the team and also know where they are in terms of ability to be stretched. Sometimes the external influences in a persons life means that the comfort zone, rather than the challenge zone is the place to be for a while.

Act

- Be decisive in your actions and ensure that you follow through on what you have committed to. This means that when the team needs a quick decision, the leader can make it.

Vulnerability

- Be humble, show that you are human. Communicate your mistakes and, most importantly, show how you have learnt from them. It starts with self awareness and the ability to stop and reflect on your own actions and the impact they have on others.

Innovation

- Encourage free speech in the work place so that ideas are shared and creativity thrives to improved the working lives for everyone. Whilst not every idea will be great, an open and trusting workplace means that everyone will be able to provide honest feedback and may develop this idea into a worthwhile one.

A leader or manager needs to remember that they are responsible for the teams actions. It’s a thankless task at times.

Take responsibility when things go wrong and praise the team when things go right!!