“People want to be given responsibility to help solve the problem and the authority to act on it.”
Howard Schultz
If you are accountable for the problem then you have a responsibility to solve it and the necessary imperative to find a way to get the authority to act on it.
Most people don’t seek accountability, instead they run the other way. To make a difference seek to be accountable, that is what brings responsibility and authority.
“If you could kick the person in the pants responsible for most of your trouble, you wouldn’t sit for a month.”
Theodore Roosevelt
Are you honest enough with yourself to be able to deliver that kick? Can you take 100% ownership and accountability and then do something with it?
Change begins by taking responsibility. Period. If you don’t like something, change it. Don’t bitch, complain, or moan. No one, and I mean no one, wants to hear that crap. It isn’t anyone else’s fault. It’s not the fault of the cosmos or the situation. Dig deep, understand where you contributed, deal with it. If you don’t, then you are going to owe yourself yet another kick…
“You are not only responsible for what you say, but also for what you do not say.”
Martin Luther King Jr.
There are so many ways that one can take and interpret this quote. Today I read this as being aware of the importance of knowing that even when you don’t say something, your behaviors might reflect what it is that you are thinking. You are responsible for those behaviors in the same vein as if you had spoken the words.
The key difference here is that when you speak the words you can invite dialogue about the meaning behind them. When people are left to interpret behaviors there is no dialogue unless you have created a place where that kind of conversation is safe and encouraged.
It is far easier to reconcile the words you have spoken than it is the behaviors you have demonstrated. Words have specific meaning, and while misunderstanding is very common, at least there is a platform to create a conversation and come to a common understanding. Not so with your actions, those are interpreted through the filters by which others see the world and dialogue and understanding is not nearly as easy to come by.
So what does all this mean? Recognize the importance of your actions and know that even if those actions line up with the words that you have in you mind, that no one else is hearing those words. They will interpret them through the lens through which they view the world. You are as responsible for those actions, and how they are interpreted, as the words you speak…
“Being proactive is more than taking initiative. It is recognizing that we are responsible for our own choices and have the freedom to choose based on principles and values rather than on moods or condition. Proactive people are agents of change and choose not to be victims, to be reactive, or to blame others.”
Stephen Covey
Today in the United States we are celebrating our Independence Day. The day where our Founding Fathers made a conscious choice to be responsible for the course of our independent nation. They chose the direction and were responsible for the creation of the principles and values that would set our path as a republic for centuries to come.
The freedom to choose is one of our greatest gifts in life. I love this particular quote because it sums up so neatly the importance of living a life of active choices. Once you have clearly identified your values and principles one can live a life of freedom. It isn’t always easy to make the choices that align to your values. In fact, sometime they are the hardest ones to make. However, when we have a framework we aren’t relegated to being the product of other’s choices, we are freely choosing our path in life.
As we celebrate freedom today take a moment to reflect on what freedom to choose means in your life.