Responsibility

“You take your life in your own hands, and what happens? A terrible thing, no one to blame.” – Erica Jong

Where is the first place you look in your life when something goes wrong? Was your answer “in the mirror” or “at myself”? Shocking, I know. Why would you look there first?

One of the traits of successful Mavericks is taking 100% responsibility. This even means when you thought you did everything you could to ensure the results you wanted, the first place to look is at yourself.

What could you have done different?

How could you do it better?

What are you going to do differently moving forward to change the results the next time?

When you start by looking within for ways to make the process better you are looking at the one variable you are able to control – YOU. When you see people placing blame, it is really to satisfy their own ego that they did everything they could correctly and saying the results were all what someone else did incorrectly. While there can be a certain amount of responsibility to go to others, it all started with you.

Could you have explained what you wanted more thoroughly?

Did you confirm they understood what was expected by asking clarifying questions?

Could you have picked a more qualified person to do the task?

Were the expected results possible with the information you had?

These are a few of the questions to ask yourself when analyzing what happened instead of just taking out your finger and pointing it directly at someone else.

When you take 100% responsibility in your life, watch what happens. You will attract a different type of person to work with on your projects. You will create a fierce loyalty among you employees, contractors, partners and clients because of the character you show. You will create a culture in your business of people who do the same. And you will create a level of success few can match.

So who is responsible for all the results in your life?