Hold Yourself Responsible

Henry Ward Beecher is quoted as saying: “hold yourself responsible for a higher standard than anyone else expects of you. Never excuse yourself.” 

Considering that quote, many leaders in the business world would think of themselves as being responsible, yet all too often they confuse being responsible with being accountable. Although similar in nature, the two are actually not synonymous. Whilst many people have a fairly good understanding as to what it takes to be accountable, very few are as good at being responsible. Being accountable is defined as explaining or justifying something; being responsible is being the primary cause of something. That means you can either be blamed or credited for an action. 

A good way to remember the difference is that responsibility is what you take yourself, whereas accountability is what another might expect of you. 

Being personally responsible is the characteristic of a fully integrated employee. As Christopher Avery states: “If you have a manager and you aren’t clear as to what you are held accountable for, you might want to take responsibility for finding out.” An employee who is considered accountable for his or her actions demonstrates a very positive and important trait, but generally speaking that person is accountable for making, keeping and managing agreements. They usually see the world from a place of “what should be done.” Not necessarily concerned about the larger goal, they are primarily concerned with completing their tasks. 

The person that is considered responsible recognizes that they are ultimately ‘in charge’ of what happens and so they work towards the larger goal. A responsible person generally sees the world from an “it can be done,” viewpoint, as they know there is always something they can do to change things for the better. 

Having discovered the differences, where do you see yourself? Would you consider yourself a responsible person or do you see yourself as a person who is accountable? If you explore the basics, a person who achieves great success and happiness is a self-actualized human being. To truly reach that state, you have to become responsible. Remember, holding yourself responsible means that you are proactive for the events that occur in your personal and professional life. If you are leading a team, your entire team is held accountable for what is delivered, but as the leader, it is your job to inspire the team to take responsibility for what is delivered.

Consider for a moment if the USA had a statue of responsibility on the west coast in California to mirror the Statue of Liberty on the east coast in NYC. Given that you can’t have one without the other, the idea seems appropriate.  

The price of greatness has always been responsibility; notice that the man who complains about the way the ball bounces is likely to be the one who dropped it. One reason people blame things on others is that there’s only one other choice and that’s often too hard to accept.   

In short, Accountability is the minimum requirement and is based on an external standard. Responsibility is the personal requirement, based on an internal drive for excellence. Managers hold people accountable; leaders hold themselves responsible. Accountability knows where things stop, while responsibility knows where it starts. 

Both traits are important in your personal and business life, as the quality of each puts you in a category of being committed to the overall outcome. however, accepting that you alone are responsible for yourself is the first step in realizing a higher performance standard. Once a person accepts responsibility for their lives, they can achieve almost anything; therefore if there is something you truly want to achieve in life, keep in mind that you are the cause and to every cause there is an effect. All too often managers, supervisors are too concerned about the things they want to do but can’t instead of the things they can do but don’t. 

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© Ben Benson