Crucial Requirements in Developing Leaders: Responsibility

I’m in that time of my life when there is a need to raise up leaders in the team. I’m finally finding out that it is not an easy task. In fact, it is quite difficult. It demands a lot from us. For this post, I will discuss the first crucial requirement that we have to give our up-coming leaders.

This entry has been inspired by John Maxwell’s book “Developing the Leaders Around You”

Give them Responsibility

In the end, all successful people have one thing in common: The ability to take on responsibility

People who are entrusted with responsibility are people who have been given an opportunity to prove themselves and to increase or minimize their authority.

People entrusted with responsibilities are people you need to touch base with. How often do you need to do so? It depends on these things:

The importance of the task

When the task is critical to the organization, the more often you need to touch base with the person responsible.

The demands of the work

Often when the work is heavy, the person responsible will need encouragement. The person may also need help. And if the demands of the work is too heavy, allow the person to take a break. Demanding work can lead to burnout

The newness of the work

Sometimes new leaders are adaptive and flexible, sometimes they are not. For those who are less creative, we need to check on them more often.

The newness of the worker

New people in the team need confidence. Checking on them more often and making time to tell them the problems they would encounter can help them face it successfully. The more success they have, the more confidence they will have.

The responsibility of the worker

I allow people who are responsible to complete the task I give them – and I check the task only when it is complete. On less responsible people, I cannot afford to do that. I check on them to avoid damage, confusion and further problems.

In all, if you don’t give responsibility, you have a zero percent chance to raise up a new leader and to endow that person with authority. Entrusting responsibility is a must if you want your team’s leaders to grow.