It’s easy to ask for advice and follow someone else’s direction. In that case, if it doesn’t work out, it’s even easier to say, “Well, I just did what they told me.”
We outsource responsibility all the time. Maybe we don’t do it consciously but subtly – by leaning on experts, leaders, systems, or titles to decide for us. When the outcome isn’t what we hoped for, we look for someone to blame.
The truth is that many people don’t want responsibility but certainty, safety and someone else to carry the weight of the decision. That’s why this is a key moment to return to people with integrity, to originals, to leaders who stand behind their decisions even when it’s uncomfortable and when it costs them.
Responsibility has become something we can feel when it’s real. True responsibility is not positional but personal. It means saying: This was my decision and my response regardless of the outcome.
People come to coaching sessions with this challenge and in that space, the coach doesn’t take responsibility for clients, doesn’t offer solutions but creates a safe space in which clients can see where they give their power away. This is done, among other things, through powerful questions where the coach supports clients in differentiating guilt from responsibility. Many people avoid responsibility because they see it as a threat or a burden.
Check yourself with these questions:
- What do you escape from when you don’t take responsibility?
- What can happen if you don’t take the responsibility?
- What price do you pay when staying where you are?
Of course, responsibility doesn’t mean perfection or that you are always right. It means staying present with what you chose.
In a world full of opinions, advice, and noise, taking responsibility is a beautiful act of self-respect.
