Embrace responsibility and accountability to grow career

By Goretti Kimani

In life, most of us dream of big accomplishments. We yearn to be successful and have careers that afford us the finer things in life. But a large number of people are averse to taking on more responsibility that requires them to be more accountable and visible.

For such people, their dreams remain constant. As they enjoy limited responsibility in their comfort zones, others zoom past them to higher job levels. And as one climbs up the corporate ladder, responsibilities tend to increase and so does the level of accountability, visibility and the challenges that come with it.

Lack of belief

You cannot expect to grow while shunning responsibility and accountability. These two are inseparable. What causes this is the lack of belief in one’s own abilities.

 As such, some employees sit in the office waiting until the day they will be ready. Unfortunately, this day never comes or may come when it is too late. Others have picked this mentality from their parents, teachers or some unfortunate circumstances in their past.

While some people may be intimidated by colleagues and unique situations at work, others may find themselves in this situation due to poor career or job choice. It could be due to unstable family background, excessive alcohol consumption, use of drugs and other harmful substances among others.

The causes are innumerable. There are many signs that point to a responsibility averse individual. They sit behind in meetings and rarely contribute. This way, they are able to maintain a low profile.

 They also live in perpetual fear of being assigned duties outside their work stations. As such, they rarely offer any proposals and tend to keep their ideas to themselves. Such people will watch things going wrong and never lift a finger. Others concentrate in passing the buck by blaming others and circumstances. For them, there is always another guilty party but never them. They may also express denial sentiments and tend to be on the defensive most of the time.

Passive workers

They approach any discussion with caution, lest they are cornered to do anything they are unwilling to do. They are mostly passive workers, always on time to and from work and rarely putting in any extra effort or time. In other words, they do the minimum necessary for them to keep their jobs. This is no way to build a career. If you exhibit any of the symptoms above, you must urgently do something to remedy the situation. Explore your inherent principles and value systems, discard any useless ones and urgently adopt new ones.

There are countless personal development books that can help in this regard. Get out of your comfort zone and try out new horizons. You will discover it is not that hard after all. Get yourself a role model or join a mentorship program. Discover supportive alliances at work and take extra course if necessary. Set aside a budget every month to take care of your personal development efforts.

If need be seek out professional advice. Whatever you do, remember that responsibility is the catalyst that creates the environment for building success.

—The writer is a human resource specialist with Peoplelink Consultants Ltd.Email: [email protected]