Responsibility is a unique concept... You may share it with others, but your portion is not diminished. You may delegate it, but it is still with you... If responsibility is rightfully yours, no evasion, or ignorance or passing the blame can shift the burden to someone else. Unless you can point your finger at the man who is responsible when something goes wrong, then you have never had anyone really responsible.
Interpretation
Responsibility cannot be shared or diluted; it remains with the individual even when delegated.
This quote emphasizes the essence of personal responsibility, highlighting that while tasks may be delegated or shared, the ultimate accountability lies with the individual. It suggests that one must face the consequences of their actions and cannot shift blame to others, underscoring a fundamental principle of leadership and integrity.
In practice
A manager could use this quote in a team meeting to reinforce the importance of owning up to one's responsibilities.
Good ideas are not adopted automatically. They must be driven into practice with courageous impatience. Once implemented they can be easily overturned or subverted through apathy or lack of follow-up, so a continuous effort is required.
Good ideas are not adopted automatically. They must be driven into practice with courageous impatience.
What it takes to do a job will not be learned from management courses. It is principally a matter of experience, the proper attitude, and common sense β none of which can be taught in a classroom... Human experience shows that people, not organizations or management systems, get things done.
I believe it is the duty of each of us to act as if the fate of the world depended on him. Admittedly, one man by himself cannot do the job. However, one man can make a difference. We must live for the future of the human race, and not for our own comfort or success.
The Devil is in the details, but so is salvation.
When doing a job β any job β one must feel that he owns it, and act as though he will remain in that job forever.
When times are tough and people are frustrated and angry and hurting and uncertain, the politics of constant conflict may be good. But what is good politics does not necessarily work in the real world. What works in the real world is cooperation.
Hence the saying: The enlightened ruler lays his plans well ahead; the good general cultivates his resources.
In this age, I don't care how tactically or operationally brilliant you are, if you cannot create harmony - even vicious harmony - on the battlefield based on trust across service lines, across coalition and national lines, and across civilian/military lines, you need to go home, because your leadership is obsolete. We have got to have officers who can create harmony across all those lines.
In order to be a mentor, and an effective one, one must care. You must care. You don't have to know how many square miles are in Idaho, you don't need to know what is the chemical makeup of chemistry, or of blood or water. Know what you know and care about the person, care about what you know and care about the person you're sharing with.
There's no other job in public life that is like chairman of the Fed.
All the great organizations in the world, all have a sense of why that organization does what it does.
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