Defining Responsibility Essay Example

Responsibility is a huge word that encompasses many aspects of an individual's life. It touches on the personal, professional, and social facets of living. Being responsible means understanding the importance of obligations assigned to the individual whether it is about doing one's share of work at home, in the office, or towards other people. It is about taking accountability for one's actions and decisions, realizing that tasks assigned may have an effect on another person's commitments. Thus, when one fails to fulfill obligations, it means letting other people down and affecting a succession of events.
Take, for instance, the role of a manager. The manager has responsibilities to the company, his team members, and the company's clients. The manager's duty is to understand the mission and vision of the company he works for as well as identify where in the company's goals his team fits in. He must be able to visualize how his plans for his team will complement and align with what the company aims to achieve for the year. Thus, the manager must plan his moves to lead his team toward the same direction.
A team performs well when a good team leader guides and leads the group to the right direction. As a leader, it is the manager's responsibility to identify his team's goals for the year, ensuring that each member clearly understands his or her own role within the team. He has to come up with individual goals that each member must fulfill to be able to contribute to the team's success. In addition, he has to constantly manage and monitor the daily work activities and deliverables of his team to guarantee on-time delivery of client commitments and with the highest level of quality.
Aside from project-related responsibilities, it is also the manager's task to conduct employee performance evaluation on a regular basis. This will give him a better gauge of knowing whether the employee performs at par as the rest of the team members or is falling below productivity and work expectations. Thus, as a leader, he must be able to motivate his people to overcome their weaknesses. For those employees who display exemplary work performance, he also must be able to motivate them continually to exceed their previous performance, while he must have a development plan for employees who need to improve their work.
As a manager, it is also his responsibility to solve problems that occur daily at work, especially those that involve project deliverables. As a leader, he must think professionally, understand the problem, provide solutions and alternatives, and come up with the right problem solution. In the same light, he must also be able to resolve conflicts among employees in a professional manner and without any forms of bias.
Finally, a manager has a responsibility towards the company's clients. He must ensure that all project commitments are delivered as agreed upon with the client. Doing so helps in maintaining good client relations and possible long-time contracts.
As it is, responsibility is not only about performing obligations that benefits oneself. In all the things that people do, other people are affected one way or another. Thus, when thinking about responsibility, individuals must always remember that acting responsibly goes hand in hand with accountability – to one's personal success as well as other people's victory.