Health tip: Let’s use Daylight Savings Time ending to our advantage! Starting this Sunday, we get our sunshine an hour earlier each day. Getting just 10-15 minutes of sunlight as early as you can in the morning helps to set your circadian rhythm, which helps to reduce stress, boost energy, increase focus, and helps you sleep better! So, take advantage of the earlier sunshine by drinking your coffee outside or taking a short walk after breakfast!
For more information on that, read the source – Dr. Will Bulciewicz’s book, Plant Powered Plus!
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Good evening, my accountable Readers,
Listen, it’s October 30th. The weather has been delightfully mild, there are decorations everywhere, Halloween is tomorrow, and I’m drinking a pumpkin spice chai latte on the quiet second level of an adorable local coffee shop/bookstore. What a great time to be writing! I’m excited for all things cozy and festive 😊 Go get your seasonally appropriate drink of choice, and let’s get started!
As promised, we are starting a new focus this week! Let’s talk about responsibility. It encompasses SO much, and it is applicable to just about every area of life. There is so much to talk about here that I think it will take many posts to cover it satisfactorily.
There is a whole genre of books on leadership – business leadership, social leadership, leadership in the home, peer leadership. I know because I own a lot of those books. You know if you go into any major bookstore, you will be able to find the section for leadership books fairly easily. We have podcasts and seminars and workshops and book clubs all devoted to leadership. That’s not a bad thing – leadership is incredibly important. Without it, the group suffers. However, my question is – where is the section in that bookstore for the responsibility of the rest of the group?
There are certainly books on personal accountability, but those are typically centered around self-improvement or accomplishing personal goals. What I am talking about is the responsibility each of us has as an individual but also as part of a group to contribute in a meaningful way. To do our best, and to better the group we are part of.
James 3:1 says, “Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.” While this is referring to leaders in the church, I think that we can learn from it in other areas of life as well. The Bible was not written just for leaders; it was written for all of us! The Bible teaches a lot about personal responsibility, not so much on how to become the leader of your group or team. I think maybe it would be wise to spend more time thinking from this perspective.
I think that over the last several decades there has been a shift in our thinking, maybe especially in business. The responsibility for success or failure has been handed over bit by bit from group members to the leader(s) of that group. This is very much the paradigm we live in. I’m sure you’ve heard the saying that a good leader takes all of the blame when something goes wrong and gives the credit to their team when things go well. I am not disagreeing with that philosophy, but I think we have taken it to an extreme that is not healthy for either the leader or the rest of the group. Yes, the leader has a lot of responsibility, often far more than other members of the group realize. That is their job. But when did their job become making up for shortcomings in group members that should be a basic requirement? Leaders are expected to help their team members navigate things like time management, punctuality, work ethic, follow-through on simple instructions, communication, relationships with coworkers, etc. When did it stop being the responsibility of each member of the group to come to work with 100% of their ability, to be accountable to the group, to find ways to contribute meaningfully and to communicate appropriately when they need help?
Think of it like this. When you see a rowing team in their shell, you see all the rowers and the coxswain who is steering the boat. Is the coxswain an essential part of that team? Yes. Without someone to steer, the boat will either not go very far or end up in a completely unintentional place. Is the coxswain going anywhere at all without their rowers though? Nope. To take the boat where it is intended to go both safely and efficiently every single member of that team will have to take complete responsibility for doing their part of the job.
Please don’t read this as me saying that all leaders are victims and group members are lazy, unaccountable, slobs who don’t do anything without their hands being held. Far from it! What I am asking is where is the focus on individual workers? Where is the support and resources that are afforded to that smallest % of the group which is leadership? Where is the genre titled Team or Individual Responsibility or Interdependence? Can we have that please?
So that is going to be the first focus of my section on Responsibility. I want to talk about how each of us can live responsibly and contribute our best efforts to our teams.
Tell me your thoughts! I know this may be an unpopular opinion, so talk to me about it. Comment below or on social media.
Don’t forget to subscribe so you get notified each time I post! Talk to you soon!
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