No More Excuses

People who take responsibility without making excuses are a rare commodity, often lacking in the business world. Yet, managers find it very difficult to say to their subordinates, ""I want you to be more responsible"" without being perceived as accusing them of bad faith and starting an endless debate on how they specifically expect people to behave. Indeed, most employees think they are acting responsibly and feel attacked if they are asked to change their behavior.
Faced with this challenge, Sam Silverstein proposes a welcome checklist. He breaks down responsibility into five dimensions which seem spot on, because they effectively cover all of the expectations that a leader could legitimately have of his or her employees: responsibility to be efficient and productive, by doing what needs to be done