Today’s global economy hungers for fresh leadership. Leaders today must focus beyond their immediate sphere of influence, but must recognize how one’s action (or inaction) can affect people on the other side of the world. We need leaders who are willing to make things better for everyone.
This kind of leadership begins small. Before you can change the world, you must change your world – your business, your community, your home, yourself. The buck stops with you.
The path to change starts with responsibility. You are at the center of change. Every action you take creates a ripple that extends your influence. It’s through responsibility that your influence ripples within, throughout and beyond your world.
Picture the ripples as concentric rings radiating outward with you at the center. These rings depict you at the center of change simply by taking responsibility in three core ares – Personal, Proximal, and Social.
Personal Responsibility is about owning your life in its totality. You know who you are and what you value. You create worthy goals, achieve them and in doing so help others. Although you take responsibility for your life, you are blameless. You do not point blame, to yourself or others. You acknowledge failures, learn from them and move on.
When you take responsibility you are open to new ideas and people. You work hard, accept life’s rewards and meet difficulties with grace.
Proximal Responsibility is about owning your influence on those in your immediate sphere of influence. This means taking responsibility to support those around you (i.e. your boss, co-workers, subordinates, children, etc.) by giving them honest feedback, sharing information, encouraging them, and holding them accountable.
When you practice proximal responsibility the words, “It’s not my job,” are not part of your vocabulary. You know that you’re not responsible for everyone you encounter, but you have a higher calling and accept responsibility for your part in every interaction with others. You overcome negative emotions that might prevent you from stepping in to support or encourage those around you.
Social Responsibility is about owning your influence on those beyond your immediate sphere of influence. This practice requires you to look beyond yourself and your circumstances to see how your action (or inaction) might influence someone much farther from you.
For example, a manager who works to make a difference in her department recognizes that her action will ultimately trickle down to someone outside of her immediate reach. She sees the bigger picture. She looks beyond her own needs or her department’s needs to fulfill the needs of someone she may never know.
The three rings of responsibility build upon one another. You must be personally responsible to have proximal influence. You must practice proximal responsibility to have social influence.
As you begin to practice these rings of responsibility, you may only see small ripples of influence in your life. You may be tempted to give up your desire to change the world. Be patient. As you continue to practice the three levels of responsibility you’ll notice your ripples become stronger, last longer and extend further.
We need leaders willing to take responsibility – personal, proximal, and social. Make the commitment. Change the world.
