When is it Smarter to Take More Responsibility or Demand More Authority?

Seth Godin, marketing writer and blogger, wrote a short post called “Responsibility and Authority.” He encouraged his readers to take more responsibility at work, even if you can’t have more authority. Sounds swell. 810 Tweeters and 505 Facebookers seem to think it is the right idea.

There’s more to it than that.

There is a fine line between taking more responsibility without authority and giving away yourself.

Taking responsibility to gain trust

Taking responsibility shows that you are worthy of authority. If you see that running a certain report would benefit your group, run it. If you believe that monthly brown-bag lunch-n-learns could create more team togetherness, organize them. Taking responsibility shows that you are available and willing to accept authority.

Taking responsibility for too much

You can take on responsibility for too much. The right people might not be taking notice that you are seeking more authority. You could be re-writing your job description with all that extra work and no more pay. Be careful not to demonstrate your initiative to people who can’t or won’t give you more authority.

Crack dealers give away a little for free, then they charge. You’re smarter than a crack dealer. They are addicted to your skills, talents and the value you add. Don’t continue to give it away for free.

Mistaking responsibility for authority

Suppose you take on the responsibility of putting together a company picnic. You need funds, a location and access to the emails addresses for all personnel. If you don’t have the authority to get these things you are stuck. You cannot move forward. Even worse, you are still responsible – you have announced to everyone that you will be organizing the picnic. Your boss is looking forward to a picnic. And you are unable to deliver.

Bob volunteered to implement a software package on the intranet at his work. He was given no authority over people or budget. He had a strong beginning – all the stakeholders at a launch meeting. Slowly but surely Bob found he had no access to the things he needed because he had no authority. Phone calls weren’t returned, emails ignored.

If you want a job that requires authority, don’t take only responsibility.

Taking responsibility for the wrong things

Is your kitchen at work always messy? What if you started cleaning it? After a while, you could be perceived as the kitchen cleaner.

Jane works for the government as an in-house probation officer. She has other colleagues in the office that do the same thing. When she observes her clients giving urine samples, she takes other officers’ clients as a courtesy. Now she’s known as the pee-girl.

Jerry is a former admin that has retained all knowledge of admin duties. When office supplies need to be purchased, a conference room reserved or time sheets inputted, they ask Jerry. Despite his professional title and role, he still is perceived as the admin.

If it needs to be done, someone should do it. But be careful how you choose these responsibilities. Sometimes it is okay to have a messy kitchen, allow others to observe peeing or have someone else order the office supplies.

So…

Godin’s encouragement to take on responsibility is well founded and missing some pieces. Be careful how you select the responsibilities you take on. If they require authority, demand it or don’t take it on. If they will diminish you or have you give away yourself, skip it.

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