Building a Culture of Responsibility - How to Raise - And Reinforce - The Five Pillars of a Responsible Organization

Read This First

What is a Culture of Responsibility? How is it different from holding people accountable? How could answering these questions affect the success of your business?

A few years ago, Mike had the opportunity to hear a talk at a charity dinner that had a profound clarifying effect upon his outlook on success as a business leader, a parent, a grandparent and a member of society. The speaker was a man that Mike had never heard of before, and you probably haven’t either: Robert Dale Maxwell. He lives in Bend, Oregon. As of this writing, he holds the honor of being America’s oldest living Medal of Honor recipient.

The following citation describes what Maxwell did to earn the medal, but what Mike was more impressed with was why he did it … and the effect that why had on how we define the word “success.”

On September 7, 1944, near Besancon, France, Maxwell and three other soldiers, armed only with .45 caliber automatic pistols, defended their battalion observation post against an overwhelming onslaught of flak and machine gun fire from a platoon of German infantrymen. The Germans had infiltrated the battalion’s forward companies and were attacking the observation post with machine gun, machine pistol, and grenade fire at ranges as close as 10 yards. Maxwell and his unit were badly outnumbered.

Despite a hail of fire from automatic weapons and grenade launchers, Maxwell aggressively fought off advancing enemy elements. With calmness, tenacity, and fortitude, he inspired his companions to continue against long odds. When an enemy hand grenade was thrown in among his squad, he unhesitatingly hurled himself onto it, using his blanket and his unprotected body to absorb the full force of the explosion.

This sudden act of heroism permanently maimed Robert Dale Maxwell, but it saved the lives of his comrades in arms and facilitated maintenance of vital military communications during the temporary withdrawal of the battalion’s forward headquarters.

As Mike thought about how this amazing true story came to happen, he wondered whether a better understanding of Maxwell’s actions on that observation post in 1944, and in the years since, could offer a clue that could help us all to lead more fulfilling personal and business lives, while at the same time positively impacting those around us.

Another interesting story from 1944, from the other end of the chain of command, came to light as we researched the material for this book. In June of that fateful year, General Dwight D. Eisenhower had to decide whether to launch the Allied assault on France, the largest seaborne invasion in history.

The times were grim, the weather was bad, and the options were not appealing. The dilemma facing Eisenhower, Supreme Commander of the Allied forces, was this: Should he make the huge, assembled Allied force wait in position even longer than it already had, thereby reducing his chances of surprising the Germans … or should he proceed in unfavorable weather?

In the end, Eisenhower chose to take his chances with bad weather. It’s notable, though, that before the invasion formally began, he drafted two very different letters for release to the press. The first letter was meant for publication if the invasion succeeded (which it did). In that letter, Eisenhower gave all the credit for the success of the mission to his subordinates and to the soldiers, sailors, and airmen who had done the fighting. The second letter was to be published in the event the Allied invasion failed. In that letter, Eisenhower took full personal responsibility for the failure of the mission.

This “tale of two letters” provided us with a valuable second point for analysis. The common factor between the five-star general and the field communication specialist was that they both displayed a strong sense of personal responsibility for their mission and their comrades in arms. Not only was this an important link in explaining each individual’s action; it also demonstrated a cultural link we believe to be universal in driving positive decisions and actions.

Our mission here is to guide you, the reader, through your own journey of understanding of the kind of Responsibility both men assumed. We will do this through observations we will share and questions we will raise for your consideration.

Questions We Will Explore Together in this Book

How much more powerful is Responsibility (that which one chooses to assume as a personal duty) than Accountability (that which someone is told to do by another)?

How much more successful could your business be if everyone knew and embraced their own Responsibilities … and acted unhesitatingly to fulfill them?

How much more effective could everyone be if they took Responsibility for all interactions with each other, customers, and suppliers in accordance with shared, high company values … and were treated in the same way in return?

How much more satisfying and committed could all stakeholders be if they were making decisions and taking actions that everyone agreed were in the best interest of all parties?

Isn’t how people work together more important than how they work independently?

How much more effective and efficient is it to lead and manage high performing teams … rather than individuals?

How much better could your business perform if each individual within it were committed to continually learning and improving so that the team could become the very best in its field … with the support of all key stakeholders?

Your answers to these and other questions will help you understand the Culture of Responsibility we have seen in action, and chosen to write about here. Our goal is to help you and everyone in your company understand this Culture of Responsibility and implement it successfully within your organization. The examples we will share are not dictates about how this must be done. They are illustrations of how other leaders have implemented these principles, as we have observed the Culture of Responsibility taking hold over many years, in many organizations and in many walks of life. The achievements we share here are important not because they are extraordinary or unattainable, but because they are not beyond the ability of most businesses to implement. They illustrate the remarkable universal power of Responsibility. We believe anybody can do this, in any walk of life.

We have selected both civilian and military examples to best illustrate, magnify, and clarify the universal principles of what we have come to call the Five Pillars of Responsibility. Make no mistake: This is a book about success for people and teams of all kinds. There is, of course, a big difference between the soldier’s environment and the working environment in which civilians operate, where the worst-case scenario is losing some money or a job! Even so, we believe that the examples we have chosen for the later chapters of this book are all potentially instructive for individuals and teams, regardless of the realm in which they operate.

A KEY QUESTION

The first question that arose for us was: Is the Culture of Responsibility or the level of responsibility assumed by Robert Dale Maxwell impossible in the modern workplace?

Our answer, based on personal experience and observation, is an emphatic “No.” We say this because:

• We have seen dramatic growth in teams that adopted these principles and have brought a much fuller sense of personal commitment to the workplace, regardless of the age of the companies or experience level of the employees.
• We have seen employers and employees take personal responsibility and build deeper, more rewarding workplace relationships.
• We know the roots of Robert Dale Maxwell’s actions and Dwight D. Eisenhower’s were planted well before his action on that battlefield. In his situation, as well as in other examples we will present, decisions and actions were driven by a series of experiences and distinctions that can be, and should be, incorporated into any meaningful concept of “success” in the workplace. (By the way, Maxwell’s experience on the field of battle hasn’t stopped him from making great contributions to the education of youth and others in his community to this day!)...