Values › Accountability › Responsibility
Core value · Accountability family
Responsibility
Looking after what is in your care
What does responsibility mean as a core value?
Responsibility as a core value means looking after whatever is in your care, from people to budgets, and dealing with what might go wrong before anyone has to ask.
Whatever lands in your care gets looked after. A team, a budget, a younger sibling, the neighbour’s cat for a week. Responsibility is a forward-looking kind of care: noticing what could go wrong and dealing with it before anyone asks. You tend to feel the weight of things other people don’t realise they’re carrying. For you, being trusted with something is a compliment and an obligation at the same time, and letting it slide would sit badly for a long time.
What does responsibility look like in practice?
- You check the windows are locked twice before leaving a friend’s house you’ve been minding.
- You notice a new starter is struggling and arrange support early.
- You read the small print on a contract you’re signing on behalf of your organisation.
- You leave the shared kitchen, campsite or meeting room better than you found it.
- You think through who’d be affected by a decision before you make it.
When is responsibility overplayed?
Taken too far, responsibility turns into carrying everything. You take on what could be shared, step in before others have a chance, and quietly believe things will fall apart without you. People around you can become less capable because you never let them hold anything. The weight wears you down, too. Healthy responsibility knows what is genuinely yours to look after and hands the rest back. This week, you could pick one thing and let someone else own it, wobbles and all.
Often confused with
Responsibility vs Accountability
Accountability is answering for your choices after they’ve played out. Responsibility is the care you take beforehand and throughout, for what’s in your charge.
Responsibility vs Duty
Duty is owed because of a role or relationship. Responsibility is broader: you can feel responsible for things nobody formally handed you.
Responsibility vs Care
Care is warmth and concern for other people’s wellbeing. Responsibility covers things as well as people, and it’s more about stewardship than feeling.
Questions to sit with
- What are you carrying right now that isn’t really yours to carry?
- Who have you stopped trusting with responsibility, and what would it take to hand some back?
- What’s in your care that you’ve been quietly neglecting?
More values in Accountability
Keeping your word and owning the outcome.
About the author
Matt Rutherford is a Career and Leadership Coach. The Values Finder is the same exercise he uses with his coaching clients. He also writes Stuff that MattRs, a weekly newsletter with practical ideas to help you think clearer and work better.
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