Leadership : As Responsibilities Increase, Rights Decrease

Leaders must live by higher standards than their followers. This insight is exactly opposite of most people’s thoughts concerning leadership. In a world of perks and privileges that accompany the climb to success, little thought is given to the responsibilities of the upward journey. Leaders can give up anything except responsibility, either for themselves or their organizations. John D. Rockefeller, Jr., said, “I believe that every right implies a responsibility; every opportunity, an obligation; every possession, a duty.”

Too many people are ready to assert their rights, but not to assume their responsibilities. Richard L. Evans, in his book An Open Road, said, “It is priceless to find a person who will take responsibility . . . to know when someone has accepted an assignment that it will be effectively, conscientiously completed. But when half-finished assignments keep coming back-to check on, to verify, to edit, to interrupt thought, and to take repeated attention-obviously someone has failed to follow the doctrine of completed work.”

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