Taking Responsibility

My son’s teacher sent me an email and was upset that my son wasn’t prepared in class with the magazine he needed for class.  My son claimed she never gave him the magazine (only to find it in his locker later), and then proceeded to advise her to “keep extra copies in class in the future.”  We had to explain to our son that he needs to take responsibility for his actions and apologize for not being prepared in class.  He did, and the teacher was happy.

This connected with a great article I read in Fortune magazine entitled, “The Secret of Enduring Greatness” by Jim Collins, a bestselling management expert and author of the books Good to Great and co-author of Built to Last.  His article on how corporate stars rise and fall in an age of turmoil, offered some similar advice to what I had given my son.

The best corporate leaders never point out the window to blame external conditions; they look in the mirror and say, “We are responsible for our results!” Those who take personal credit for the good times but blame external events in bad times simply do not deserve to lead our institutions.

The same applies to PR.  Executives need to be truthful with reporters and analysts on facts, customers and delivery timetables.  They shouldn’t promise something and an exclusive to one reporter and then give it to another without going back to the first.  When companies or executives make mistakes, misrepresent the truth or a crisis occurs, they need to admit it and acknowledge it instead of blaming external events, saying they “mis-spoke” or trying to sweep it under the rug. If they don’t, they undermine their credibility and integrity and the situation typically escalates rapidly into negative press.

Taking responsibility may be a simple lesson but, it still holds true in life and in the success of companies.