Responsibility

Written by Salina Milana

Now this might sound silly, but I was watching the movie “Spiderman” the other night and there was a quote in the movie that really stuck with me. When Peter Parker first got his powers, he was trying to find a way to exploit them by making money from them (i.e., win a boxing match with superpowers). Peter lied to get his uncle to drive him to the boxing match. Before he got out of the car, his Uncle Ben said to him, “With great power comes great responsibility.” Sadly, that conversation would be the last he had with his uncle. From then on, Peter knew he needed to be more responsible with the powers he was blessed with as Spiderman.

So, what is responsibility? If you do a quick Google search to find out, it comes up with loads of different definitions. Here’s a few: “the state or fact of having a duty to deal with something or of having control over someone”… “the state or fact of being accountable or to blame for something”… “the opportunity or ability to act independently and make decisions without authorization”… “a thing that one is required to do as part of a job, role, or legal obligation”. What I gather from all the definitions is that responsibility is a duty that you have when you’re the one in control, and you need to be accountable when the thing you are in control of goes south.  

How this relates to me in my work is that if I want to be in control or take over certain jobs or duties, I need to work hard. I need to do what is asked of me and do it right. And if I don’t do it right, I need to be accountable. The more you do things right and the more responsible you are, the more people will trust you to take on more responsibilities. This is true especially in small businesses. A lot of people need to wear multiple hats; therefore, everyone must be prepared to take on more responsibilities. That is how success is found in your career and in the company.