Quit passing the buck to realise your full leadership potential

Organisations are not keen on hiring a buck-passer, let alone promote him or her. PHOTO | FILE 

By SERAPHINE RULIGIRWA-KAMARA

When looking to fill vacant positions, you generally interview two kinds of candidates no matter how many people you actually interview.

There are those who blame circumstances and other people for what may have happened where they were or still are. And there are those who confidently risk taking responsibility for the professional travails that happened or happening.

Buck-passers

What kind of business are you in? What role will the new recruits play? I am yet to know any organisation that would be happy to hire buck-passers.

In my organisation, it is crucial that any one who works with us understands that they are expected to take responsibility.

It doesn’t matter whether we are talking about good or bad outcomes. Our whole operation requires responsible people at every stage of every project that we are privileged to handle.

I have blamed others and situations in my life so I have a lot of experience in exactly how the game is played. I realised rather belatedly how really stupid I must have looked. The folly of youth and ignorance cannot be more painful than that.

If you’re hiring politicians on the other hand, you have some unconventional considerations to make for your selection.

From loud declarations of those who would rather die than resign (take responsibility) to the ethnic war cries of those who rope in their communities at every criticism of improper conduct all the way to resignation for health reasons rather than where the buck really stops is plenty of food for thought.

In the interest of space, I’ll stay away from rapists who get a way with a slight tap on the wrist because the heinous crime is not theirs but the fault of the female victims wearing short or tight clothing.

Absolute aversion

The truth is that when recruiting our leaders, we give the jobs to those who show absolute aversion to responsibility. These choices we make are a good indication of the kind of the people we intrinsically are. We hand-pick buck-passers for the most important roles in our lives.

The minute they start to show us how much they excel at buck-passing, we too take the opportunity to pass the buck to them. Is it a wonder that no one in a position of responsibility actually does take responsibility?

If you’re wondering why you don’t get picked for plum jobs in your organisation, you may want to check your buck-passing quotient.

Nervous energy

Chances are that you do have a conscience and would not score too highly. You’re not getting the job but we will keep your resume in our file if we should need some credible mouth-pieces in the future, is the unspoken message.

If you’re a back-passer, quit today. Not tomorrow, not the day after. Simply quit and be responsible for never going back.

You’re a leader. That means that you lead everyone into taking full responsibility for the good, bad and the ugly in your personal and professional life.

When all that is done, soon enough, you will begin to take back all your personal power.

You release your nervous energy. You clarify what you are about and shortly afterwards begin to stick out like a sore thumb.

Others begin to notice that there’s something different about you. You too, realise there’s something different about you too.

The only way to win the buck-passing game is never to play it in the first place.

Ms Seraphine is a life coach, sera@iuponline.comss | @SRuligirwa